Creating an Open Enclosure.

V

VancityChamLover

New Member
Hey there,

I'm new to these forums, and have recently been deciding on how to house my two 4 month old Nosy Be panther chameleons. One's a male and one's a female. My plan is to start breeding these lovely critters, as I have in the past bred crested geckos, leopard geckos, and my two ball pythons recently had a clutch of 5. So I'm fairly experienced with breeding reptiles.

I bought two 5 ft braided ficus trees, and am interested in keeping one Nosy Be in each tree. I've spoken to some local breeders regarding enclosures that aren't enclosed with screen. I am not very keen on having two large enclosures in my house, so I wanted to come on here and see what people have to say about keeping my chams in open ficus trees. I have both trees set up in front of large south facing windows, that get sun on them 12-15 hours of the day, so I think that's enough sun exposure for the chameleons. I have also set up two heat lamps about 8-10 inches above each tree, and I'm very certain they will both provide the proper temperature gradient throughout the whole ficus plant to keep the animals comfortable. My serious enquiry though is the whole question of humidity. If I keep my chams in these ficus trees, will 3-4 sprays a day be sufficient enough water, or should I set up hanging drip systems above the plants as well? I am fond of the free standing ficus' because of the increased air flow, as opposed to a screen or mesh enclosure, that often makes a room look cluttered and un-appealing.

I'm hoping the combination of their good temperament, excellent air flow in my house, the position of the plants in the big south facing windows, and the nice full bloom of my plants will be enough to sufficiently home my two Nosy Be's. I've heard so many stories of Chameleons living their whole lives in free standing plants in peoples homes, but was just wanting to make sure before I make up my mind!

If anyone here has answers for me they would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks Again!
 
i havent tried fully free ranging because i am scared of what might happen ( I dont trust him lol) but under supervised it can be done. i am a little uneasy about you having the chams in constant veiw of each other

i personally like ficus alli for free ranging as it grows nice, big, and beautiful and is hardier than ficus benjimina
 
Those windows would have to be open for it to work (I'm not sure I'd be comfortable keeping my windows open 12 hours a day while I wasn't home,) you also cannot keep them in the same room or the male will breed with her any chance he gets. Every clutch shortens the females life. It is also a bad idea to breed them before they are a year old.

One plant a free range does not make. Please use the search feature, it is very helpful.
 
Set em up in different rooms and add some more vines and things to climb on and you could have something. Make sure to chameleon proof the room though so they dont go getting into ducts or behind or wedged into things.
 
pssh said:
Those windows would have to be open for it to work (I'm not sure I'd be comfortable keeping my windows open 12 hours a day while I wasn't home,) you also cannot keep them in the same room or the male will breed with her any chance he gets. Every clutch shortens the females life. It is also a bad idea to breed them before they are a year old.

One plant a free range does not make. Please use the search feature, it is very helpful.
Click to expand...

I've read that breeding shortens a females life but then I've also read that not breeding can shorten a females life. So confusing!
 
There is a myth that females ( I've only heard it about veileds,) will die if they aren't bred. It is not true.
 
I thought about building a much larger version of the plexiglass box/barracade below, about 4x6ftx3-4ft high to place a free range tree inside, so that should the lizard venture off, its still contained and protected from pets.
It would be 'walk in', having a hinged door inbuilt with catch, so you could go in to
attend, drainage/cleaning etc etc.
It would have one side being a wall since the lizard could otherwise use leads from lights to walk out.
Wall side plexiglass would be higher than the tree to protect the wall from water. General idea being the plexiglass should be safe with other pets and being clear, should not detract from the rooms decore or the lizard.
If you planned it right, you could have it beneath a skylight that opened to allow one section of the tree to be directly sunlit for a time each day as the sun passed overhead.

206-plexiglass-box.JPG
 
I have the two ficus trees in different rooms in the house, one in my bedroom and one in my study room. Mine are both juvies, so I hope that these two trees will be enough for now, until I have a chance to set up some hooks on the ceiling to hang some pothos plants, or some other kind of vines. I'm just wondering if the south facing windows will provide enough UVB light for them. Direct sunlight 13-15 hours a day should be fine, replicating the proper natural sun light they would get I'm pretty sure.

The breeder I got them from tells me that they should be put in an enclosure, so that proper hydration and feeding platforms can be provided, but I feel like I could provide proper humidity by spraying the plants 3-4 times a day, taking the Chameleons off the trees while I do it so they don't get stressed out from the sprayer. I hope to find some answers regarding the problem I'm facing at the moment, as I don't want to spend tons of money making a screen enclosure for both of them, and would feel better if anyone could give me ideas on how to keep them happy and relaxed by providing them with climbing opportunities and basking spots without having to spend a ton of money making a cage for both.

The plants are both positioned infront of windows like I said. The plants are no where near anything that the chameleons could climb onto and escape, and if they do decide to venture to the ground, each ficus is in a basin with 7 inch high walls, that neither chameleon can escape out of if they did end up making it to the floor. Both plants have heat lamps hanging near them, providing a good temp gradient, and I have UVB tube lamps if you guys don't think that the huge windows will provide enough natural sun light for them.

Thanks again for all the help everyone!!
 
The windows wont do much unless they are open, uv wont pass through glass. If they are big windows getting direct sun, beware overheating, you need to still provide a thermal gradient. :)
 
I'm just wondering if the south facing windows will provide enough UVB light for them. Direct sunlight 13-15 hours a day should be fine, replicating the proper natural sun light they would get I'm pretty sure.
Click to expand...

as others have already pointed out, little to no UVB will pass through a glass window. unless opened, being near a window does nothing for your animals UVB needs.

direct sunlight 13-15 hours a day may not be fine, because your animal probably can't escape the heat if it gets too hot. whereas in nature it would be able to escape the heat, not being confined to one tree that's sitting in front of a window...

are you trying to free range just to avoid the cost of cages?
 
I think that having overhead heat lamps on the plants will create a proper temperature gradient for the Chams. And the full day sun through the windows will provide enough sun light I'm pretty sure. They are both still very young, and my plants are set up in nice accessible areas in my house, with no dangerous vents or anything for them to get into. I've been told that if Chameleons are provided with proper warmth, and security in a tree or plant, they won't venture far from the hear source or the security of the plant. So I'm hoping based on my understanding of Chameleon temperament, they will be happy perching on top under the lamp, and inside the branches of my ficus', to allow for cooler, and warmer spots for them to hang out. Both ficus trees are very bushy as well with a seemingly open area for the Chams to climb and hang out. I'm going to hand feed them, as they do it very willingly already, and hopefully spraying 4-5 times a day will provide enough moisture and humidity for them.
 
Only seven inches? My male veiled (who is not even fully grown) can climb up onto/off of something that is seven inches. If you have them in the same room the male will definitely climb those seven inches to the female.

The windows will not give them any UVB as already stated, though they will provide nice lighting. You will need a UVB tube bulb over each free range and at least one basking spot above each free range as well.
 
Just a quick question,

If you don't like the appearance of enclosures, what are you going to do with the babies?
 
I have two UVB tubes, that I am going to set up, just as I have done with the heat lamps, making sure that all chords are strapped against the wall, far enough away so that neither of them can climb onto the lamps and burn themselves.

I am thinking quite possibly of buying some industrial poly fabric, that I can custom cut, and fashion into a round of probly much simpler square or rectangular hanging net,(almost like a mosquito net for beds) that hangs down to the ground where it will clip onto a custom made box that is the same dimensions. This would make for an easily cleaned, and also easily moveable and dynamic structure for both trees with individual animals in them.

Easy and cheap. Chameleons aren't like other reptiles right? They aren't very intelligent, and they aren't very speed agile causing me to think that this easy net setup, although flimsy unlike most aluminum, or coated aluminum meshes, will be sufficiently strong enough to contain the animals?

What do you guys think? Please let me know!
 
VancityChamLover said:
I have two UVB tubes, that I am going to set up, just as I have done with the heat lamps, making sure that all chords are strapped against the wall, far enough away so that neither of them can climb onto the lamps and burn themselves.

I am thinking quite possibly of buying some industrial poly fabric, that I can custom cut, and fashion into a round of probly much simpler square or rectangular hanging net,(almost like a mosquito net for beds) that hangs down to the ground where it will clip onto a custom made box that is the same dimensions. This would make for an easily cleaned, and also easily moveable and dynamic structure for both trees with individual animals in them.

Easy and cheap. Chameleons aren't like other reptiles right? They aren't very intelligent, and they aren't very speed agile causing me to think that this easy net setup, although flimsy unlike most aluminum, or coated aluminum meshes, will be sufficiently strong enough to contain the animals?

What do you guys think? Please let me know!
Click to expand...

I think if your going to all that trouble, its no longer exactly 'free range' and you may aswell buy cages LOL :)
 
jannb said:
I free range my male and female veileds. They love it and are beautiful healthy and happy animals. This link will show you some of their trees.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/additions-free-range-33230/
Click to expand...

Thanks Jann! It looks really great, almost the idea I had for my babies when they are a bit bigger. Hopefully taking them out of my Reptarium next month to rehouse them on the ficus plants that I've already bought. We are celebrating the Olympics here in Vancouver, and I decided when I got the pair last week, to keep them in the nice little exoterra reptarium I put together last month. I decided to plant it early with a nice little pump system and water fall. All planted with real bamboo, ferns, and a nice little Ficus Benjemina I started growing last year. I wanted to keep them in my bathroom, so not to scare them with all the in and out traffic at our place right now.

I have gotten some ideas already of how I can use my room furniture as little outposts off the big Ficus trees. I hope my Panthers will be happy with my attempts :p:D I'm sure they will!

And as for your question metric, there it is. Got them in a nice enclosure, that I hope to move my crested gecko into next month once I have the freerange setup figured out.
 
Hahah! If you lived here in Vancouver, you would understand why I'm going through all this trouble to make a really nice freerange enclosure for them. I dont want to make a big bulky box in the middle of the room and spend a ton of money. Or some $200 overpriced piece of crap made by some company. I have got these two ficus trees from my uncle for free. I can get lots of different fabrics for free, because my friends family owns a fabric store, and I feel like keeping an animal in a cage makes it look trapped. If you can create a freerange environment for your animals, do it right? My place is a very modern home, with a very safely designed interior for animal and child safety. There are shelves near both of the current ficus locations, that I already have vines hanging off of. Janns pictures gave me a great idea for my place now. These animals are going to be pampered as well believe me. I'm home during the day most days, working, or writing music, so both animals will be loved lots and will be very well socialized. I know taking each animal out at different is also a good idea to lessen stress if they see each other.
 
I meant if you were going to create clothe walls and such, it would look like a large cage in the room anyway. Perhaps your descriptions just give me different imagery from what you envisage? :)
 
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