Pepito y su recinto de cristal!!!

No, I'm not spanish, just thought I'd do something different with the title

Anyway, I've seen some beautiful chameleons in this section. So I might as well introduce mine. My male veild chameleon "Pepito", he almost 2yrs old now and has been doing splendidly. They grow so fast *tear* !

Aside from suffering from mild dehydration a few months ago, he's done great. Regrettably I do not have any photos of my first and previous veild. She died due to a combination of age (4 years old), as well as metabolic bone disease (I felt so bad :cry: )

Anyway, here's my big boy.







His enclosure, as far as I can tell, is rather rare, since I have yet to see another cage like it since I bought it almost 6 years ago. It's all glass with a sliding top and opening side door. Dimensions are 18 X 30 X 30.



Now I know glass enclosures aren't recommended for chameleons, but due to the fact that my mother owns a cat that loves to claw and shred everything, glass was the way to go. I've never had a problem with him seeing his reflection and has never shown any signs of stress while in his cage.

 

Um can you say desert cage. It wouldnt be my pick but i guess if it works then why not.

Is that a water dish and substrate at the bottom?

There is no where to escape UV exposure and no air flow.

The fact that there is a light shinning into the cage and the outer room is darker makes a reflection, this stress will slowly off a cham. Its like having a mirror in there with them the whole time.

Ahh man I dont know about this one, good luck. It sounds like you know its not good but seem to stick with it so I will lay this one to rest.

 

- No water dish, he never used a water dish anyway, instead I use a water dropper and hand feed him to make sure he's drinking. Substrate is reptile carpet.

- His tank is right in front of our AC vent, strangely, so theres a constant breeze and air flow into the tank which works out pretty well. Escape UV esposure? Last I checked veileds were from Saudi Arabia and other desert regions, there's nothing but UV exposure out there. But at any rate it's a low tropical UV bulb, so he's fine.

- Pic only looks darker because of the camera. His tank is looks into our living room which has a larger open sliding glass door, as well as a large open window. and again, he has never shown signs of stress to any reflection, save for an actual mirror. His mood is generally lazy and calm.

The tank is fine, again I know it's not choice for a Cham, but with cats, and the fact that our apartment has terrible drafts in the winter, a glass tank helps us maintain his heat and lighting better, plus helps us make sure our cats don't try and shred there way to get to him.

 

You need to look up the land terrain in Yemen a bit more. Do you think they crawl in the sand? There is an entire area of forest there not that this makes a difference but its just not a true statement.

Good Luck.

 

Do you see sand? Please point out a desert enclosure in my pictures...

He's happy. He's still growing. He eats regularly. He's not stressed, upset, or aggressive in any way. So I don't know about your chams, but mine is doing perfectly.

I've used this stuff with my last one and she lived long and happy as well. I'm not about to go out and invest my money on an enclosure and more crap decor when my animal dosen't need it, and is content how he is.

Yemen is a desert. Saudi Arabia is a desert. I live in a desert. Don't lecture me on how a desert animal lives.
...

I'm one raging post away from ditching these boards. So far everyone that's spoken to me on here has some serious ego problems when it comes to giving advice about how I keep my animals.

Knock it.

 

I think Jack didn't mean anything. He was conveying his own personal experience with his cham - and care points for Yemens in a general sense. He just worded it in a "prickly" way. lol

I personally believe that chams (depending on the individual specimen) can be acclimated to a new climate - as long as there's not too many deviations from it's natural climates. This depends on the individual cham. From all that you've described - I think your cham is healthy, happy, and that's ultimately the important thing.

I also keep different species of puffer fishes and I've been able to successfully acclimate brackish/salty water puffers to thrive in fresh water, and vice versa. I'm not talking about just surviving - they thrive (healthy size, appetite, alertness, etc.).

I think you happen to live in just the right climate and provided just the right balance of variation from your cham's natural climate to allow him to acclimate to living in the glass tank. I think the AC blowing over the screen top definitely has something to do with your success, too. I've read in some books that suggest a similar setup of have a small fan blow air across the top of screened glass cages.

BTW - that's a nice glass tank.

Tin

 

i will post pics of my yeman cage and show u how its done

i will post them soon

 

Arizona seems to be perfect so far. Could do without it being 105+ degrees at the beginning of May though >.<

The cage works great, not too heavy either considering it's size.


Glad to get a post from someone who seems to know where I'm coming from. Great to meet ya. 8)

 

Hey some things work very well for some and not at all for others whom attempt the same thing...example...my friend had a veiled live8 years in a glass tank with also air flow threw a fan on top etc when she passed(the cham) he got another and it didnt do well at all...Your cham looks great alot like Mine actually hes healthy Chgams arent the easiest to care and maintain and by looking at things youve done well

 

I would give my right arm for that tank.. 30" of space for pygmy leaf chameleons to climb and be happy, oh my!

Although I tend to agree that glass is a less than perfect solution, I can see it being useful in AZ where the humidity is so low, and the temps are so hot. He looks healthy, and I am sure that if he starts to look less healthy, you would change the situation. If that happens, will ya let me know? I have a perfect spot for that glass cage, and would happily send you a screen cage in exchange!

Heika

 

Lol. I'll make a note of it! I almost considered making it a tree frog enclosure after my first one died, but decided to try my luck with a male veileld instead.

150$ for that cage, still the only one like it I've ever seen. I believe it an "All Living Things" reptile cage. Dunno if that helps, they might still make it. :wink:

 

like i said everybody has different luck with different views, but just to clarify something in yemen and saudi where the veileds live is like a rain forest, they call it the "wadis" monsoon rains from may thru september with 60plus inches of rain yearly, i know arizona you don't get 60 inches of rain.
drew
if it works use it!

 

Veileds actually are not desert animals and the areas of Yemen and Saudi Arabia where they live are actually classified as subtropical to tropical with percipitation of up to 2,000mm per year. That is the same annual percipitation as the regions F. pardalis inhabit. You should consider increasing your hydration methods and humidity. Your chameleon is not shedding as easily as it should which is a sign of poor hydration and humidity. Further, looking at your chams arms, it seems that you may be overfeeding it. I disagree, however, that your cham does not have ample place to escape UVB radiation as the location of your UVB tube is such that only half the cage is getting exposure. Also, while I generally don't recommend glass tanks, your situation qualifies as a circumstance where it is appropriate as long as the necessary efforts to maintain its sanitary condition is maintained.

Chris

 

Again. Thanks for the heavy critiques, opinions, and strong advice. Most of you seem very straight forward and factual.

Honestly, I'm not changing a thing. I've had him in this setup since he was a month old. He's fine, despite all of the critical analysis most of you seem to be giving.

~Ren

 

That's your choice but fatty liver disease from obesity and renal failure from sub-clinical renal disease (chronic sub-optimum hydration) are slow to manifest themselves in outward symptoms and will considerably shorten the life of your cham. Glad to hear you're so confident in his care, I'm not...he's showing signs of the above mentioned disorders so its only a matter of time without addressing the causes.

Chris

 

Meh.

 

Glad to see you are thinking about your chameleon's wellbeing, you're an example to us all.

Chris

 

Well I certainly try. Thanks for the compliment.

 

Umm.. stupid question.. what does "Meh" mean?

And Chris, now I am a bit concerned that I am overfeeding my cham. I will post pics later on.

Heika

 

Absolutely nothing. It's just a shorter way of saying "Oh well" .