Alternatives to screen

MollyT

MollyT

New Member
Hello everyone. I am new to the forum, so pardon me if I'm asking something that's been asked a million times, but my husband is building our cage and I have a question. I read a few times that the screen used for doors is not good for chameleons toenails. What is a safe alternative. We went to Lowes and a couple other stores the other day to look around and found something I think would work but for the life of me I can't think of what it was called. It looked like screen but the holes were bigger. It was called pet cloth or something. It came in a few different sizes. Does this sound familiar? Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!
 
FINE mesh is bad cham toes. However coated hardware cloth is fine. The screen just needs to be fine enough that the food cant get out of, if you free range the food, cup feeders need not apply.

If its a large cham (panther/veiled) you can go for 1/4" coated hardware cloth and the feet wont be a problem. If its full grown you can even go for larger, i run 3/4" just fine, I just have to make sure they cant get their heads stuck. I had my adult veiled in a 2'x3'x4' ferret cage with 3/4" spacing and it loved shimmy ing up the sides of the cage.
 
Hardware cloth!! That's what it was! Ok. Good to know. So, do I need to coat it with something or will it be fine as is? Thanks for the help, by the way! :D
 
Thanks, everyone! One more question...does guage matter? I noticed on the link that was given, there is a choice between two guages. Is one better?
 
Usually the gauge changes with the size of the opening. The smaller the number the bigger the wire. I went with 1/4" as it keeps most of the food items I feed inside the cage.
 
Montium said:
Usually the gauge changes with the size of the opening. The smaller the number the bigger the wire. I went with 1/4" as it keeps most of the food items I feed inside the cage.
Click to expand...

You 2 are talking about 2 diff things. She is talking about wire gauge. If you are running 1/4 gauge then komodo dragons could hang out in the cage.

Back to the question. The most popular gauge for 8 and 4 (8 bars per inch and 4 bars per inch) is .028-.032. Once you deviate from that it gets $$$. That gauge is also huge compared to screen, so it could hold a 20lb animal just fine.

http://www.twpinc.com/wire-mesh/TWPCAT_304Welded/p_004X004W0320W48T

http://www.twpinc.com/wire-mesh/TWPCAT_12/p_008X008S0280W48T

Here is some stainless that is cheap(relative)(4-2ft sides would run $200 and could be given to your great grand kids). If you want i can send you a pic of my 6 month old ouslates on 1/2" ($30 for the same amount) vinyl coated hardware cloth.
 
Stainless still rusts, it just does it slower, usually at the weld points. Vinyl coated makes more sense dollar wise and use wise.
 
nightanole said:
You 2 are talking about 2 diff things. She is talking about wire gauge. If you are running 1/4 gauge then komodo dragons could hang out in the cage.

Back to the question. The most popular gauge for 8 and 4 (8 bars per inch and 4 bars per inch) is .028-.032. Once you deviate from that it gets $$$. That gauge is also huge compared to screen, so it could hold a 20lb animal just fine.

http://www.twpinc.com/wire-mesh/TWPCAT_304Welded/p_004X004W0320W48T

http://www.twpinc.com/wire-mesh/TWPCAT_12/p_008X008S0280W48T

Here is some stainless that is cheap(relative)(4-2ft sides would run $200 and could be given to your great grand kids). If you want i can send you a pic of my 6 month old ouslates on 1/2" ($30 for the same amount) vinyl coated hardware cloth.
Click to expand...

No you are reading what you want to read. I went with 1/4" mesh or .23 gauge and while I didn't spell it it out it was inferred.
 
Montium said:
No you are reading what you want to read. I went with 1/4" mesh or .23 gauge and while I didn't spell it it out it was inferred.
Click to expand...

Sorry never heard of mesh measured in gauge, bars per inch and spacing yes. My apologies.

PS: While stainless welds do rust due to the chromium surface loss, I thought most manufactures of stainless filters and mesh, acid etched the welds afterwards to remove the extremely thin layer of rust capable surface. Unetched would rust on the surface but stop quickly after it hit the "real" stainless. Sorry kinda hard to explain.
 
NP I was referring to my link and in the link they show two gauges .19 and .23 the .19 is half inch squares and the .23 was quarter inch. I know a bit about stainless and I know what you are saying. However I still know it rusts and for what you have to pay for it you may as well save a ton of money go with coated wire, but to each their own :D
 
Ok... I'm glad I read this posting... I think I got the wrong stuff for my new build. I'm building a pretty big cage- 6' long 3' deep and 6' high. I'm about half way done and picked up some of this wire mesh. It's not coated so I guess I have to take it back.

Is it because they can damage their tongue by hitting the mesh that is non-coated?

Thanks!

A.
 

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Mesh Hardware Cloth Source

Coated Hardware Cloth can at times be expensive to buy, definitely look around and shop a few sites before you make any large purchases.

2 Sites that I like to use, often having he lowest prices are the following:

www.mcmaster.com

www.bwire.com

Mcmaster prices can change daily because they are not a manufacturer but instead just an industrial importer/exporter.

Bwire will send you samples of material, this way you can get a feel for what you are looking for.
 
So is everyone in agreement that we should use vinyl coated hardware cloth vs normal hardware cloth?

If so, is this mainly because of rusting or because the chams tongue can get injured striking the metal?

Thanks!

A.
 
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