Hi, my boyfriend has been REALLY wanting to get a baby chameleon from petco. I know that they get big, and will need a large cage eventually. What i was really wondering, is about how long till they get that big, or i guess, how often would i need to get a new tank, since i dont have the money right now to get a large one, plus they are so tiny as a baby. I am just very unfamilar to them, and i dont want to go rush out and get one when i have no idea how to take care of them. And about how much do you believe it costs to raise a healthy chameleon. Does anyone have a reference to a good care sheet? I know im asking so many questions! i just dont wanna kill the poor thing when we Do decided to get one! We also have Two leopard geckos. Will knowing how to take care of them help me in anyway of taking care of a chameleon? Please help me...
do you know the species of chameleon? If it is a Veiled, they are fairly easy.. and an ideal first chameleon.. as they are almost always captive born.
i commend you on your decision to wait until you are more informed. the most important part of raising a chameleon is the cheapest, knowledge. the actual cost of a chameleon is only a small portion of the overall cost, a brief rundown of approximate costs; cage $40-100+, lighting $50-100, temp guages and other monitoring equipment $10-40 , live plants and climbing accessories $50, dripper, spray bottle, small heat pad (for spray bottle) $10-20, automated spray misting system $100-150 (optional but reccomended) feeders can easily run $10 a week, supplements about $30 to get started, gutload $10-40, knowledge, priceless , bug keeping and cham keeping go hand in hand , whatever your feeders eat your chams eat, so you cant just feed your cham an endless string of pet store feeders , or it is likey to cause problems, the only long term economical and healthy way to feed your cham is to raise at least some of your own feeders, [dubia roaches ($30-50) for a starter colony, + crickets, silkworms, wax worms, butter worms, house flies, blue bottle flies, most feeders are cheap and easy to raise] if you truly want to succeed and get your cham off to a good start then a trip to a qualified herp vet and a fecal examination ($75-175) is in order even if it is a captive bred cham . even experienced keepers sometimes have problems so it is not unreasonable to assume that a begining cham keeper would need to return to the vet at least once in the first year (another $75-175 dollars) so , as you can see after spending all that , it matters little whether your cham costs $50 or $150 / i am not saying you cant do it for less , some of the expenses can be lowered with a little forethought and enginuity , but be aware, costs can be significant, the most important cham accessory of all is knowledge and a good place to start is ; http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/ also there is approximately 128 species / genus of chams (depending on how you count), although most have many general similarities , their care can be significantly different, keeping a cham is infinitely more delicate and complex than keeping a bearded dragon or a snake, and failure to learn about the needs of the of the specific cham you are trying to keep will almost certainly lead to its demise, veileds (chamaeleo calyptratus) are the hardiest and most forgiving of mistakes and therefore generally considered to be the best starter cham
