Creating a new enclosure.. need help

[SamiiStarr]

Hello!.

I am new to the world of chameleons. I got my nosey be female in February, however have loved chameleons for years!.

I am looking into completing a new cage for my cham as I think it's time shes upgraded to something more spacious. I'm getting a very large octagon cage 41" wide and 44" tall. It has an area around the front that you can put water in.

I wanted to make her more of an eco system, with live plants and possibly insects that help clean the cage.

I know there is a lot of controversy on biopods, I'm looking for opinions as I'm not very creative or good at planning out cages. I have all heat and lighting and misting needs from her current cage. I'm more lost when it comes to proper plants and a tree that could be trimmed to stay small enough for the enclosure.

What are your thoughts?

 

[JacksJill]

I recommend pothos and schefflera as they will stand up to the conditions in a cham cage and can be pinched to stay small enough.
As for the bioactive @jamest0o0 is the person to ask.
Do you have any pictures of the cage?

 

[SamiiStarr]

Yes I do. It needs some TLC. But I will be changing the doors and the whole top to screen. Maybe more after I test humidity. It doesnt come with everything in it. And it needs to be washed etc. Before I set it up. They currently have 2 rat snakes in it that will not be coming home with me. Lol

 

[JacksJill]

Funny it has pothos and schefflera in it already. The water feature is going to be a challenge. Others will have suggestions.
Definitely get the snake out first.

 

[SamiiStarr]

Haha!.
Its coming from a pet store. So they used it as their larger display tank. They are upgrading. So I got it for a steal. I might just take out the glass divider so there's no water. !

 

[jamest0o0]

Hey that's a pretty cool cage. I keep all of my chameleons with bio substrate. @Goose502 does as well, among a few others, but I'm not sure who else is active on here these days.

Anyway, definitely clean it out good with something strong. I wouldn't recommend a water feature unless you plan on having some serious filtration and want to allow the water to cycle for ~a month before using it. That's a project in itself.

As for the substrate, it depends on the plants you are keeping, but IMO a nice ficus alii, some pothos, and whatever else you feel like adding would fill out the cage with everything you need and it would look great. You'll need a drainage layer separated by vinyl screen or landscaping cloth, and then your soil of choice on top. I used sunshine mix 4 and sand covered with about an inch of reptisoil on top and my plants are growing better than they ever have. That said, I think I enjoy making my own soil better. A good quality top soil, mixed with a little orchid bark, sphagnum moss, leaf litter, some sort of calcium/mineral source(I used bentonite clay), etc. There's a lot of ways to go with it. I'm not a gardening expert, but I know enough to keep my enclosures thriving. A good gardener may know of some more ingredients to add, but those are my go to. Ozmocote is a safe fertilizer as well if you want to add something for the plants. Your main cleaners will be springtails and isopods. Dwarf white isos and giant canyons are perfect for chams IME. Small millipedes are also excellent detrivores. You could go as far as adding tropical roaches, superworms, and whatever else will survive. I have tons of different insects in mine.

That's all I could think of for now, if you have any other questions feel free to post. I'll help with anything I can and I'm sure others will too.

 

[SamiiStarr]

Wow that's a lot of information.
Lol!.
We are picking up the tank in 2 days. I'm going to completely clean and dry it and make all the TLC changes before I start anything else.
I usually use vinegar in cleaning my cages and wash them about 3x in the vinegar. Then soak and rinse multipul times in hot water. Qe have a reptile cleaner aswell so I will use that to.

Thank you for all of the information. I'm sure I will have lots of questions once I start on the substrate and planting the tank etc. Having insects involved and making a complete eco system is very new to me. But all this information really excited me. I think this will be the best way to go to give her a more natural and thriving environment!.

I will defiantly be in touch in the next couple of days!

 

[Kat_72]

Too much information is never enough information lol. You have to share when your all done that’s going to look great. I have my sons bearded dragon in a bioactive set up and one for my male panther full of late night snacks if they wander out too close. We have superworms that actually bred in the dragons enclosure it was cool.

 

[Tucklander]

Hey that's a pretty cool cage. I keep all of my chameleons with bio substrate. @Goose502 does as well, among a few others, but I'm not sure who else is active on here these days.

Anyway, definitely clean it out good with something strong. I wouldn't recommend a water feature unless you plan on having some serious filtration and want to allow the water to cycle for ~a month before using it. That's a project in itself.

As for the substrate, it depends on the plants you are keeping, but IMO a nice ficus alii, some pothos, and whatever else you feel like adding would fill out the cage with everything you need and it would look great. You'll need a drainage layer separated by vinyl screen or landscaping cloth, and then your soil of choice on top. I used sunshine mix 4 and sand covered with about an inch of reptisoil on top and my plants are growing better than they ever have. That said, I think I enjoy making my own soil better. A good quality top soil, mixed with a little orchid bark, sphagnum moss, leaf litter, some sort of calcium/mineral source(I used bentonite clay), etc. There's a lot of ways to go with it. I'm not a gardening expert, but I know enough to keep my enclosures thriving. A good gardener may know of some more ingredients to add, but those are my go to. Ozmocote is a safe fertilizer as well if you want to add something for the plants. Your main cleaners will be springtails and isopods. Dwarf white isos and giant canyons are perfect for chams IME. Small millipedes are also excellent detrivores. You could go as far as adding tropical roaches, superworms, and whatever else will survive. I have tons of different insects in mine.

That's all I could think of for now, if you have any other questions feel free to post. I'll help with anything I can and I'm sure others will too.

Seriously had lectures at university less interesting and informative...dang man, you are crazy smart

 

[Tucklander]

@jamest0o0 googling the hey out of all this info.

 

[Tucklander]

Wow that's a lot of information.
Lol!.
We are picking up the tank in 2 days. I'm going to completely clean and dry it and make all the TLC changes before I start anything else.
I usually use vinegar in cleaning my cages and wash them about 3x in the vinegar. Then soak and rinse multipul times in hot water. Qe have a reptile cleaner aswell so I will use that to.

Thank you for all of the information. I'm sure I will have lots of questions once I start on the substrate and planting the tank etc. Having insects involved and making a complete eco system is very new to me. But all this information really excited me. I think this will be the best way to go to give her a more natural and thriving environment!.

I will defiantly be in touch in the next couple of days!

He’s incredibly smart..I don’t know him at all but he is crazy crazy smart, his advice and replies are a seminar

 

[Brodybreaux25]

Defanitly one of the coolest vivs I’ve ever seen!

 

[Tucklander]

I know @Brodybreaux25 I’m jealous...I want an octagonal vivarium ...it’s got so much potential to be awesome

 

[SamiiStarr]

Thanks guys!

I'm defiantly excited. The size is great! It also comes with a 2 foot stand to put it on!!.

I got a steal tank and stand for 175$. I've spent way more on smaller tanks for saltwater and freshwater fish. So at that price I couldn't let it go

 

[SamiiStarr]

What about a ficus benjamina?

 

[JacksJill]

They work ok but can be finicky about light and wet roots.

 

[SamiiStarr]

What about a king aralia?. Omg. Lol. Does someone want to go plant shopping for me. I looked at those umbrella trees and they all say dryer soil.

 

[JacksJill]

I use umbrella plants but I put a 1 inch layer of lava rock at the bottom of the pot to help drainage. Mine get a lot of spray from the misters and still do well.

 

[SamiiStarr]

Ok. I've read that some people use hibiscus too. I'm just worried the umbrellas will be to flimsy

 

[JacksJill]

You will probably need to run wooden branches thru any plants you use as most won't support a full grown panther very well. I love the look of hibiscus but they really need a lot of light and are prone to pest problems. Only the tropical varieties are chameleon safe.
I recommend people get two so one can be in the cage while the other is recovering in a sunny spot.