Providing the best chameleon cage not only ensure the optimal health for your pet but also gives you great opportunity to create a focal point and a decoration for your house. However, not all the available cages are really suitable for chameleons.
Many pet owners have successfully kept their chameleon in a glass enclosure. But personally, I do not recommend glass tank for chameleons. This is because glass cages for a chameleon can create many problems.
#1 Ventilation
One of the biggest problem of glass tank that will kill your chameleon in the early days was poor ventilation. The glass tank may do the great job to maintain high humidity that mimic the natural conditions in the wild. But chameleons do not really need it.
Chameleons and many others need good ventilation. Poor ventilation will lead to respiratory problems. Glass cages may lack of vent holes and are difficult to ventilate properly. However, if you prefer to use glass tank, you can look for the glass units have a vented front-door ventilation system or an aquarium with a screen cover.
#2 Lime scale
If you want to increase the humidity levels in your chameleon cages, you will spray your chameleon sufficiently, and you are likely to end up with lime scale on the glass. The lime scale is the nasty white crust that builds up quickly in the glass wall from hard water but can result from anything except distilled. It can make your glass unattractive and also hard to remove.
#3 Reflection
The advantage of glass tank is that it offers better opportunities to get a clearer view of your chameleon inside its habitat. However, the drawback is glass will reflect an image of the chameleon back into the cage. And you need to know that chameleons use their ability to change colors.
Due to this, the reflection of glass may make your chameleons think that there is an intruder in their cage and they will use a variety of display stances and colours to scare of the intruder away from their territory. This may cause they get stress.
You also can place the cage and lights in ways to minimise the reflection but if it’s not done well, it will have bad effects on chameleon’s health. A few species are not anti-social but Veiled and Panther chameleons will not be happy.
#4 Poor drainage
It is a big chance that the glass tank you choose have glass bases and are sealed around the base. If you need to spray your chameleon cage several times a day to provide it proper humidity, the bottom of the cage will be deep in water. It is a risk of cracking the base when you try to make holes on it.