Thinking about getting into chameleons..HELP

I currently own 2 leopard geckos.
I was told that chameleons were a little too advanced for a beginner.
Anyway, the geckos are doing good. I was thinking about buying a jackson chameleon. Hopefully, 1 male juvenile jackson.
If you can give me housing and care advice before I get started, it would definately help me out.
Tank size?
Substrate?
Feeding?
Lighting?
Humidity?
Everything you could think of, any advice is welcome.
I have had alot of help from the people over at the leopard gecko forums, I know that you guys will be as helpful.

[quote=whitefire50]

1 male juvenile jackson

Tank size? = 24 x 24 x 48 Screen for adult although if you buy a baby you may need to start smaller and increase cage size with growth to make finding food easier ( a 24 x 24 x 18 is fine for a juvie male for a while)

Substrate = None

Feeding = Crickets, Silkworms, Roaches, Butter Worms, Wax Worms, Fruit Flies, some may eat mealworms and supers a good variety is best but Crickets and Silkwoms only are OK too, and if you feed wax worms (not too many a treat only item a few every few weeks)

Lighting? UVB - A lot of controversy on this so I will give you both sides:

I prefer a mercury vapor UVB bulb to provide heat and UVB but you have to be careful with these and make sure the bulb is high enough above the cage to provide the correct basking temp without overheating the jackson and its entire cage

You can also go with a florescent UVB and separate blue or red heat bulb, the heat bulb also needs to be high enough to provide the correct temps

Heat - A basking area of 80 and the rest of the cage at room temps in the 70's, at night room temps that do not go below 65 are fine (cutting off the mercury vapor UVB and or UVB and heat lamps will provide the night drop)

Humidity= 50-75% (this is normally achieved with the mistings or a dripper system)

Misting = 4 times per day, 8 minutes am, 4 mid day, 4 late day, 8 late evening (Or use a drip system on the same time frames)

Plants = With a jackson you can use artificial plants since they do not eat them, but be sure to take them out for cleaning on a regular basis.

You can also use live plants like ficus, bromelaids, corn plant etc (http://www.chameleonsonline.com/safe-plants.php)

Supplements = Calcium daily (Which is in Mineral O and I) Mineral O if they get proper UVB and some natural sunning, Mineral I if you are unable to provide UVb (UVB and natural sun are much better than the supplement substitutes) Dust food items lightly, oversupplementing can be just as bad as no supplements. They can overdose on Vitamin A, Mineral does not have this vitamin

Gutload = Gutload all feeder insects, crickets with a quality cricket gutload and fruits and greens for moisture (this will provide some Vitamin A through the moisture of the diet)

Just remember Chameleons are to be looked at and adored, they do not do well with handling, they need a quiet room without all of the normal daily activies of say the living room.

A jackons is not the easiet of chameleons, veileds in my opinion are a better beginner, they deal with temp & humidity fluctuations better than other chameleons. They also eat vegetation including fruits, veges and greens.

But with proper care a Jackson is a very nice pet.

Awesome. I think that the leopard geckos were a good prep. I will probably go with a veiled chameleon, I from many sources that they are a little more flexible then other species. It sounds like the most basic concepts of their habitat consists of alot of branches/vines to climb on and more verticle space to allow a wider range of movement. No substrate because they won't spend alot of time on the ground.
Daylight for basking with a gradient, nightlight with a gradient. I will provide a UV light despite the controversy (I don't see the harm).
Are there insects that I should avoid?
How would you set up a drip system if you were going to set up the cage inside your house? I have a few ideas but I am not sure.

With a veiled make sure to use non toxic live plants, they will eat the vegetation and fake plants can confuse them.

For a drip systemp, you can buy a dripper but I like to make my own. I use a 32oz deli cup with a lid, poke several (5-7) tiny pin holes in the bottom and 2-3 in the lid to allow the drip, 8 minute drips, fill the cup, 4 minute dripes fill half of cup.

Make sure to clean the cup every day and the holes can get stopped up once in a while, just poke through the same hoel to clean it out.

Commerical misters are great, but costly, I went with habba misters and I feel it was a waste of money, max drip is 1 minute by the time the Cham gets to the mist its cut off.

Hand misting is the easiest and the most fun, your chameleon will get used to the mistings and mine came over to me as I misted and let me spreay them in the mouth, very cool interaction with a Cham!

Veiled males are much more colorful than a Jackson, they also get larger in size and eat more food items.

Oh and the type of UVb is the main controversy, it is needed, natural sun is always bets but not all areas have correct day/night temps year round. In the summer the more you can sun you Cham their color will be more vibrant. Just make sure they have shaded area too, I try to put the cages 1/2 under a tree for a good basking and cool side.

Temps and Humidity for veileds:
A basking spot between 90 and 100 degrees with a night drop to between 70 and 75 degrees humidity 45-55%

Do you have geckos and chems?

Right now I have all geckos, I have had Panthers, Flap Necks, Jackson, Pygmy's and Veileds. Now I never had any problems with any of them but some people do so a veiled is suggested for a 1st timer. I started with Jacksons though.

I sold all of my chameleons last spring mainly because I have 2 small children, ( now 6 and almost 4) and they wanted to poke the reptariums and cried to hold them all the time. I plan to get back into chameleons most likely this year since they are a year older and have gotten more tired of the animals now that they have gerbils, birds, geckos and a snake that is all theirs.

so, the vields can't have a fake plant? and how many crix should be fed on average to a vield a day?



thanks
rusty

It's not a matter of if veileds can or can't have fake plants. They can, with small risks, do fine with fake plants- but there will always be a risk of them eating it.

Rather, its the matter of, should you be supplying fake plants to ANY species of chameleon? No most likely not. (Aside from young hatchlings possibly), It's proven that real plants do great things for chameleons. Much higer humidity, and slower to dry out. Another choice of food for some species. More natural enclosure. The list goes on.

In my opinion, real plants are the ONLY way to go. I keep some fake plants, just to use in emergencies if a plant dies.

thanks will, good to know....

Im thinking of buying a cage anywhere from 100 to 260 gallons and i wanted to know, with this big of a cage, i probably shouldnt put small babies in, will they find the crickets? and if not, how old/ how big should the chams be in order to have a large cage like that?

Also, does anyone one know of some good chameleon breeders/sellers, looknig for a young male veiled


thanks,
Rusty