About a year ago I started housing some of my smaller chameleon species in 18x18x24 Exo Terras that I had around, rather than buying more screen. They did extremely well, and I've since switched a couple more into the few cages I had in order to reduce the amount of misting necessary. As Chris A pointed out in his post on glass cages some time ago, they allow for great humidity retention while still allowing ventilation through the lower vents and out of the top. A couple months ago I also decided to transfer the rest of my animals (they're all smaller species) to glass terrariums, however, the only place to get Exos around me in decent quantity had closed, and I did not want to get them through Petsmart since mine only carries the "Mayan Kit". Since I wanted to order a larger group of cages, I figured I might as well also look into custom enclosures
I came across Protean Terrariums on dendroboard and contacted Jason about customizing an arboreal, glass, sliding door design he already builds. He generally does traditional "euro" style venting for the lower vent design, which is a little different than what I wanted. If possible, I wanted a strip of screen in the lower front, as it provides more ventilation at the bottom than other designs. After discussing it a bit, he agreed. And even better, the pricing was very good, nowhere near what I thought it would cost.
The shipment arrived yesterday from CA (I'm in NJ), and I'm very happy with the results. There were no cracks or breakages, and even the delivery guy was impressed with how well/sturdy they were packed. The cages are 16x16x30 and have a 3 inch high strip of screen in the low front. They have sliding doors, and a 1/2" hold pre drilled across a glass strip on the front of the top to insert misting nozzles.
Here are some photos of the crate and enclosures.
Crate:
There was also insulation foam between the wood and shrink wrap, but I didn't want to post too many of the unpacking. If you want to see, let me know..
Crate with 1 cage removed
Group of terrariums after bringing them indoors
Lower Vent
Cage with doors in (they came packed inside so as to reduce damage).
I have not set them up yet since I'm still deciding on background options, and also have to finish arranging the shelving. The only things I would potentially change on the terrariums are the height of the substrate dam and to put full trim around the lower vent. However, I specified the substrate dam depth and Jason even asked if I wanted trim around the full front, and I said don't worry about it, so it was a personal choice and not based on their designs. Of course, I will also post updates once they're planted and animals move in. Just thought I'd share them first, since it may be a few weeks before everything is ready. Let me know if you have any questions. I've let Jason know about the forum as well, so he may be able to answer anything else.
I came across Protean Terrariums on dendroboard and contacted Jason about customizing an arboreal, glass, sliding door design he already builds. He generally does traditional "euro" style venting for the lower vent design, which is a little different than what I wanted. If possible, I wanted a strip of screen in the lower front, as it provides more ventilation at the bottom than other designs. After discussing it a bit, he agreed. And even better, the pricing was very good, nowhere near what I thought it would cost.
The shipment arrived yesterday from CA (I'm in NJ), and I'm very happy with the results. There were no cracks or breakages, and even the delivery guy was impressed with how well/sturdy they were packed. The cages are 16x16x30 and have a 3 inch high strip of screen in the low front. They have sliding doors, and a 1/2" hold pre drilled across a glass strip on the front of the top to insert misting nozzles.
Here are some photos of the crate and enclosures.
Crate:
There was also insulation foam between the wood and shrink wrap, but I didn't want to post too many of the unpacking. If you want to see, let me know..
Crate with 1 cage removed
Group of terrariums after bringing them indoors
Lower Vent
Cage with doors in (they came packed inside so as to reduce damage).
I have not set them up yet since I'm still deciding on background options, and also have to finish arranging the shelving. The only things I would potentially change on the terrariums are the height of the substrate dam and to put full trim around the lower vent. However, I specified the substrate dam depth and Jason even asked if I wanted trim around the full front, and I said don't worry about it, so it was a personal choice and not based on their designs. Of course, I will also post updates once they're planted and animals move in. Just thought I'd share them first, since it may be a few weeks before everything is ready. Let me know if you have any questions. I've let Jason know about the forum as well, so he may be able to answer anything else.
