Flap Neck Chameleon Help

[Rhapsody]

I want to get an adult flap neck female chameleon I found at a nearby reptile store. She's beautiful, tame, and active. I know chameleons need mesh tanks (at least half screen), constant water (dripper), high humidity, etc.

But I cant seem to find any specifics.

What do I dust the crickets with?

Will she need a UV Bulb or just regular lighting?

Right now she's in a medium sized tank with a veiled chameleon (male). How big of a tank will she need by herself?

Any other specifics will be highly appreciated, thanks

[Shelby]

Dust crickets daily with calcium and once a month with vitamin powder (rep-cal is a good brand)

Yes, they do need uva/uvb lighting. Bulbs don't cut it (for heat yes, but you will need a fluorescent tube to take care of the UV lighting)

You should know that it is very stressful for chams to live with other chameleons.. they are very territorial.

I'm not sure how big flapneck chams get, but a nice large screen cage will be appreciated by your little guy/girl. I used a reptarium for my Jackson's cham when I had him, and it's really a nice cage.

[mr~python]

i saw a couple flapneck chams at a show today. they are pretty cool.

April, what happened to your Jacksons?

[Shelby]

Unfortunately he stopped eating. In retrospect I think he may have had parasites. I wasn't nearly as experienced when I had him as I am now, so I didn't know he was in trouble. His health went downhill so fast, I didn't even get him to a vet.

Jacksons are one of the most difficult and easily stressed of chameleons. I should have started with a veiled or panther cham.

[Rhapsody]

I'm so excited about getting this girl haha. She walked straight onto my hand at the store and had no problems exploring me lol. I'm going to set her up in a screen cage (a big one for her since she seems like she's already adult size, the guy didnt know how old she was), a ficus (I'm a little worried about where I should get the ficus...I dont want to bring home a bug-infested or pesticide treated plant in case she decides to take a bite). I'm not really sure what substrate I should be using though

EDIT: Yeah, she's being kept in a tank with an adult male veiled chameleon. The tank seems too small for the both of them, but they do look healthy at least.

[Shelby]

I had a nice ficus as well as a small schefflera tree. I would buy the plants from a nursery (ask there if they put anything on the plants) then rinse the heck out of them in your bathtub and repot them with new soil.

Substrate can be as simple as paper towels. I wouldn't recommend newspaper as it doesn't absorb water from the dripper nearly so well. You could also just use potting soil.. your cham will spend very limited time on the floor.

[Rhapsody]

Haha I love the word Ficus....that was a little random, back to the husbandry lol


I dont know the first thing about UVB bulbs, except that they help the animal break down D3 which helps them absorb calcium. I heard you have to replace them every six months. I have this hood lamp that i got with another tank, and it has a long bulb, a heat bulb, and a socket for another bulb (i've e-mailed the girl asking if the long bulb was just flouresent or if it was uvb).

When re-potting the ficus...do I just rinse off all the dirt until I see the roots, and put regular potting soil from walmart or something with it?

[Shelby]

As far as repotting.. you can try that. Just be gentle with the roots, don't want to break them. Make sure the potting soil you buy has no additives.

[Rhapsody]

Here's some pics (bad ones lol) of Sheila:

[Shelby]

I love the name. Very pretty.