chamimom
Member
Hey, guys. So I haven't been on in a long time because I started up graduate courses while homeschooling my kids and taking care of all our animals. I am in a bind, though, and am trying to quickly set up an appropriate partially homemade chameleon enclosure. I brought home two chameleons this week that people were desperately trying to rehome and advertising for free (yes, I know it was a big-time risk--however, they seem to be in good health thus far though a vet check-up will be necessary, of course), because I didn't want people who didn't want to do the research or work hard to be able to take proper care of them to grab them up. I was told they were both males. As it happens, one is actually a female. I had the appropriate enclosures, one completely set up within a day for the male and the other sprayed down and left out to dry in the Cali sun. The male is set up in the fully set up enclosure. I had the plants, lighting, and everything I needed for the second set-up. However, I left my dogs out accidentally, and when we came home, that appropriately sized enclosure (2x2x4) was broken. Thankfully that one hadn't costed me as much as a new one! The enclosure I brought the female home in is not nearly large enough. I set her up with everything she needs---uvb, heat, live plants to hide in, and I'll get a pot of soil for her in case she needs to lay eggs (I've had a female before, so I know her needs). Bill Strand's enclosures are not shipping until mid July, and I really don't know if she will lay eggs in such a small space as her ridiculously small enclosure allows. So...don't laugh, but I have a large chinchilla enclosure we are no longer using, because I moved them to an even larger one that would support a group. This enclosure has bars, but they are horizontal bars and close enough together to where I do not think the chami would escape, and even if she did, there aren't many place for her to go in my office, and she is safely closed off from our cats there. I plan to put up siding and a backing inside the enclosure, too, which I can do quickly with plywood and a layer of leftover pieces of waterproof stone/plastic composite flooring we had put into our house. They are the kind that click together. I will put on a screen front instead of the doors. However, the thing is five feet tall, 2 feet wide, and 2 feet deep and has wheels on the bottom that I cannot take off. They are welded to the bottom of the cage. So I cannot set it up on anything so that her ground level would be higher up. She also will not be able to get to a point at the top to where she would be above my head. I try to do that with my chameleons to make them feel secure. I have a few questions for you all:
1) Do you foresee any issues with the enclosure construction plan itself outside of the height issues?
2) If I make sure to put plenty of plants at the bottom--I plan to make the entire bottom a top soil/sand mixture set on top of a flooring with drilled holes for drainage with a drainage tray or box underneath--will she feel comfortable enough to lay eggs if she needs to with plenty of plant coverage even if she is at floor level? I was thinking that out in the wild, they would have to go to the ground to do that, too, so I'm not sure whether or not this would be problematic.
3) With the enclosure being 5 feet, would a quad light fixture with reflectors with T5 UVB bulbs be enough to light that enclosure for the chameleon, and also what strength of bulbs would be needed to support the plant life from above. The plants I got so far are money tree and a sizeable pothos that would have filled out one side of her enclosure very nicely. However, with this enclosure, I will probably have to get one or two more plants.
4) Last, but not least, is there a reason people do not use the clay balls/stones they use for gecko enclosures for chameleon enclosures to help with drainage?
As a PS, the male's eyes and coloring look good. However, he was a Petco buy. The girl who got him said she did so because he was stuck in an 18 inch enclosure with a bunch of babies, and he was larger than them, and it didn't look like he was getting much food. She was also just feeding him meal worms after she got him. He is about 1 to 1 1/2 year old and he is very, very small. I'll get him a vet visit. The female seems to be in good health, although obviously we will want to get her a vet visit as well to be sure.
1) Do you foresee any issues with the enclosure construction plan itself outside of the height issues?
2) If I make sure to put plenty of plants at the bottom--I plan to make the entire bottom a top soil/sand mixture set on top of a flooring with drilled holes for drainage with a drainage tray or box underneath--will she feel comfortable enough to lay eggs if she needs to with plenty of plant coverage even if she is at floor level? I was thinking that out in the wild, they would have to go to the ground to do that, too, so I'm not sure whether or not this would be problematic.
3) With the enclosure being 5 feet, would a quad light fixture with reflectors with T5 UVB bulbs be enough to light that enclosure for the chameleon, and also what strength of bulbs would be needed to support the plant life from above. The plants I got so far are money tree and a sizeable pothos that would have filled out one side of her enclosure very nicely. However, with this enclosure, I will probably have to get one or two more plants.
4) Last, but not least, is there a reason people do not use the clay balls/stones they use for gecko enclosures for chameleon enclosures to help with drainage?
As a PS, the male's eyes and coloring look good. However, he was a Petco buy. The girl who got him said she did so because he was stuck in an 18 inch enclosure with a bunch of babies, and he was larger than them, and it didn't look like he was getting much food. She was also just feeding him meal worms after she got him. He is about 1 to 1 1/2 year old and he is very, very small. I'll get him a vet visit. The female seems to be in good health, although obviously we will want to get her a vet visit as well to be sure.
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