# Chameleon setup



## ross81 (Feb 16, 2012)

Hi all my son has been asking for a chameleon for a while now and he has just had a birthday and has some money which he is wanting to get one with. I have become interested myself through doing research online and think that we will go ahead and get one. I am looking for some advice on the setup I am looking at this Chameleon Vivarium Kit but with a ax36 viv rather than the ax24 as I really want to give it as much space as possible. I am worried however if the rest of this package would be ok in the bigger viv? The other option is to get the ax36 viv from the same supplier and get a t5 lighting setup and bulb holder etc from another supplier just looking for some opinions on which you think is the best way to go. Thanks in advance for any replies


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## little_e (Feb 27, 2009)

ross81 said:


> Hi all my son has been asking for a chameleon for a while now and he has just had a birthday and has some money which he is wanting to get one with. I have become interested myself through doing research online and think that we will go ahead and get one. I am looking for some advice on the setup I am looking at this Chameleon Vivarium Kit but with a ax36 viv rather than the ax24 as I really want to give it as much space as possible. I am worried however if the rest of this package would be ok in the bigger viv? The other option is to get the ax36 viv from the same supplier and get a t5 lighting setup and bulb holder etc from another supplier just looking for some opinions on which you think is the best way to go. Thanks in advance for any replies


Hi what type of Cham are you thinking of as a 36" viv would only house a juvenile/ sub adult for a short while and say like a adult Yemen , panther or mellor's would need at least a 4ft aboreal style viv


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## Bradley (Aug 26, 2009)

You are best getting a male yemen chameleon as a first chameleon. You will need a cage at least 4 feet high and 2 feet square! if you go for wooden it will need some modifications to allow more ventilation and to house the heat bulb outside the cage. The T5 bulbs are great! I would get things seperately rather than a kit as alot of stuff isnt needed in a kit or doesnt come with essential items like the correct supplements!


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## ross81 (Feb 16, 2012)

[email protected] said:


> Hi what type of Cham are you thinking of as a 36" viv would only house a juvenile/ sub adult for a short while and say like a adult Yemen , panther or mellor's would need at least a 4ft aboreal style viv


Hi do mean it needs to be at least 4 feet wide or 4 ft high as the one I am looking at is 4 ft high and 36'' wide and 24'' deep?

I am looking at a male Yemen


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## little_e (Feb 27, 2009)

ross81 said:


> Hi do mean it needs to be at least 4 feet wide or 4 ft high as the one I am looking at is 4 ft high and 36'' wide and 24'' deep?
> 
> I am looking at a male Yemen


Hi that would be ok I thought you ment 36" high but a 48" x 36" x 24" would be great for a adult male Yemen but if you were to get a juvinile you would have to put a shelf in to make it smaller then change it as it grows.

I would buy seperatly as you will get things cheaper if you google/ ebay them

There seems to be things on that kit that you will need and things that you don't need here is a list of essentials needed for a Yemen chameleon

Ceramic heat source & cage 

600w dimming thermostat with magic eye ( no need for a extra night time heat source )

U.v 5.0 plus starting unit 

Digital thermometer and hygrometer 

Spray bottle & little dripper (not needed if sprayed 2 or 3 times a day)

nutrobal and calcium dust ( calcium dust feed 5 days and nutrobal 2 days)

As for decorating the enclosure use apple tree branches of various thicknesses and a couple of real plants and some plastic Plants from wilko's ( a lot cheaper than exo terra ones )

I have found the books you can buy tend to be about all species of chameleons and don't really have a great amount on one specific species And there is some great care sheets and viv set up info on here and online so personally I would not purchase any. Neither would I use a substrate either paper towel or repti carpet is better and the Cham has no chance of injesting it, I use some off cuts of astro turf I got from work.

Hope this helps


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## ross81 (Feb 16, 2012)

Thanks for all the advice but need to know one more thing (for now no doubt there will be more) should I fit some sort of fan to aid ventilation?


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## little_e (Feb 27, 2009)

I didnt have a fan it my viv like that but I did put a couple of extra vents in at the bottom of the viv to aid circulation but now he is in a custom corner display unit


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## prklivefoods (Jan 29, 2012)

ross81 said:


> Thanks for all the advice but need to know one more thing (for now no doubt there will be more) should I fit some sort of fan to aid ventilation?


i've nothing but good things about terrafans....


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## ross81 (Feb 16, 2012)

prklivefoods said:


> i've nothing but good things about terrafans....


Thats what I've been looking at thought they may aid the ventilation without cutting up the viv so much. Has anyone got any pics or links to pics of a vivexotic setup for a chameleon? Also what extra care (if any) is needed for a panther rather than a yemen?

Again thanks for all your advice I just want to get the right setup from the get go.


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## Bradley (Aug 26, 2009)

A panther requires higher humidity so more spraying.

With uv you need at least a 10.0 tube style bulb for a viv that high. if you can go with the new arcadia high output T5 bulbs then you could get a 6% D3 bulb with reflector. If the light is above mesh then I would deffo use the new arcadia high output t5 bulbs of the 12% version (D3+) so enough uv is given. a 5.0 will not give enough uv in an enclosure this tall.


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## prklivefoods (Jan 29, 2012)

Bradley said:


> A panther requires higher humidity so more spraying.
> 
> With uv you need at least a 10.0 tube style bulb for a viv that high. if you can go with the new arcadia high output T5 bulbs then you could get a 6% D3 bulb with reflector. If the light is above mesh then I would deffo use the new arcadia high output t5 bulbs of the 12% version (D3+) so enough uv is given. a 5.0 will not give enough uv in an enclosure this tall.


Also i think that they need a higher night time temp drop not to sure but think it may be around 65-70ish but dont bank on it just something i heard recently..


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## Bradley (Aug 26, 2009)

prklivefoods said:


> Also i think that they need a higher night time temp drop not to sure but think it may be around 65-70ish but dont bank on it just something i heard recently..


I provide my panther and yemen with the same night time temp. i dont use any heating at night so nigh temps change with the weather utside so acts as seasonal changes.:2thumb:

I havent noticed any other differences. They dont tolerate temps as high as yemens aslo. 90F is great at the basking spot.


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