home-made cage plans. critque.

mychamtini112012

mychamtini112012

New Member
So this spring/summer my father and I are making a large cage. It'll be six feetong, two feet deep, and four feet tall. It'll be open at first, but once I get more chams I'll be putting dividers in it to make three 2x2x4 cages. But before I spend this money, I want to make sure I have to make sure its all going to be okay. So here's my plans...

Frame: made of untreated wood, painted with water sealer so it'll be water proof. It'll be aired outside for two weeks before the chameleon goes inside.

Screening: just the screening used on decks to keep out insects.

Watering: either buying a mistking or aquazamp. Heard good things from both so I need help deciding which will be best for what I want. Whichever one will get its water from a thirty gallon fish tank that has a thirty gallon water heater in it. Also will have a little dripper to keep a constant water source. How many times and how long should I run the system.?

Draining: the bottom will be planter boxes for my plants, with organic soil in it and just enough rocks to cover the soil. Instead of having holes in the bottom the excess water can just drain into my plant boxes and aid in watering. Would putting worms in the soil help it.?

Plants and other accessories: either pothos, ficus, umbrella plants, or hibiscus. Any other ideas are welcomed. Also going to have an assortment of sticks from outside that'll be baked and/or washed and vines I have bought.

Feeding: they will either be hand fed or their feeders will be put in a plastic cup attached to the side.

Lighting: buying the combined pack of the 100w basking bulb and 5.0 reptisun UVB bulb. They'll be in basic fixtures. How often should I change the UVB bulbs.? They'll be on a timed light switch thats on twelve hours and off twelve hours.

Chameleons inside: first will be a nosy faly, and after that I'm just looking for something unique and different to put inside of it. :)
 
You really don't have to bake the branches. That is kinda overkill in my opinion. just make sure you wash them with soapy water incase they have been sprayed with insecticide. that is just my opinion. People bask their panthers at varyiing temps. 90 is a good medium. 100 watt might be too hot. just check for your chameleon gaping(with mouth open). If he is then change the wattage. Make sure the screening is not the kind crickets can eat through. You will have to find out what type. Don't know about the worms, but be aware that your chameleon might eat the worms, so if you don't want that as a feeder, I would not use worms. change uvb lights out every 6 months or so. Sounds like it is going to be an awesome cage!
 
I'll make sure to look for gaping. my house is extremely cold at all times, Nd that's why i was thinking something of a higher watt. And if the rocks are covering the soil would he be able to get the worms.? The wire mesh will be aluminum, someone said they couldn't chew through that. I hope its an awesome cage. I'm getting excited about it and have looked up just about everything to make it cham heaven for my boys to come. :)
 
Well the worms can weasel their way through the rocks I would think. It is just not something I would do, if you are talking about earthworms anyways. I would assume they would breed too and not sure if you want that going on. There are other ways to catch the drainage. I use a large plate under my plants that catches some of the water. If it overflows, I just wipe it up with a towel or something. There are threads on here for drainage ideas as far as the whole cage, not just the plants draining. Yes, every situation is different and you being from Illinois (which is where I am from by the way-Da Bears!) 100 watt will probably work just fine. I use a 60 watt and that is plenty for my house here in Florida.
 
The worms were just there because someone said it helped the plants, not for drainage purposes. I'm just gonna let the plants soak up the water. Lol. Gotta love those bears. :) I wish I lived in florida, that'd make it all easier. And I could finally find someone by me with chams....
 
Sounds like you got everything under control and no one else has anything to tell you that is wrong I guess! Be sure and post pics of your cage and of course your chameleon when you get it!
 
Four feet tall isn't tall enough.? How tall should it be.? It's going in my room so I don't want to push it...lol.

I'll defiantly post pics. And work in progress pics. And of course of the cham. I can't wait for everything to be done! :)
 
mychamtini112012 said:
Four feet tall isn't tall enough.? How tall should it be.? It's going in my room so I don't want to push it...lol.

I'll defiantly post pics. And work in progress pics. And of course of the cham. I can't wait for everything to be done! :)
Click to expand...


That is the standard size most people use. Yes, it is tall enough but maybe he meant as long as you are custom building it to make it even taller!
 
Take a good look at the screening. You want to make sure His/Her claws can fit. You don't want your cham to fall :)
 
also u might want to use cardbord to make a mock cage to make sure u can get it from where u are building it to where it will go.

the first cage i made was a lil too big and i had to take the door frame out to get the cage in my room. for some reason my room has the smallest door in the house. 28'' every other door was 35''

its not fun to get everything done and rdy to get put in the room to find out u have to move some stuff to get it in or that it wont fit though the hall.

first cage was 6't x 3'3''w x 2'6''d (inside to inside) (didnt use the botem 2')
so
the cage i use now is 4't x 4'w x 2'4''d (inside to inside)

IMG_0050.jpg
 
mychamtini112012 said:
That's a great idea. Wouldn't want to build the whole thing and have it not fit through the door. Thanks for the wonderful advice :)
Click to expand...

i wish i did more than just think about it when i made both of them.
first was a pain my a@@ to get in, the 2nd was a pain to get it up the stairs and around a corner with the stairway banister in the way, then had to move a bunch of stuff in my room to get it in.

but i did think about making a test cage
 
mychamtini112012 said:
So this spring/summer my father and I are making a large cage. It'll be six feetong, two feet deep, and four feet tall. It'll be open at first, but once I get more chams I'll be putting dividers in it to make three 2x2x4 cages. But before I spend this money, I want to make sure I have to make sure its all going to be okay. So here's my plans...

Frame: made of untreated wood, painted with water sealer so it'll be water proof. It'll be aired outside for two weeks before the chameleon goes inside.

Screening: just the screening used on decks to keep out insects.

Watering: either buying a mistking or aquazamp. Heard good things from both so I need help deciding which will be best for what I want. Whichever one will get its water from a thirty gallon fish tank that has a thirty gallon water heater in it. Also will have a little dripper to keep a constant water source. How many times and how long should I run the system.?

Draining: the bottom will be planter boxes for my plants, with organic soil in it and just enough rocks to cover the soil. Instead of having holes in the bottom the excess water can just drain into my plant boxes and aid in watering. Would putting worms in the soil help it.?

Plants and other accessories: either pothos, ficus, umbrella plants, or hibiscus. Any other ideas are welcomed. Also going to have an assortment of sticks from outside that'll be baked and/or washed and vines I have bought.

Feeding: they will either be hand fed or their feeders will be put in a plastic cup attached to the side.

Lighting: buying the combined pack of the 100w basking bulb and 5.0 reptisun UVB bulb. They'll be in basic fixtures. How often should I change the UVB bulbs.? They'll be on a timed light switch thats on twelve hours and off twelve hours.

Chameleons inside: first will be a nosy faly, and after that I'm just looking for something unique and different to put inside of it. :)
Click to expand...



Just a consideration for your drains, but you will be watering 'alot' in comparison to how much water your plants need. You need good drainage or you will drown out your plants. If you plan to put your plants directly into a planter in the ground, make sure you use really aerated soil and not standard potting soil or you will have a water layer sitting in your soil, possibly drowning your plants.


As for UVB you need to change it every 6 months.

And as for the height...4' is sufficient for the cham, but you need to account for space needed to mount the lights etc and how to prevent the cham from climbing directly onto the lights
 
mychamtini112012 said:
It'll have a wood bottom...so how can I drain that.?
Click to expand...

A wood bottom is not going to last long at all! You may have to buy some of those cage bottom trays and place them side by side , then duct tape the edges together where they meet. Or get a sheet of plastic, like plexi glass & silicone sides to it and make it water sealed.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

cadet21345
Chameleon cage
Replies
3
Views
354
Beman
Beman
A
It’s a start….
2
Replies
24
Views
768
elizaann2
elizaann2
CharlieWhiskey
Looking to buy a used Dragon Strand cage
2
Replies
23
Views
987
elizaann2
elizaann2
MedicMan1
DIY drainage pan build!
Replies
2
Views
466
Beman
Beman
chameleonowner32
Indoor greenhouse keeping.
Replies
0
Views
241
chameleonowner32
chameleonowner32
Back
Top Bottom