China Cabinet transformation

[SmaugDragonofErebor]

Wow awesome cage! What did you guys do about drainage?

We drilled two small holes and put tubing thew them down into a bucket hidden in the storage at the bottom.

 

[jpm995]

Wow, just beautiful.

 

[Ninkylou]

That looks awesome! I agree with adding more foliage and adding some vertical climbing branches as well.

I see you are in the PNW, I have gotten amazingly full Sheffelera plants from my local Fred Meyers for under $20.

Here is a pic when I was setting them up.



They love the coverage and its a great place for them to drink from and keeps up the humidity.

 

[SmaugDragonofErebor]

Update

Ok so I turned off all the red night heat lights. The temp is now at 72 and I hope its not to low. We are going to take out the fountain tomorrow and look into buying more vines and plants for her home. I'm still unsure of the uvb lights the enclosure is very big so i thought we needed two lights I was telling my husband that We will just put a piece of acrylic under the one light so it blocks the uvb rays but still lets in the light...... thoughts??

 

[Ninkylou]

I use additional LED bulbs where I want light but no UVB or heat. I keep 1 at the front of enclosure to give more light to the plants. I think they are 5500 k light

 

[davelin315]

Ok so I turned off all the red night heat lights. The temp is now at 72 and I hope its not to low. We are going to take out the fountain tomorrow and look into buying more vines and plants for her home. I'm still unsure of the uvb lights the enclosure is very big so i thought we needed two lights I was telling my husband that We will just put a piece of acrylic under the one light so it blocks the uvb rays but still lets in the light...... thoughts??

I am pretty new here and consider myself to be a novice since a lot of today's knowledge and technology is far advanced from where it was the last time I had a chameleon, but to say that you have too much UVB based on simply having two lights seems to be a bit unfounded (not trying to be rude or confrontational). From the reading I have done and from speaking with herpetologists at work, really the only way to understand how much is appropriate is to use a UVB meter. Each bulb has different outputs and any shading at all will start to decrease the amount of UVB being put out by your bulbs. Also, it looks like all of your lighting is on top of the cage, which are UVB bulbs and which are heat and which are simply light?

I would agree that if the UVB lights are fluorescent tubes that run next to each other that they are more or less duplicative of each other, but if they are spots/floods or run the length of the cage, then I would say it is probably not too much UVB. Again, though, a meter is the only real way to tell. From what I understand, somewhere between 10-50 uW/cm2 Andre correct range and you should measure in different places and at different angles and distances from your light source.

 

[Carlton]

Ok so I turned off all the red night heat lights. The temp is now at 72 and I hope its not to low. We are going to take out the fountain tomorrow and look into buying more vines and plants for her home. I'm still unsure of the uvb lights the enclosure is very big so i thought we needed two lights I was telling my husband that We will just put a piece of acrylic under the one light so it blocks the uvb rays but still lets in the light...... thoughts??

If your UV tubes are 5.0s I don't think this is too much UV especially as your setup is big enough that your cham isn't forced to spend all its time directly under them. I often use double tube fixtures on my very large cages...never had any UV exposure trouble using ReptiSun 5.0s. Once you start switching out the UV tubes (every 6 months if they are ReptiSuns) you can use one "spent" bulb and one new one in the double fixtures to keep the cage brighter overall. Your plants will like this too.

I know people like the sound and look of a fountain but it is really more trouble than its worth. You could always put the fountain somewhere outside the cage for your own enjoyment. Fogging or auto misting can be a nice effect on a big setup like this and provide water and humidity more efficiently than any fountain.

 

[chameleongirl66]

Looks very nice. My hubby is going to do something like that too. We are going to be moving soon into a bigger place. You can bet he will make something for Jane & Betty then for sure

 

[Tyaeda]

Some people successfully keep fountains and waterfalls in their enclosures, but they require vigorous daily cleaning so the water doesn't get scuzzy.