Buying a cham soon

I am going to buy a chameleon very soon but i need some help. I allready have all the fake bendable branches, the fake plants you can put in the cage, and a waterfall, and some cricket dust. That was the stuff the guy at the pet store could tell me that i needed. I read that they also need an open airy cage can anyone give me a link to a good cage thats not to expensive. And i was hesatent to buy a cham from the store cause they were 100 bucks and they didnt look to good so a link to good chams would be helpfull also. Lastly any overall advice would be helpfull too. Sorry for the sporatic post im doing this and im in a rush for work

What kind of Cham are you looking for? I purchased my Panther from Kammerflouge Creations. I can't say enought about Liddy and how happy we were with our baby.(He is 2 now) Go to her site and read before you buy. My cage is a modified TV entertainment center that has all sides replaced with screen. My original baby cage was all screen and I purchased it from Liddy. I use a live plant in my enclosure. A potted Pothos. I have the bendy vine looped in the pot and wrapped the pothos all around it. The dirt provides moisture and the live plant looks great! This has been going for 2 years now. Any waste that falls in the pot I leave as fertilizer. I don't have her link, just google Kammerfouge Creations (owner is Liddy Kammer) Good Luck!

Howdy,

To help fill-in some of the knowledge gaps read through these links. To be successful as a chameleon keeper it is important to eliminate as many of the pitfalls before you get your chameleon. Food, temperatures, UVB lighting, hydration, drainage, enclosure sizing, nutritional supplements, are among the many areas for careful investigation. It has often been found that when something goes wrong, far too much time is spent on eliminating the source of the ailment that should have never been there in the first place. It is hard enough figuring out what is going wrong with a chameleon's health without contributing to the problem with "man-made" problems. Don't fall into the trap of starting out with a less-than-optimum setup thinking that you will improve things over time when money eventually becomes available. One vet bill will wipe-out any perceived benefit of not getting all of the right things the first time. Remember, the last thing to buy is your chameleon . Enjoy the "chase" of getting every just right and then get your critter!

Oh, by the way, expect to spend hundreds fo dollars on getting things together. And stick with the Reptisun 5.0 UVB source.

Sites to gather ideas from:

http://www.chameleonnews.com/ especially http://www.chameleonnews.com/ref.html

http://www.chameleonsdish.com/

http://www.chameleonjournals.com/

There are others out there but these ones are pretty good to start with.

Have fun!! See You out there!

Dave Weldon

I would suggest buying from a breeder, maybe a sub adult or a nice well started juvi. Baby chams arent the easiest to take care of, and die easily. Also, "you get what you pay for" is a great moto when buying herps. I have seen $20 vieleds that are tiny, and most often die within a week, but if you spend $100 on a juvi or sub, it will most likely do better. I've seen vendors selling chams starting at $20 and going up $10 for each additional week.
good luck with your chameleon, start off with the best and you'll be happier in the long run, because spending 100 bucks on a chameleon that will live for years is better than a $20 cham that will live a week.

Buy a book or look online for caresheets. They are often better then petstore info.

Once again, good luck!

THanks for all the advice everybody but i wasnt saying i want a cheap chameleon but the ones at the store were 100 and looked sick or something. BUt also all the sites ive been looking at all the chams are VERY expensive im not going ot spend 300 bucks on lizard no matter what. So is there any links to resnably priced chams?

your best bed is looking on fauna or KS and finding a good breeder. A nice quality juvi vieled ( I assume you want ) will be like 50 and should be healthy. I dont buy from petstores, they usually dont have the healthiest quality.

I want a panther but those are out of the question because of price so yea im looking for a vieled male with some color to it. And what is KS.

KS is kingsnake.com
Panthers also arent the nicest, but vieleds have a tude also. Good luck

Veileds do have a "tude" but they can be your best friend when you have food and when you are out they are done with you! Also I dont think I saw this on this thread but you will have to start out with a smaller cage when you cham is still young and get a bigger one as it grows so dont think that all you have to do is buy one cage and you are set. Reptariums I think are very good cages for chams I use them on mine and love them! I do think that a veiled chameleon is the best way to go they are very hardy and will let you make miner mistakes with out big consequences while you are learning to take care of them and the Males are beautiful and dont cost near as much as a panther. I also read that you would never pay 300 bucks for a lizard well keep a veiled for awhile and I bet you will be looking at the panthers before long and spending those big bucks they just hook you in! No they are not a reptile that you can hold all the time but there is just something about their beauty and the way they hunt, hide and roam around their cage that is just awesome!