Assistance with setting up Dragonstrand Large Atrium Enclosure

Ponyboy

Ponyboy

Member
I purchased the new large atrium breeder cage and drainage tray for it from Bill, in addition to the Arcadia 24" T-5 Quad Bulb Fixture with Arcadia %12 bulb and two 6.5k daylight bulbs and a plant light bulb as recommended on Bill's website. I felt it was time to really give Mohammed an enclosure he deserves as he was a rescue. I've obviously already been using a dripper, mister, and appropriate indicators for humidity and temp.

I would greatly appreciate some suggestions on how to incorporate/modify particulars from my current enclosure into the new large atrium? (I've posted pics) the atrium is massive and I'm not sure I can fill it in!

Some things I'm thinking about are how to hang the pothos. It's MASSIVE. It doesn't look horribly large but it takes up easily half of my current reptibreeze XL...!

All recommendations appreciated!

Steven
 

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Wow, I love that cage! Not knowing anything about the sturdiness of the frame, my first thought for hanging the pothos is to place a 1x2 board on the top and screw some eye hooks through the screen to the board. As far as filling the cage, you could hang 3 or 4 pothos, spider plants, or other trailing types and let them grow downwards to fill it in, within a few months. Otherwise, throw in a couple Schefflera, hibiscus, or ficus.
 
Can anyone make recommendations as to where I can find appropriate branching and artificial plants that will fit snugly across the large atrium? Also, I'm redicent to put any holes in my new cage...I did that with my large zoo med reptibreeze and I've always been concerned my Cham will get poked by something or a feeder will sneak through. (I also feed green banana roaches). I intentionally spent buku dollars on the dragonstrand so I could use the dragon ledges for plant and fixtures attachment.

Thanks in advance!
 
Hobby and craft stores work well for finding faux foliage. What I recalled being inexpensive, easily became $150.00 worth of faux plants. eBay and Amazon could also be a bountiful place to find such things. You can probably find the Bend a vine sort of vines at online reptile sites or chain pet stores. A member here had the great idea of taking grapevine wreaths from a craft store, soaking them for several hour in hot water, and unraveling the vines to get lots of natural, different diameter vines. It is important to provide multiple widths of vines and branches to keep their feet from losing dexterity.
As far as not putting holes in the cage, I understand, but since I am no familiar with your brand of cage and how the frame is constructed, using small eye hooks seems like an easy approach. If you use plant hooks for hanging house plants, they only puncture a hole large enough for a screw to get through and the base will cover the hole. If you were extremely worried about feeders escaping, you could place a thin bead of silicone around the base, once it's installed, but if you use the hooks I'm speaking of, available in big box stores, that shouldn't be needed. You could try adhesive hooks for hanging pictures and such, but be cautious and check them for soundness, before placing your chameleon in the enclosure, as a hanging pot falling from above could kill or badly injure a chameleon. There is probably flexible wire, such as floral wire that would not require puncturing the screen, but I'm not sure the screen itself will support the weight of the plant(s).
I would call or email the makers of your cage for an approache that will be best for preserving the integrity of your cage and not pose hazards to your chameleon, void any warranties, or cause any issues with the enclosures stability.
 
Ponyboy said:
I purchased the new large atrium breeder cage and drainage tray for it from Bill, in addition to the Arcadia 24" T-5 Quad Bulb Fixture with Arcadia %12 bulb and two 6.5k daylight bulbs and a plant light bulb as recommended on Bill's website. I felt it was time to really give Mohammed an enclosure he deserves as he was a rescue. I've obviously already been using a dripper, mister, and appropriate indicators for humidity and temp.

I would greatly appreciate some suggestions on how to incorporate/modify particulars from my current enclosure into the new large atrium? (I've posted pics) the atrium is massive and I'm not sure I can fill it in!

Some things I'm thinking about are how to hang the pothos. It's MASSIVE. It doesn't look horribly large but it takes up easily half of my current reptibreeze XL...!

All recommendations appreciated!

Steven
Click to expand...

Steven Quick question the cage is 45" long should have you purchase 36" light fixture instead of the 24" ?
 
Still looking for recommendations for vendors regarding artificial vines and sticks suitable for a large dragonstrand atrium! :)
 
Ponyboy said:
Still looking for recommendations for vendors regarding artificial vines and sticks suitable for a large dragonstrand atrium! :)
Click to expand...

I just got my large atrium setup for the most part and I drilled holes in the backs of the planters and then secured them to the ledges using zipties. I also collected a bunch of driftwood and used that in there since the cage is so wide. Everything in my cage is connected using the dragon ledges and I have a couple plants just sitting on the floor. Before i set the cage up I thought I had way more than enough stuff to fill it. As you can see, I misjudged lol. It's okay for the moment though.

20160428_193143.jpg

This is when I was still putting it together.
20160428_125210.jpg
 
Another big question I have is l, what is a good method to support large potted trees inside the enclosure in terms of supporting the weight and providing drainage beneath it?

Thanks!
 
Ponyboy said:
I purchased the new large atrium breeder cage and drainage tray for it from Bill, in addition to the Arcadia 24" T-5 Quad Bulb Fixture with Arcadia %12 bulb and two 6.5k daylight bulbs and a plant light bulb as recommended on Bill's website. I felt it was time to really give Mohammed an enclosure he deserves as he was a rescue. I've obviously already been using a dripper, mister, and appropriate indicators for humidity and temp.

I would greatly appreciate some suggestions on how to incorporate/modify particulars from my current enclosure into the new large atrium? (I've posted pics) the atrium is massive and I'm not sure I can fill it in!

Some things I'm thinking about are how to hang the pothos. It's MASSIVE. It doesn't look horribly large but it takes up easily half of my current reptibreeze XL...!

All recommendations appreciated!

Steven
Click to expand...
Hey I know I'm late but I actually have the same cage and what I did was use great stuff pond and stone to hold some pots up up and I also used the branches that were attached to the dragon ledges to hold some hanging pots
 
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