Are large bird cages with bars good to use?

[RandomUsername93]

My mom had this large bird cage for her budgie but he recently died of old age and she isn't ready to get another bird. She said I can have the cage if it's a good one for a chameleon.

I had a veiled chameleon a little over a year ago and he had two XXL screen cages put together as his home. He loved the space but he lost a few nails from climbing on the screen even though he had plenty of branches and live plants. I think maybe those bird bars are safer? He could still grab them without ripping out nails. What do you think? Would it be safe to use? I would modify it a lot with cork plates so it isn't TOO open but I think the ventilation would also be good if I leave the front open with the bars or leave a part open on the sides as well.

I'm aware keeping in heat and humidity might be challenging but not impossible I think? I just don't want my future chameleon to rip his nails out again.

This is just an idea. I'm still thinking, researching etc. I only plan on a chameleon once everything in his cage is perfect or if I need a different cage, so likely not this year anymore.

English isn't my native language, sorry for any spelling errors.

 

[Tkrd69]

As long as the chameleon can't go through the gap in the bars it could work. My daughter tried to give me a cage that her African Gray out grew but the gaps were to big for me to use for my veiled cham. Good luck

 

[nightanole]

ive wrapped giant parrot cages in 1/2" mesh before. You could also wrap in even 1/4" mesh. its only the "window screen" that the nails get caught in.

 

[Beman]

What are the actual dimensions of the cage?

 

[Steve A]

I was contemplating on doing this before I decided to make my own closure.

It can definitely work and work well depending on the cage. However, here are the reasons why I chose to build my own enclosure instead:

-You will absolutely still want a way to enclose the birdcage in mesh. Unless your chameleon is older, and you have this great way to contain your bugs. I guess if you aren't using crickets, you're good.

-The doors for bird cages tend (not always) to be very small! So this would likely make it way harder to setup and maintain your enclosure. Plus if you have to take your chameleon out, this could make that process more difficult.

-Your chameleon may still try to climb the bird cages vertical bars and this scares me....(but I am an overreacting worrier), because in my mind, what if they start slipping down and freak out?

-A bird cage without a mesh covering the outside will be more 'inviting' to other things, like bugs that you may not want inside (although this might be nitpicking since it just seems to happen anyway).

-The UVB situation may, or may not be an issue. Keep in mind you HAVE to keep your UVB lamp above the cage. You can not put it inside. So with that being said, are those bars (thicker than screen) hindering your UVB?
Again, I am a worrier and I have no idea if this would be an issue or not. I wonder if anyone on here has tested this with a meter and can chime in!

I am not saying you should NOT do this, or you can't or anything like that. This was just my thought process and why I eventually went away from bird cages. I even had a bunch of large bird cages picked out. Just make sure if you go that route, you clean the living daylights out of that enclosure before you begin setting it up for your chameleon.

If you go this route could you please share what you come up with? I am very interested! I think the right bird cages could be an excellent enclosure for a chameleon. For me, I just really wanted to make sure I did everything as "right" as possible based on current known information and I wanted to leave experimentation out as much as possible because I am a VERY new chameleon keeper! Best of luck

 

[Throwingstones]

My mom had this large bird cage for her budgie but he recently died of old age and she isn't ready to get another bird. She said I can have the cage if it's a good one for a chameleon.

I had a veiled chameleon a little over a year ago and he had two XXL screen cages put together as his home. He loved the space but he lost a few nails from climbing on the screen even though he had plenty of branches and live plants. I think maybe those bird bars are safer? He could still grab them without ripping out nails. What do you think? Would it be safe to use? I would modify it a lot with cork plates so it isn't TOO open but I think the ventilation would also be good if I leave the front open with the bars or leave a part open on the sides as well.

I'm aware keeping in heat and humidity might be challenging but not impossible I think? I just don't want my future chameleon to rip his nails out again.

This is just an idea. I'm still thinking, researching etc. I only plan on a chameleon once everything in his cage is perfect or if I need a different cage, so likely not this year anymore.

English isn't my native language, sorry for any spelling errors.

I’ve seen quite a few people use them and just wrap in the screen material to keep the bugs in.

 

[RandomUsername93]

What are the actual dimensions of the cage?

Sorry for the late reply. The dimensions are in centimeters to be correct. It's 160 cm tall, 65cm wide and 65xm deep. My previous chameleon had 120 cm wide though but less tall at 120cm. I like the new cage's height but I'm a bit unsure about the width. My previous chameleon did perfect in his 60cm wide screen cave but I gave him double. Somehow that seemed to make him more skittish and I'd like to prevent that. Is 65cm really wide and deep enough?

 

[RandomUsername93]

I was contemplating on doing this before I decided to make my own closure.

It can definitely work and work well depending on the cage. However, here are the reasons why I chose to build my own enclosure instead:

-You will absolutely still want a way to enclose the birdcage in mesh. Unless your chameleon is older, and you have this great way to contain your bugs. I guess if you aren't using crickets, you're good.

-The doors for bird cages tend (not always) to be very small! So this would likely make it way harder to setup and maintain your enclosure. Plus if you have to take your chameleon out, this could make that process more difficult.

-Your chameleon may still try to climb the bird cages vertical bars and this scares me....(but I am an overreacting worrier), because in my mind, what if they start slipping down and freak out?

-A bird cage without a mesh covering the outside will be more 'inviting' to other things, like bugs that you may not want inside (although this might be nitpicking since it just seems to happen anyway).

-The UVB situation may, or may not be an issue. Keep in mind you HAVE to keep your UVB lamp above the cage. You can not put it inside. So with that being said, are those bars (thicker than screen) hindering your UVB?
Again, I am a worrier and I have no idea if this would be an issue or not. I wonder if anyone on here has tested this with a meter and can chime in!

I am not saying you should NOT do this, or you can't or anything like that. This was just my thought process and why I eventually went away from bird cages. I even had a bunch of large bird cages picked out. Just make sure if you go that route, you clean the living daylights out of that enclosure before you begin setting it up for your chameleon.

If you go this route could you please share what you come up with? I am very interested! I think the right bird cages could be an excellent enclosure for a chameleon. For me, I just really wanted to make sure I did everything as "right" as possible based on current known information and I wanted to leave experimentation out as much as possible because I am a VERY new chameleon keeper! Best of luck

Thank you for your insight, I appreciate it a lot! I'll try and see what kind of screen/mesh I could use to wrap up the sides a bit more. I'm not too worried about escaping bugs since I mostly hand feed or place the bugs in a deeper jar with and edge so they can't crawl out.

If one day it's finished, I'll definitely post it here

 

[RandomUsername93]

ive wrapped giant parrot cages in 1/2" mesh before. You could also wrap in even 1/4" mesh. its only the "window screen" that the nails get caught in.

That makes sense, I didn't even think of different mesh sizes. I'm more used to glass enclsoures (not used for chameleons!) or the standard mesh enclosures. Thank you!

 

[Beman]

Sorry for the late reply. The dimensions are in centimeters to be correct. It's 160 cm tall, 65cm wide and 65xm deep. My previous chameleon had 120 cm wide though but less tall at 120cm. I like the new cage's height but I'm a bit unsure about the width. My previous chameleon did perfect in his 60cm wide screen cave but I gave him double. Somehow that seemed to make him more skittish and I'd like to prevent that. Is 65cm really wide and deep enough?

So your size will work on the cage. Just make sure the door to the cage is big enough and the bar spacing is not too wide. Young chams can escape easily if your bars sit too far apart.

You can actually use pvc sheets or corrugated plastic panels on the sides and back then leave the front open. This way you can control your temps and humidity better.

Note with the top of the cage you will have to either lay a piece of aluminum window screen on the top so your lights rest on that. Then using a T5HO fixture and 6% bulb you will want a 9 inch distance to the branches below the screen. This will put a cham in an approximate 3 UVI level. If you do not use screen you want to provide a full 12 inches to the branches using a T5HO and a 6% UVB bulb. This will then put the cham in the same approximate 3 UVI level.
Aluminum screen reduces the UVI output about 40%. So you can do it with or without but your distance from the bottom of the fixture to the closest branches below it will need to be adjusted depending on which you do.