My new Cage Setup. What do you think + Mold Question

rickd5

New Member
Hey guys so this is a picture of my new setup.

Features
-Suspended Grapevine Branch
-Biovine Branches + some Fake Plants for foilage
-The humidity in my area is constantly 50-80%(I live right next to the beach), I don't use Real plants simply because I hate dealing with them

Question:
-My misting system is located in the back left corner of the cage, It is a squazamp low-profile raindome which my chameleon(As I call it) Carwashes himself through every time it goes off. It drips onto the Fake Cannabis plants located back there. The bottom portion of the grapevine that sticks out into that portion(back-left corner) of the cage has turned a darker color because it is wet all the time-you can actually see it's complexion in the picture darker.. I was thinking of sawing it off because I am afraid of Mold/bacteria building up. What do you guys think of this? and my cage :).

My misting schedule is: 9 am for 5 min, 1 pm for 10 minutes.
(Lights- 7am-7pm)
I find that the grapevine absorbs a lot of water and doesn't necessarily dry out completely that's why I was going to cut the bottom portion off.

Am I over concerned?

I also posted a pic of my drainage system. If you have questions how it works feel free to ask, it's a pretty good one because it catches over spray as well. Btw it is not sitting on the drainage pan in the pic because I hadn't built it yet. The table is from Ikea 29.99.






Here's Ned just because:

 
Yes, over concerned! Though you might just want to cut off the nub that gets an excess amount of water. Keep that extra length. Have you considered getting him a live plant? pothos, ficus, schefflera, even dracaena.


Ned is very good looking, where did you get him?
 
Yes, over concerned! Keep that extra length. Have you considered getting him a live plant? pothos, ficus, schefflera, even dracaena.

Ned is very good looking, where did you get him?

Thanks for Prompt Reply. Hmm so you don't think that dark spot is mold growing? It is dark even when it is not wet.. idk if it being wet dyed it or what. Yes I was only going to cut off the nub.. not the whole bottom portion sorry for confusion.. Would a handsaw work or do I need to whip out the chainsaw or saw-zaw.

Reason I don't have live plant is because I always find the feeders burrowing themselves in there and my last plant had a freaking mushroom grow out of it (and I hate the smell of them, this cage is in my room- I'm a college student)

He's from screameleons, His sire is Akuma, he's an ambanja. My buddy on here started breeding Faley's and needed the room in his place so I got Ned from him a few months ago, I met him on craigslist ( haha :) ) and now were good friends.


and if anyone remembers, ned went on a hunger strike for almost three weeks. he randomly decided to start eating everything again, I was so excited.. I jumped around my house. Luckily I have bearded dragon who is a trashcan and eat's up anything I give him (but veggies/greens, he hates those but it's all good). Btw my bearded dragon comes everywhere with me, just hangs on my shoulder at wal-mart/target/petsmart.. wish I could say the same for Ned
 
I put a red line through the portion I was going to saw off today. From behind it the whole backside of that part has turned a dark/brown color. I am going to sand any part that's darkened off



If I saw this off, sand it, and then clean the whole cage with soap and water I think I should be good hopefully. There is also a dark tip on the other side where it dripped all the time. i may as well sand that off as well
 
Ah sorry I must have skipped over the mould part. Yes if it is mouldy it should go.
Have you considered cup-feeding? Live plants really are beneficial. You could also try covering up the soil with a weed blocker and large rocks?
 
Mushrooms popping up in a house plant is ridiculously common. It's literally called the yellow houseplant mushroom. All you have to do it repot your plant with new soil. As for feeders burrowing, use a feeder cup for the ones that will burrow. Crickets are fine to let loose and let the Cham hunt. Without a live plant I fear your chameleon will not do very well. In the wild their homes are live trees and even though in a humans care they are FAR from their natural habitat- it's our job to recreate it as well as we can. It's surely a job of its own taking care of various plants and cleaning them but it will be worth your time.
 
I think the cage is a good start, but its a little bare.

ALso, are you only misting twice a day?

I suggest doing it more often, I currently have my mistking set to go off every 2 hours from 8 am to 6 pm.
 
Looks good, the dark spots should be a non-issue, have had mine up since June and the dark spots have not molded.
 
I was misting more. But then it wasn't drying out enough. My cham is a crazy drinker and does it almost instantly so I didn't think it was necessary.

Okay Spork so your's has those darkspots aswell and you have no issue?

Have you been cleaning the cage with soap and water every couple weeks or what?

If I remember correctly, wasn't your entire grapevine getting soaked by the mister.

What concerns me is the dark spots have a differen't texture, like fuzzy feeling that's what I thought it was a growth starting
 
I will get some small plants to go at the bottom then(any suggestions)---Is that enough?, I am not going to put any tall ones. I thought plants were simply to keep the humidity up..


He won't eat out of a cup.. I have to put them on the grapevine or on the side of the screen and after about 20-30 min he all of a sudden goes into hunter mode and starts eating them.. it literally takes this long almost every time.

I kept it bare because my cham seems to be more active, you should of seen my last cage, it was a jungle.
 
I think the cage is a good start, but its a little bare.

ALso, are you only misting twice a day?

I suggest doing it more often, I currently have my mistking set to go off every 2 hours from 8 am to 6 pm.

How long is your mister going off for.
 
You need tall plants.

The plants are not just for humidity, it makes them feel safer when they cant always be seen.


If they are always out in plain sight, it can cause stress.

I mist every 2 hours for 1 minute, and my cages dry out just fine, just a thought.
 
Im not a big fan of grape vine because it retains water /soaks up water and doesn't dry well. But anyways I'd suggest more branches or vines.
I also suggest a pothos plant - they are not hard to maintain at all. They are incredible easy to grow. They survive over-watering, under-watering. They need very little soil. Put an inch of sand on the bottom of the pot, then soil, an inch of sand ontop the soil and Cover with rocks and you will never have to worry about the bugs or the mushrooms or gnats.
 
Nope, I just remove the plants and clean them every other week the floor gets wiped down as needed. My mist schedule is a bit different, 10 am for 5 minutes and then at 1 and 5 for 3 minutes each. The wood gets soacked, but seems to dry out overnight. I'll take a couple pictures tonight for you.
 
Im not a big fan of grape vine because it retains water /soaks up water and doesn't dry well. But anyways I'd suggest more branches or vines.
I also suggest a pothos plant - they are not hard to maintain at all. They are incredible easy to grow. They survive over-watering, under-watering. They need very little soil. Put an inch of sand on the bottom of the pot, then soil, an inch of sand ontop the soil and Cover with rocks and you will never have to worry about the bugs or the mushrooms or gnats.

Okay I will try that plant, He seems to not be stressed at all, he has places to hide underneath that foilage in the front, but I will add more then. He sleeps in between the grapevine where the foilage dangles down.

If you guys really think I need more plants, so be it. But from what I observed he dosen't seem to be stressed, he hides when he wants to but not very often.. only like when my dog walks in the room that's about it.
 
Nope, I just remove the plants and clean them every other week the floor gets wiped down as needed. My mist schedule is a bit different, 10 am for 5 minutes and then at 1 and 5 for 3 minutes each. The wood gets soacked, but seems to dry out overnight. I'll take a couple pictures tonight for you.

Thanks spork, the suspended grapevine idea was awesome too. People tell me it soaks up water and they are right.. but If i clean it every once in a while I think it is safe.

P.S. isnt your light schedule 10am-10pm
 
I really suggest more plants, trust us, he may not seem stressed to you, but it can take a toll on them.
 
Thanks spork, the suspended grapevine idea was awesome too. People tell me it soaks up water and they are right.. but If i clean it every once in a while I think it is safe.

P.S. isnt your light schedule 10am-10pm

It's a soft wood so it will soak up water, yes I have my lights on from 10-10. I recently upgraded both cages to metal halide and so far I am really liking it.
 
I really suggest more plants, trust us, he may not seem stressed to you, but it can take a toll on them.

I believe you i'm going to add some hanging pothos and wrap them around the vines and grapevine.

Spork- What is metal halide? you bought a whole new cage? err.. or is that a type of bulb, do you have a link to the exact one you bought? Id like to check it out, the pics of your setup will come in handy too :)

From what I read on wiki it looks similar to a MVB, so does it produce UVB aswell as UVA?
 
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