frankpayne32
Avid Member
After several months of brainstorming and planning I have begun construction on an eight cage system to house my arboreal lizards, primarily chameleons. While it will not be the same, I drew heavy inspiration from Chris Anderson's "DIY Versatile Cage Designs" build, http://www.chameleonnews.com/06SepAndersonDIY.html .
I wanted something more permanent and attractive in my reptile room beside the various cages thrown together on wire racks that I have now. My requirements for the new system are that it provides adequate size for the lizards, retains heat and humidity well, provides adequate ventilation, allows for water drainage, allows for removable dividers, and be cost effective. While the process will be much more time intensive it should prove to be quite a bit cheaper than eight similarly sized pre-made screen cages with many benefits that they lack. I've budgeted it out to be around $400 but I will be keeping track to see what my final costs will be. Now on to the pictures...
First of four base frames built.
Each unit of the system will be equipped with an all-purpose tub for natural substrate. Each will eventually be plumbed for passive drainage.
The basic frame work had to be assembled in situ in my reptile room. Very cramped with the current cages still there...
The whole system is 82" tall, 82" wide, and 27" deep. There will be four shorter cages on the top level, each measuring approximately 20.5" wide, 27" deep, and 20.5" tall. This does not include the volume of the tubs. These cages are almost identical in volume to standard 18"x18"x36" screen cages. These will be used for female chameleons and smaller species of lizard like Abronia graminea. There will be four taller cages on the bottom level that will measure approximately 20.5" wide, 27" deep, and 28" tall. These are about 1.4 times larger than the smaller cages. However, for the foreseeable future, two of the dividers will be removed to make for two larger cages to house two male chameleons. If I like the end result I will probably build another similar system but with just four large cages instead of eight smaller ones to house males.
I will try to keep this thread updated as often as possible as I progress through the build. Thanks for looking!
Frank
I wanted something more permanent and attractive in my reptile room beside the various cages thrown together on wire racks that I have now. My requirements for the new system are that it provides adequate size for the lizards, retains heat and humidity well, provides adequate ventilation, allows for water drainage, allows for removable dividers, and be cost effective. While the process will be much more time intensive it should prove to be quite a bit cheaper than eight similarly sized pre-made screen cages with many benefits that they lack. I've budgeted it out to be around $400 but I will be keeping track to see what my final costs will be. Now on to the pictures...
First of four base frames built.
Each unit of the system will be equipped with an all-purpose tub for natural substrate. Each will eventually be plumbed for passive drainage.
The basic frame work had to be assembled in situ in my reptile room. Very cramped with the current cages still there...
The whole system is 82" tall, 82" wide, and 27" deep. There will be four shorter cages on the top level, each measuring approximately 20.5" wide, 27" deep, and 20.5" tall. This does not include the volume of the tubs. These cages are almost identical in volume to standard 18"x18"x36" screen cages. These will be used for female chameleons and smaller species of lizard like Abronia graminea. There will be four taller cages on the bottom level that will measure approximately 20.5" wide, 27" deep, and 28" tall. These are about 1.4 times larger than the smaller cages. However, for the foreseeable future, two of the dividers will be removed to make for two larger cages to house two male chameleons. If I like the end result I will probably build another similar system but with just four large cages instead of eight smaller ones to house males.
I will try to keep this thread updated as often as possible as I progress through the build. Thanks for looking!
Frank
