I'm DIYing a large, 2 chameleon cage.

I know that 2X2X4 is the ideal size for male panther. BUT My ceilings are only 8 feet tall.

I have cats that can occasionally get to where the cham is, they actually show no interest in him at all, as he doesn't move, etc. in a way that would catch their eye. They think I have a pet tree. I don't want this to turn into a discussion about owning cats and chameleons. The chameleon shows no signs of stress when the cats are in the room, he is significantly higher than them all the time, they are locked out of the room when the cage door is opened for any reason, they are locked out of the room whenever I am not in it. I'm not a lunatic who thinks that my cats won't hurt my cham if given the opportunity.

That all said, given the fact that they do occasionally get into his room, the base of the stand needs to be 4 ft high ideally. That way the biggest one standing up against it still couldn't really see in, etc.

Is having each "compartment" of the cage being 2X2X3 severely detrimental. In his current baby cage, I have never even seen him in the lower third of his cage. There would be sufficient height for him to get even higher than I am if he wants to, and still quite a temperature gradient.

My other option would be to have each compartment be 2X2X4, but the lower quarter be boxed in, instead of screen. I'm not sure that I see the benefit of that, so I want your opinions.

Also, I'm not attempting to house two chams together. Rather side by side, with a solid divider, essentially two cages sharing one stand.
Hope this all makes sense.

I know you don't want to hear it about the cat , but cats will be cats.

This way you can refer to this and everyone else can answer your questions.

My dog attacked my cham ! !

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2.2 F. Lat. Lateralis, 4.3 F. Pardalis, 1.1 jacksonii xanth, 1.0 Veiled, 1.0 Rieppeleon brev., 0.0.1 Melleri, 41 Pumpkin eggs

I know cats will be cats. Saw that thread before. I'm not trying to build things this way to let the cats and cham be together all the time, but rather for WHEN it happens, which it will, that there is minimal potential for issues

You will be ok making the cage a tad shorter. If you can go wider to compensate for the loss in height that would work well. Chams like high places. If you are restricted to 8', try and give the cham's more lateral space to roam around, they will be happy. Just remember chams live in trees, higher is better. Also remember that if you make the cage shorter you will need to watch the temps more closely. If the cage is shorter that means the cham can't go as low to get away from a heat lamp the cham feels is too hot.

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Veiled 2.1 - Fred and Jake, Panther 1.0 - Steve, Jacksoni 1.0 - Jackson , Melleri 3 - Pat, Lenny and Henry.