Hi,
I have a juvenile male chameleon, Charlie and need to build him a proper home. I was noticing that some people in this forum do not use enclosures at all.

What kind of set up is necessary for a healthy chameleon to live without a cage? I assume you still need some kind of misting system, and a heat lamp and some UVB?

I would love to know where and how your free range chameleons are living ideally with some pics!

THanks

For the last Chameleonnews e-zine my husband and I wrote an article on how we built the free range for our melleri:
http://www.chameleonnews.com/?page=article&id=121

Personally I don't think a good freerange is in any way easier to create or maintain than a regular screen cage, however I do think that large chameleons enjoy the freedom and the openness of a freerange.

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1.1.1 Ch. (T.) melleri, 1.2 Ch. (T.) jacksonii xantholophus
My work: www.gibbonsrock.com

What a great article. Thanks for all the info

I have a panther that rubs his nose if he isnt in one huge ass cage so I set him up with a free range inside. His outside cage is huge and I have no prob with him rubbing. I will try to get some pics up here later. It is pretty simple. I used the corner of a room where I have a huge ficus and a bunch of biovines. I have a shelf with the uvb light attached to the bottom and the basking lamp squeezes to it also. He cant get to any chords or the lights so no worries about burning. I also have a nice water collection container for the dripper to run into. The only problem I have is I use towels for the bottom that are ontop of trash bags since it is carpet underneath. I take them out and replace with new every week. Another thing is if he doesnt cup feed you cant free range the insects.

i think the ideal solution would be a large outdoor cage rather than free range

there are too many unknowns with freerange, the last thing you need is a giant owl, hawk, snake to come into your area and swoop your cham, not to mention prevent escape

feed


hydrate

etc etc

I wouldn't free range unless i was in a huge pool enclosure and even then I'd be weary, what happens when you come back and he's not there?

Is he talking about inside or out? I would agree with dank if it is outside. Especially panthers mine love to roam and would def go somewhere else if I let them. But you can always use some kind of netting to drap over a BIG tree he may be roaming in. Also people use a boarder around a tree if it is outside so they cant climb down and get out.

I was definitely thinking of indoor. I am in montreal, and the number of days per year a chameleon would be happy outside are numbered...

I was thinking about something like cainschams was mentioning. I want to set up a tray with a high lip, maybe 2' x 2' on a small table in the corner of a room by the window on the tray I would put some kind of appropriate tree, and then hang a nice big pothos from the ceiling and have the heat lamp and UVB in a mesh box also hanging from the ceiling.

I will post pics when I have my corner set up. Is there any problem putting my free range by a window? The window I am thinking of is rather huge.

Depending on how much you are at home (I work from home) you could do a bit of both & try it out.

My Panther has his cage (24 x 24 x 48 inch aluminum screen cage) and he sleeps, eats, drinks, basks and is misted there. Its his pad & since moving him into a bigger cage he has settled down & claimed it as his own.

He is always in his cage overnight and he starts his day off in his cage. He gets his morning feed and a misting at 9 am and another at 12 pm and then when he has warmed up and I am certain he has had enough to drink and is well hydrated I open his cage door where he has vines and a fiscus in the sun by the patio. He gets his 2 afternoon mists and loves to drinks off the fiscus. Sometimes he comes out and other times he chooses to stay in his cage....depending on his mood.

If he comes out he can climb, hide, hiss, bask and do what he pleases then for the next few hours in his tree and vines. He is very clean and only poops in the corner of his cage behind his plant (never out) and around 6pm he makes his way back to his cage across the lounge room floor, climbs in, warms up and then gets settled in for sleep.

If he is not in his cage by 7 pm then he is put back in but as soon as the afternoon gets a bit cooler and the sun starts to set (around 6pm) he is looking for the sancturay, warmth and privacy of his cage and a wax or silkworm as a treat if he is lucky.

If I am out and not at home to keep an eye on him then he doesnt come out as there are too many places to hide....(like inside a guitar....that was not fun looking for him for 2 solid hours I only found him as he got in and couldnt get out).

I think it also depends on the temperment of your cham. Mine is very good natured, curious young Panther. I am not sure if I would even attempt it with a veiled.

Safety of my cham is number 1 though as well as keeping his temps, hydration, uvb and uva levels all correct, his happiness is also a huge important factor to me as well

Here is an older pic that you can see most of my set up. At the bottom of the fake vine to the left is a place to catch water and there is a plastic bottle in the vine that dripps. You can also see part of my high tech fence yes cardboard hahaha but it keeps him in the set up. You cant see the lights but again they are hung where he cant climb on them or the wires and escape and get burnt. I do use a 10.0 uvb bulb for this set up since the light has to be somewhat high for him not to get to it. I used hooks in the wall to attatch the bio vines.

I let this guy hang here when he wants out of his enclosure. I provide very little uva/uvb because he gets it in his enclosure and he dose cup feed. Wont hand feed yet.