Hey how are those cages from LLL at keeping little feeders in (like 1/4" size?). Are they nearly as good as the reptariums for that?
I'm a reptarium guy myself for many lizards - I use the 175 gallon size for mid-size lizards because the zipper doors keep feeders in, and fireflies out when the cages are out for the summer. I'm actually one of the only people I ever heard of that for some reason looses lizards to fireflies if I'm not using zipper doors.
One summer I thought I had a disease outbreak after loosing several lizards in a 24 hour period quite suddenly and necropsy revealed firefly remains in each lizard. I'm probably the only person in the history of the world who has called up their local university extension agency to ask about getting rid of the pesky fireflies! (the guy at the other end of the phone thought I was crazy).
I want to redo the reptariums to something home-made along similar lines of the ones from LLL, but I'm scared to get away from the zipper door. But the time has come this spring. Chameleons aren't hard on the reptariums, but other lizards eventually wear holes in them from climbing or trying to get at females in other cages, so I've got 10 years of patching on my cages now and I really want to move on to something more durable. The zippers have lasted but the sides are heavily patched. A little vaseline on the zippers once a year or so really keeps them working smoothly. But I can't figure out how to make a bug proof door without the zippers.
So I'm wondering how those doors work on the cages you guys are recommending and if they are bug proof. If they are, I'll order one and figure out how the door works. The cages look in the pics like they are just made from aluminum window framing screwed together, is that about right?
For chameleons- I really like the reptariums. You can buy replacement covers for cheap, as well as replacement corners and go get some pvc and make your own frames and save quite a bit on the cost of the kit. I did that with 1" pvc pipe and some corners I ordered from our local plumbing supply- each 175 gallon reptarium ended up costing me less than $50 10 years ago that way- about half the cost of buying the kit, and more sturdy than the smaller frame in the kit.
For big chameleons you can take 2 of the 175g covers, cut out one side of each, sew the two covers together and make one large cage 5' long x 4' high x 30" wide for around $100 with 2 zipper doors on the front. Spray paint the frame, add a couple of large potted plants in shallow pots, put it on a table 2 or 3 feet high and you've got a nice attractive cage for mellers with the top 6 or 7 feet off the ground. I guess if it was in my living room though, I'd probably build something myself with screen sides and a glass front for better viewing (or leave the front out completely by clever design). The heavy mesh of reptariums does leave something to be desired for visibility.
