Reddit reviews Exo Terra Cricket Pen Size: Large (12" x 8" x 7.6")

That's a lot of questions so I'll edit this post over the next little while trying to answer them all. While I do that, please take some time to read up on the side bar and get yourself some basic information. The more research you do the better. A lot of people hurt their chams by getting them before doing their research. Rule number one, obey Flip.

Edit 1: Veiled vs Panther: Veiled are sturdier and so generally considered better for starters. They also get larger. They can also be more territorial, which is why I chose a panther, but there are no guarantees any species of chameleon is going to let you hand train them. So if letting them out to play with you is important you may want to look into another reptile. However, assuming that's not a deal breaker for you, as it wasn't for me, the other main difference is price and looks. Veiled chams are much cheaper than panthers, go for 50-150. While my panther was 350 (with shipping). Some pet stores sell them cheaper, but do not buy from any chain store as they take poor care of their reptiles and you're likely to get an unhealthy one.

Edit 2: Enclosure: screen enclosures are a must, no matter how many holes it has, don't buy a glass tank. Depending on the age you get your chameleon at you can either start with a full sized cage (4'...assuming you want a male, males are prettier and healthier) an intermediate cage (this was mine, it catches a bit when I try to close to door, but it's a simple problem for the price), or if you get a young one, which is not suggested you will need a baby cham setup. As far as what is the best adult cage, I'm sure people can debate for days about it, I for one am about to order this setup. I seems like a nicer product than the popular brands, and I like having the shelves (it's hard to hang things against the wire cage without tearing the cage, and it looks a lot better than having coated wire going from support to support to avoid holes in the screen. I know you can buy supplies and make the cages or have them made for you as well, I'm just too lazy.

Edit 3: accessories: For starters, this is a picture of my amazon order I used when I first got my cage. DO NOT get the deep dome light fixture I had in that picture, I ended up going with zoomed 8 1/2" dome. The brand isn't really important, and you can probably find cheaper at home depot, but deep dome focuses the light too much and chams burn easily. I no longer use the little dripper, it didn't really help my cham find his drinking glass, check the side bar to learn how to set up a drinking glass. I would suggest everything else, unless Flip tells you otherwise. You're also going to want a live plant, make sure you get one that isn't bad for the cham, as some chams will chew on the leaves. I would suggest a pothos, lots of vines, big leaves to hide behind, easy to keep healthy. As for light bulbs, find an incandescent bulb (or a variety at different watts) and adjust them until the basking spot (no closer than 8" to the bulb, and not directly under the bulb) is a good temperature around 100 degrees should be fine. You may need to change out the bulbs as it gets hotter and colder where you're keeping your cham. You may also want an auto timer so that you can keep the lights on a schedule. Don't forget about a cage for your feeder insects, I would highly suggest a model with tubes if you have the crickets, the crickets climb into the tubes and you can just shake them out, couldn't be easier. Dubia roaches are the best feeder bugs, and you can start a colony and never have to pay for more if you have a 10 gallon aquarium to set up. You will also need gut load food and water crystals. I'm probably forgetting something here, so please ask if you think I forgot something.

Edit 4: Humidity: You don't really need to worry much about humidity if you don't get a baby. This is part of where this subreddit differs from the rest of the chameleon world. As long as you can keep the humidity to around 30 percent your cham should be fine. Chameleons come from humid areas, but as adults they climb up into the trees where the air is much less humid. This keeps your cham healthier as they don't have to worry as much about the infections from humid air. Water can be a breeding ground for bacteria, and respiratory infections are common and life threatening for chameleons. I still mist just for the sake of letting my cham drink from leaves because I didn't set up my cage well for a drinking glass, I thought I did, but I was wrong. I'll set mine up better when I switch to an adult cage in a week or 2. I may spray a little bit if he is having a hard time shedding but aside from that I hope to be able to put the spray bottle away for good soon. If you want one, you can find cheap misters at any place with a garden department cheap.

Edit 5: diet: As I said earlier the best thing to feed a cham is dubia roaches. Until it's big enough for dubias crickets are the next best thing. If you end up with a baby chameleon you can use flightless fruit flies, but you should not be getting a baby. Don't feed your cham something longer than the head of your cham is wide, to keep your cham from choking. As far as how much to eat your cham, that depends on the age. I assume you will be getting 4-5 month old, which means it will be in it's rapid growth phase. At this point I like to fill up the bottom of a dixie cup (not a see through one) and hold it out under him for 5 minutes. I've seen other people build a settup for their feeding cup into their cage so that they don't have to hold the cup...I prefer doing it by hand to try to get my cham more comfortable with me. Sometimes he doesn't want to eat and I shake some out for him to hunt throughout the day, just don't give him too many as the cricket may try to eat off your cham at night. Once they leave their full grown you're going to want to cut back, I'm not sure to how much just yet, I assume every cham is different in this regard, but I know they can over eat, still you probably don't have to worry about that for some time. I like to give my cham some meal worms by hand every now and then. Chams love them, but it's not the healthiest option for them, they are high in fat. Give them too many and the cham will start ignoring it's other food and hold out for meal worms.

I think that's about it, if you have any more questions feel free to ask.

I haven't had a single cricket escape from the cricket cage I bought (at least I haven't found or heard any...).

My SO likes it because you don't have to touch any crickets or even open the cage to feed, when I am away.

as others have mentioned relocation stress is a thing. they sometimes don't eat for the first few days you have them. but getting them comfortable will speed up your time table a little bit.

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I highly recommend you live feed them some feeder insects https://dubiaroaches.com/collections/bearded-dragons you can get the baby bearded dragon variety pack and it seems to be a pretty balanced diet for baby beardies. it has baby Dubai roaches and nutriworms or soldier fly larva whatever you want to call them.

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Here are my recommended reads from the sidebar for new dragon tamers

• basic cheat sheet https://imgur.com/a/CrvIE
  
• to determine if food is good or bad for your dragon check out this link http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html
  
• Guide on Bearded dragons https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B4-LK25H4wfvMFJTVXJZaUExT3M/edit
  
  i think pet smart calls dubia roaches spotted roaches if I remember right. they are expensive there though thats why I linked the site. the problem with shipping roaches is they might die when it is to cold out so you have to get them inside asap I use a cricket container to hold them since they can't fly they tend to climb into the tubes it makes it easier to feed them. I like to have 2 containers so that between shipments i can clean out the containers without having to deal with them.
  
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  Hope this helps :D

https://www.amazon.com/Exo-Terra-Cricket-Pen-Size/dp/B0073KOGOG/ref=br_lf_m_ww83k73y62454pn_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&s=pet-supplies is my favorite of the 2 I use. They only say for 100 but we have done a bit over 250 and almost none died they just crawl like 40-50 in each of 4 tubes and then rest at bottom. You wouldn't be able to keep 250 all the time but we buy them that many and after a day or 2 it's down to more manageable numbers