custom built chameleon cage with drain!!!

[irishfan]

Hey guys so i finally finished my custom chameleon cage with a built in drain for my Jackson chameleon Teo... it came out pretty good i think better than the large screen cage hes in now and more than enough room for him to roam and grow.... but looking for some input on the cage and also some tips on how to decorate it since its so big!!! Your input is much appreciated!!!

 

[MplsCham]

I must say that turned out pretty impressive!! Did you by chance have a YouTube video on the build, it looks familiar? I'd definitely put as much time and effort into the decorating, I'd put at least 3-4 live plants in there. There's a great blog on Dragon strands website on advanced cage setup using ledges, and naturally mounting pots for vining plants like pothos, and also blogs on much ado about chameleons. I do like the idea of keeping the bottom free of anything for easy cleaning. I'd get some real branches in there as well. Here's a pic of the enclosure I just finished for some ideas if you want?

 

[youngchameleonaire]

I think this is on youtube?

 

[JJchameleon]

Mplscham
Did you build that custom or did you buy it? If you bought it where did you get it from, looks like the perfect cage!

 

[MplsCham]

I actually custom built the entire thing. Thanks for the positive feedback, took me over a month of working on it everyday!!

 

[irishfan]

No i actually got alot of ideas from people here just looking at what they did and took some aspects and made it to what would look best in my house and for me since my wife hated the look of the screen cage lol it was time for a change...

 

[irishfan]

MplsCham that's really cool did u use foam? Ive read people using the fill a gap foam to make these as well but i would think that'd be really hard to shape..

 

[Gavinsons]

Great work, hope mine turns out as good.

 

[addicks]

If you were building these cages and selling them, I'd pay top dollar, I love it!!!!!

I'd go into the woods and load it up with vines. I found some great vine right across the street from me. I have a umbrella plant and wandering jew plant in my chams cage. I really like the wandering jew and would highly recommend it, they're beautiful.

You really did a wonderful job and I'm a little jealous! lol I can't wait to see it completed and your cham roaming around happy.

Great build!!!!!

 

[irishfan]

Haha if i had more time id definitely make more but its pretty time consuming especially doing the staining and sealing... but if i ever change my mind ill definitely let you know... thanks for the tips im gonna attempt to keep the bottom open and have everything hanging so ill post pics when im finished

 

[MplsCham]

Yeah, it's Great Stuff pond and stone, then I covered it with grout and polycrylic to waterproof it. Just a month or 2 before my cham is big enough to move in.

 

[Lathis]

I absolutely love your cage! It looks very nice. I built a similar one a few years back for my Jax. If I were to do it over, I would built it around a the shower base like you have. So much easier! Is your bottom panel a cabinet for water tubs and etc?

For the background, I used a extra thin veneered stone panel (http://www.txtr-lite.com/customer-installs/). They used to have flawed panels available for really cheap on the website - you might call. Much easier to clean off than a highly textured background but still a natural stone finish.

 

[addicks]

I kept mine clear as well.

I used dragonstand ledges and put 4 1" square dowels across to hold plants. You can see it here. I use my vacuum hose and just suck up everything easy as pie.

 

[irishfan]

Finished... what do u guys think?

 

[irishfan]

And yes the bottoms a drawer that slides out rather than folding down and it holds my drainage bucket and my monsoon

 

[Lathis]

You're jax is going to love having so much space. The only recommendation I would make is more sticks and vines. My jax is an active climber and uses the entire cage space.

Do you have a grow light for the plants? You'll need one. I got the double Light Your Reptile fixture with one Arcadia 6% UVB and one 6500k light. Beats my old Zoomed fixture hands down. The light quality is amazing.

 

[irishfan]

No i dont have a grow light i wasnt too sure if i would or not.. how would i go about doing that?

 

[Lathis]

I'd recommend it. Your plants will stay much healthier

You can get a single light dome at most hardware stores and rest it on top of the cage. You don't need to heat, so go for the most energy efficient 6500K (full spectrum) grow light they have. When I was using the single blub, I think mine was a 65 watt or equivalent strength.

(PS - I like the bottom drawer rather than a cabinet... so many ideas to steal for the next time around!)

 

[irishfan]

Ok awesome ill look into that thanks again... any suggestions on misting times? Im still having some trouble getting it where i need it.. i didn't add the dripper but i did add a fogger that i had previously had before i switched to the monsoon... i have the mister going on for 1 min every hr and the fogger i haven't put it on a timer yet.

 

[Lathis]

I think I may have posted my misting schedule on your other thread. I'm on my phone, so it's hard to browse ><