and some one give me a run down of how much a cham setup would cost for um veiled, and jackson chameleons
Several hundred if you want to do it right. Cham- 100 or so Cage- 150-175 for a large screen Baby cage- 50-75 for until they are adult sized dripper- 10 bucks Mist bottle- very cheap Ficus- 15 bucks for a very small one Strip light hood- 50 bucks for a nice one with a reflective inside to deflect the UV downward where it is needed UVB Lamp- 30 bucks or so Heat lamp dome- 15 bucks Heat lamp- 7 bucks Vitamins for cricket dust- 25 bucks for all 3 Gut load for the crix- 15 bucks The cost of silkies and or crix- ??? varies Bottom line there is more than the set up cost and you will continue to spend money on chams so if this is a concern dont consider these as a pet. They are very fragile and die off easily if you cut corners.
is there a way to spend less like if u build the cage yourself or somthing like that? b/c iv seen lots of things that have been made by ppl who have them n cut the price way down
i alos heard that ficus trees shouldnt be used be a cham can get sick from the milky sap stuff that comes out of them would a hibiscus work to?
I found a list of plants that are non-toxic (or at least non toxic to chams).. it goes as follows Common Name Scientific Name Abelia Abelia grandiflora African violet Saintpaulia ionantha Sweet alyssum Allyssum sp. Asperagus fern Asperagus setaceus plumosis Aster Aster sp. Baby tears Helxine solerirolii Bird's nest fern Asplenium nidus Boston fern Nephorlepsis exalta Bottle bush Callistemom Bouganvillea Bouhanvillea Bridal veil Tripogandra multiflora Bromeliads Aechmea; Bilbergia; Cryptanthus Cactus, spineless Astrophytum Camellia Camellia japonica Coleus Coleus Corn plant Dracaena fragrans Creeping charlie* Pilea nummulariifolia Croton Codiaeum sp. Dracaena Dracaena Emerald ripple Peperomia caperata Eugenia Peperomia caperata Ficus Benjamina (Chameleons love Ficus) Fuschia Fuschia Geranium Pelargonium sp. Hen and chicks succulent Echeveria Hibiscus Hibiscus rosa-sinensis Hoya Hoya exotica Iceplant Mesembryanthemum crystallinum Impatients Impatients Jade plant Crassula argentea Japanese aralia Fatsia japonica Jasmine Jasminum officinale: J, grandifloum Lavender Lavandula officinalis Marigold Calendula officinalis Monkey plant Ruellia makoyana Mother of peral Graptopetalum paraguayen Natal plum Carissa grandiflora Painted nettle Coleus Palms Areca sp. Pampas grass Cortaderia selloana Parlor palm Chamaedorea elegans Peperomia Peperomia caperata Phoenix Phoenix roebelenii Piggyback plant Tolmiea menziesii Pilea Pilea sp. Pink polka-dot plant H. ypoestes sang. Ponytail plant Beaucarnea recurvata Pothos Prayer plant Maranta leuconeura Purple passion: purple velvet Gynura Spider plant Chlorophytum comosum Staghorn fern Platycerium bifurcatum Swedish ivy Plectranthus australis Tree mallow Lavatera assurgentiflora Umbrella plant** Eriogonum umbrellum Velvet plant Gynura aurantaca Wandering jew Tradescantia albiflora Warneckii Dracaena deremensis Wax plant Hoya exotica Zebra planty Calathea zebrina Zinnias Zinnia sp. * Not to be confused with another "creeping charlie," Glecoma heteracea which is TOXIC ** Not to be confused with another "umbrella" plant, Schefflera actinophylla which is also TOXIC. And for the question on building your own and it being cheaper, depends on how good your carpentry skills are and what materials you choose to use. I recently priced building mine out of angel Aluminum and it the frame alone was going to run me $200, that's minus the screen and plexi-glass front and what not. A good cage is expensive to build, but worth it if you want to customize everything. If you choose to build your cage out of wood, then I can't really say how much that'll run you, I haven't investigated it myself. Like Whitey said, retail cost for a decent cage is $75 for a small one, $150 for a larger one. Outside of that, you can't save any money doing it yourself.. You can't build UV lights, or heat lamp. Vitamins (calcium and D3) can sometimes be applied at the pet store for free (I do that for my costomers)
ALl what he said minus the plexi glass front door. Anything reflective will cause stress and gradual degradation of health over time. And no the ficus is not toxic but crazy anal hobbist have a theory that should the milky sap get in their eye it could cause irritation and problems. These people are also the same who have wrote that they hot glue gun all sharp ended sticks in the cage to prevent accidental poking. Dont start down this anal path thing because it wont do you any good. Read up on general care and go from there. Your lighting is the most single improtant factor then comes nutrition with suppliments and gut loads ect in my opinion. Your question about saving money tells me you are not ready for this type of pet. You have to replace the UVb every 8 months or so because even though it works it looses its effectivness. Your insects, ie silk worms, cost me about 35 bucks a month. Most of all the time it takes to care for these chams is daily and very important. You will need time, research, money and the essentials to get going. Saving 50 bucks by making a cage is the least of your worries. That was a fraction of what the other items I listed add up to. Have you seen my cage? About 500+ in materials and about another 500 in lights, fixtures and mister pump. All hand made by me and a friend. Yes it would have cost 3 times the material cost but still way up there. Of course you can go ghetto and small scale and just have to rebuild a poorly made cage every 6 months but its your call. Build a cage for the "Cool" factor of doing it not for saving money.
i wasnt talking about the lights i was just wondering if it would be cheaper to just build a cage which i have done b4 n looks pretty good but that was for a snake i no all about the lights n stuff like that
If you build a nice one out of wood you will spend about the same as a large alum cage bought from ay online site. GO on ebay and shop around there are tons. They are fragile and tear eaily so be careful. In my opinion if you are considering cost I wouldt bother with the time to build one. As you can see I went all out and made somethign that is one of a kind and larger than any cham set up I have seen pics of, at least out of wood.
Good point on the plexi glass, I forgot about that little tid-bit. And your cage looks great! Can you go into a little detail on what your water system does? i see water going in, and a hose loop around the top of the cage, but I don't see where any drains out, or is recicled? it looks like you have a pump with enough pressure to make rain, or mist.
It goes off for about 10 min 3 times a day. The water collects and dries on the tile. There isnt much pooling since the misters are aimed at the tree and the soil collects it, what it doesnt hits the pot collection tray. Yes it is a mister pump and there are 2 mister heads aimed at the top middle of the tree, one in the front and one in the back for each tree. Some people make a drain system but it takes alot of the cage room. Basically a 6 ft tall cage would be cut down for the collection tray underneath. This way supplies more rrom but I do have to suck up the water every 3 days from the tray and wash the floors to prevent bacteria.
