Pre-Arrival Checklist
Everything that needs to be in place, running and tested before your chameleon comes home. Work through it here, or take the printable version with you.
Before You Start
Take It With You
The same checklist on a single sheet, with tick boxes, for the hardware shop or the garage floor at eleven at night.
Download the checklist (PDF, 373 KB)
Revised October 10, 2026.
Run the Enclosure for at Least a Week First
Do not set the enclosure up the night before. Build it, plant it, and run the lights and misting on their real schedule for at least seven days before your chameleon arrives. That week is when you discover the basking spot is five degrees too hot, the misting is soaking the substrate, or the humidity never recovers overnight. Far better to find that out with no animal in the enclosure.
The list
Your setup checklist
Check each item as you work through your setup.
Recommended gear
What We Actually Use
No brand deals, no sponsorships. This is simply the equipment running in our own facility. Buy it wherever you like.
Lighting
Water
Food & Monitoring
One Thing Worth Spending Money On
If your budget is tight, put it into lighting and an automated misting system. Almost every serious husbandry problem we see traces back to one of those two. You can improvise a dripper; you cannot improvise correct UVB.
From us
Need a Cup Feeder?
We print our own three-piece feeder systems in PETG, designed for hybrid enclosures and built so the box lifts straight out for cleaning. Add one to your invoice when you reserve a chameleon.
Not Sure If Your Setup Is Right?
Send us photos. We will happily look over your enclosure and tell you honestly what we would change, whether or not you buy an animal from us.