Chameleons are very touchy when it comes to sunlight and UVA/UVB light. You will always want to make sure that you give your chameleon at least one hours worth of real sunlight each day. If you see the spines on your chameleons back start to disappear this means you could be in trouble. The best thing to do is purchase a male chameleon. Females will lay eggs and have big problems doing so if they don’t get a ton of vitamins.
You will need to get a large habitat for the chameleon. The best thing to buy is a fresh air habitat. You can purchase these for around sixty to eighty dollars. This will give your chameleon plenty of fresh air through out the day. You will need to buy a UVA/UVB bulb and clamp. You will need to place it right about the fresh air habitat. Make sure that your bulb reaches down to at least the middle of the fresh air habitat. Some bulbs are only good for up to six inches away. This means the chameleon will have to hang from the top of the fresh air habitat in order to get sunlight. Sunlight is necessary because it helps to form the females eggs and without sunlight and vitamins she will not be able to produce shells on her eggs or even push them out.
The best thing to do is leave the bottom of the fresh air habitat empty. This is because when the chameleon is chasing around crickets, the tongue will get stuck on moss and bark and the chameleon will end up eating it which will cause a lot of problems. You will want to leave the bottom empty which also is helpful when picking up dead crickets. You will need to load the cricks up with Gut Load, which is a blue gel. The crickets will eat the Gut Load and then the chameleon will eat the crickets. You also need to buy a couple different vitamins that are powder. Place the powder in a bag and put the crickets in the bag as well. Shake the crickets in the vitamin dust and let them go in the cage. The more vitamins your chameleon gets, the better.
You will want to get a lot of hanging plants to hang from the top of the fresh air habitat. You can use twist ties if they do not come with any way of attaching them or even if they have suction cups. You can purchase a lot of fake wood decor and place that on the bottom of the fresh air habitat. Just remember that your chameleon will hate coming to the bottom of the cage because it’s a natural instinct. If chameleons come to the bottom of the trees, they will most likely get eaten. If you see your chameleon on the bottom of the cage a lot, the chameleon might be becoming too weak to move around. You need to give the chameleon as many vitamins as possible to prevent this from happening because once it’s to a certain point, your chameleon will die.
You will need to mist the cage daily with water. This keeps the humidity level up, and this is important. Chameleons cannot drink from a water dish, they only drink the water drops from leaves of plants which is why you need hanging plants.
