Changed cage's interior - need critique

[webghost]

Hi all,

I would like some advice & critique on my cage setup and let me know if I am on the right track as far as maintaining a healthy habitat is concerned.

I have the Mist King Ultimate which produces a good amount of humidity every few hours. I have 2 drippers (1 which is connected to 2 drip vines), which showers/drips the cage for 2-3 hours every morning. I have a 60 watt basking bulb on the top along with 5.0 uvb lamp. I made sure to put enough foliage in there for him to hide as well as branches (both vertically and horizontally) to climb.

I used to have a live plant in there (Peace Lilly) but it died very quickly so at the current moment, I only have fake plants in there. Him being a Jackson Chameleon, I don't think they even eat plans right? Not sure..

Please let me know your thoughts and if something doesn't look right.

Thanks!

 

[camimom]

very nice.
jacksons dont typically eat plants, but we use them for humidity

 

[Seeco]

In my opinion fake plants are not worth the risk of accidental ingestion and impaction. To keep the humidity up I recommend covering the back sides with translucent or black plastic sheeting (hardware store paint section). Then remove the fake plants and just cram a ton of sticks in there. The sheeting will also keep your floor drier.

The issue is not whether the species has the tendency to intentionally eat plants but an accident while hunting that leads to a plastic leaf in the mouth.

Your heat light is way too high off of the cage. I suppose this is because it is a very powerful bulb. To save electricity and make a better bask, just replace it with a 40 or 60 watt bulb and place the whole lamp directly on top of the cage.

Aside from that it looks awesome. You have the right idea with focusing most of the material at the top where he wants to be.

 

[marco]

It looks great! You could get a schefflera plant as those are pretty hardy and that will keep your humidity up and I'm sure your cham would love it too.

 

[Hoj]

looks really nice, i really like pothos as a live plant cheap to buy and easy to keep alive and u can make cutting real easy so you have more.
i really like what you did with the vines!!
hoj

 

[webghost]

Thanks all appreciate the advice. It's good to know I'm on the right track. I will consider the live plants.

As for re-arranging/re-setting up the interior of the cage, I always try to re-arrange and do better by changing things around to ensure he gets his needs met. As I go along I learn new things and thus I re-examine what would be a better design but does that stress the chameleon out having to acquaint himself/herself to the new environment or is it no big deal? I have changed the interior several times and just hope I didn't do anything to completely stress him out.

Thanks!

 

[raphael14]

Very nice little jungle

 

[Zen Reptiles]

I'll add my vote to no fake plants as well.

I was tight on cash several months ago and had to make some juvenile cages. I used fake plants and caught two (one male, one female) young panthers chewing vigorously on a fake leaf. I don't think there were any dental issues, but the male suffered what looked like nose-rub on his lip and it became inflamed from the event. Nothing serious, but cosmetically his lip is a little weird now lol.

Try one big pot with a ficus, schefflaera and some pothos to fill in the holes, all in the same pot. Make sure the soil can drain, don't over water, but make sure it doesn't dry out.

Looks good!