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NICOLE BRAGG: On behalf of Expert Village, I'm Nicole and I'm here to tell you about
Veiled Chameleons. Now, as far as reptile goes, the chameleon is fairly inexpensive.
The Veiled Chameleons tend to range around $75. There are more expensive ones out there.
But what we do need to be aware of is it's not the animal that's expensive; it's the
setup that's expensive. Since chameleons are very sensitive animals, they do require very
strict attention to their humidity and temperature and lighting. So, the lighting setup can cost
quite a bit of money. I purchased these dome lamps for probably about--they're about 12
bucks each. But the lights themselves--the bulbs themselves run about 10 bucks. The strip
lights that provide the UVB can be around $30 or $40. The cage itself runs about the
same price as the chameleon, so around $75. And then you have the substrate and the water
source to think about. If you buy a fountain such as this one, they'll run about 30 or
40 bucks. And as far as general upkeep goes, you need to make sure that you have food readily
available for your chameleon. The cost of its vegetarian plants would range about 10
bucks or so for a live plant and that will probably last a couple of weeks depending
on what chameleon you have. Now, as far as other food goes, the only thing I need to
keep around on a daily basis is the mealworm. She loves the mealworms so--and this is what
her diet basically consists of. They're fairly inexpensive but as your chameleon grows, they
will eat more. You'll find yourself buying a tub of mealworms probably two or three times
a week. Now, I have a lot of reptiles and I think I probably got at least $2000 worth
of setup and reptiles here. And it is a little bit addicting. So, if it's something--if you're
looking for an animal that's inexpensive to keep, then I would not go with a reptile just
because of the fact that they do require such strict heating and lighting and humidity and
just the general environment itself is a little hard to keep up. It will raise your electric
bill a little bit. I probably--on a weekly basis put in about $150 into all my animals
as far as food, electricity, the amount of light bulbs I go through, the amount of bedding
and supplements and I mean, everything that goes along with owning the animal, it's pretty
expensive. I have--I haven't exactly counted but I do have a pair of breeding Ball Pythons
and I have a Corn Snake, I have a Box Turtle and a Leopard Gecko and an iguana and of course,
the Veiled Chameleon and a euromastics.