Cage Critique

[HiImAMac]

Hey Guys~ Everyone is so helpful with tips and ideas I thought I would put a few pictures of my setup up and see what you think. Any suggestions, tips, or ideas are welcome

A little background: I have 2 veiled chameleons. Gaga is about 6 months old and Dino is about 8 months. I've had chameleons in the past but they were free-range, this is the first time I've had chameleons in cages. Both of them have a 24 x 24 x 48 inch aluminum screen cage, an umbrella tree, lots of plastic ivy vines at the top for coverage, as well as various sizes of Exo-Terra jungle vines. I installed a MistKing and each of the cages have 1 nozzle. Gaga has a ReptiSun 10.0 as well as a basking spot light, and Dino has a mercury vapor bulb.

This is a picture of the 2 cages. In the middle is my mealworm bin.

This is the MistKing pump (still need to hang/secure the wires and tube)

MistKing Nozzle

Top portion of cage

Gaga Sleeping (bummed I missed January's photo contest)

Dino

 

[reptoman]

Sweet setup! What are you doing for drainage?

 

[Action Jackson]

Looks good. Be careful having your power strip where it can get wet like under the pump

 

[HiImAMac]

Sweet setup! What are you doing for drainage?

Right now I'm just using newspaper, but I have to change it every night I did order plastic cage trays, they just haven't come in yet~ Hopefully I can think of some way to control it all. The umbrella plant catches a lot of the water from the shorter mists, but I have a morning mist that goes for about 15 min, and that is what soaks the paper. Anybody have drainage ideas?

 

[HiImAMac]

Looks good. Be careful having your power strip where it can get wet like under the pump

Good idea, I didn't think that the pump would drip, but maybe as it gets older it might~ I'm going to have to move it~ Thanks!

 

[reptoman]

Thought you might want to see what I use for drainage on all my cages.

https://picasaweb.google.com/bcstinso/Draintable#

Let me know what you think.
Brian

 

[HiImAMac]

Thought you might want to see what I use for drainage on all my cages.

Thanks! Looks good~ I think I might be able to come up with something like this!

 

[Ekaj13]

I'm curious why you only use UVB on one animal. Also, they may prefer to have their cages elevated off the floor.

 

[cbeal1]

http://www.menards.com/main/decorat...4inch-four-shelf-black/p-1469364.htm?cid=1307

Using shelves like this would be good. just dont use some of the levels. first level for the drainage buckets, second level for your cages. put holes in the bottom of your cage under the plant and there you go. you have a great setup! it looks very neat and tidy!

 

[HiImAMac]

I'm curious why you only use UVB on one animal. Also, they may prefer to have their cages elevated off the floor.

The mercury vapor bulb emits UVA, UVB and heat. I've always used them, but I used to use a different brand for my old chameleons, but I don't think they make them anymore. They were GREAT~ When I got theses chameleons I had to get the Zoo Med PowerSun ones and they have given me a lot of trouble. They are great to have because there isn't a lot of clutter but they are expensive and very sensitive. Anyways to make a long story short, one of them went out after a month, and so did the replacement one, so I switched to the ReptiSun 10.0 and a basking bulb. I'm just waiting for the other one to crap out so I can replace it too.

I think I will try to elevate them once I try to build a drainage system. Right now the are under a ledge that I hang the lights from so they don't get too close. Thanks for the tips~

 

[Jenni2370]

Gorgeous chameleons!

Hello! I am a first time chameleon owner and very unsure of what to expect for coloring for my three month male veiled. Right now he looks very similar to your chameleon in the top picture, but the fish/reptile shop I got him from told me to expect coloring and designs like the second picture. Is your first chameleon still young? Was the second chameleon mainly green when he was younger? I'm so excited to see what happens with Herbie (my veiled) as he matures..

 

[HiImAMac]

Is your first chameleon still young? Was the second chameleon mainly green when he was younger?

The first one is a female and those are her colors when she is sleeping. Chameleons tend to get lighter when they are calm and asleep. She is about 5 months in that picture. The second it a picture of my male. He is about 6 months in the picture. Usually his colors are not that bright when he is just hanging out, but you can still see the stripes and darker patterns. When he was really young (2-4 months) he was pretty much green like that. In the pic he is just "fired up" because I have a camera in his face. If your chameleon is a male he should start to show coloring around 6 month or so. I noticed a big change in mine between 4 months and 6 months. When he gets older put him in front of the mirror so he can see himself, you might get a nice surprise. I wouldn't suggest doing it too often though, it stresses them out.

 

[jpm995]

What's the wattage on the mercury vapor lamp? Be careful it doesnt burn your cham or damage his eyes.