Drainage for XL Reptibreeze

[Adman]

I've been looking through various options to deal with the drainage issues that I'm likely to encounter with my XL Reptibreeze when I start using it in a few months. Right now my chameleon is in a medium Reptibreeze and I'm dealing with excess water by mopping it up with paper towels periodically throughout the day. My current viv sits on top of a chest of drawers, space is unfortunately an issue and thus I don't have much in the way of space for an extra cabinet in which to house a drainage system or whatever.

Does anyone have any experience with the Hydro-Flo bases? Any advice on drainage solutions would be hugely appreciated.

 

[Djturna4thakidz]

You could go with a base from LLL reptile and modify it by drilling a hole and pitting a bulhead and some tubing so you can drain the water that collects. Or sell the reptibreeze and get a dragonstrand cage with drain pan.

 

[laurie]

You could go with a base from LLL reptile and modify it by drilling a hole and pitting a bulhead and some tubing so you can drain the water that collects. Or sell the reptibreeze and get a dragonstrand cage with drain pan.

He lives in France so those are not really options, but I know he would love a new dragonstrand.

 

[Djturna4thakidz]

Oh ok, never mind. Pay my airfare and I will bring you one [emoji3]

 

[laurie]

I've been looking through various options to deal with the drainage issues that I'm likely to encounter with my XL Reptibreeze when I start using it in a few months. Right now my chameleon is in a medium Reptibreeze and I'm dealing with excess water by mopping it up with paper towels periodically throughout the day. My current viv sits on top of a chest of drawers, space is unfortunately an issue and thus I don't have much in the way of space for an extra cabinet in which to house a drainage system or whatever.

Does anyone have any experience with the Hydro-Flo bases? Any advice on drainage solutions would be hugely appreciated.

It will be controlled by how much space you have to collect the water, and how much water will be collected.
If you can fit a small tub, about about 38 centimeters tall and have a way to slide it out, It should hold the water each day, and empty it at night.Hubby made a frame for my cage to sit on, and we drilled a couple holes in the middle if the floor and it worked great for many years. Finally!! i have my whole cham room upgraded.

 

[Adman]

He lives in France so those are not really options, but I know he would love a new dragonstrand.

Thanks, Laurie, but for now I'll hold off on further orders from William, but I MAY invest in a panther in a little while, so I have little doubt that I'll be contacting him again, and possibly investing in one of his cages with the drainage tray unless I find a suitable alternative over here. I think the shipping of an enclosure would be a touch pricier than for the ledges (which I can't wait to get my hands on, by the way).

As for the ideas, the viv currently sits on a cabinet that is 39.5" tall, and as the Reptibreeze enclosure will be 48" tall I'd like to avoid adding too much height to the set-up.

Laurie, any chance of seeing some up-close photos of the frame your husband built so I have an idea to work with?

 

[Rhino63]

drainage

I used a air conditioner condensate drain pan and built a stand around it. The drain tray just sits in the stand and removes for cleaning. I just used 2x4's for the frame work and sheeting boards for the three sides and left the back open. The drain tray is Diversitech brand. The 24x24 works but the corners are rounded and the cage doesn't sit down it unless you modify it. I heated the corners very lightly with a propane torch and just pushed a piece of square edged wood into the rounded corner to reform it square. It is pretty thin and takes very little heat to do this a heat gun would work good too. They make bigger sizes also. The drain tray is about 2" deep so I cut 1 1/2" high spacers out of pvc pipe for the cage to sit on inside the pan. I covered the original side drain hole with a piece of plastic and some silicon to seal it and then drilled a hole in bottom and used a plastic 2" drain. It drains into a bucket underneath.

 

[JlaPinska]

first off, will the XL fit on top of the current chest of drawers you are using? if so, ;

you could just remove the chest drawers you have in it (unfortunately, use them as a cool shelving somewhere instead?) and find a container to fit inside that you can catch water with and will be easy to take in and out. maybe you could still keep a drawer or two if you can find a shallow tub remove the drawer tracks and put them where you need them to be. just some ideas that immediately popped up. basically try to center the weight of the cage near the center and just drill holes in the white bottom that the reptibreeze comes with





If the XL won't fit what you're currently using. build one. i simply bought two industrial shelves (each 24x14), cut the top side poles off and it fit the cage perfectly. i zip tied the two shelves together then zip tied the bottom pieces of the cage to the shelf so it doesn't move at all.

 

[JlaPinska]

i took two of these . they were 30"high24"long14"wide

moved the second shelf up and took the top off and left just enough to kind of set the cage into and it turned out like this:

with plants it looked like this- we drilled holes under the ficus and use just one large bin to catch the water down there, pretty cool.

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8711/16745239090_1d6594eb66_z.jpg

im adding some golden pothos to soak up some of the dripper drainage too.

 

[DELxREPTILESJC]

I put some pics up w a short description on parts on my thread. Let me know if you have any questions

 

[Viggypop]

Kitchen counter

I have an XL reptibreeze also. I bought an unfinished (so I can stain it myself) completely assembled kitchen base counter from lowes for $80. It's 24x24 and 35" high. I added a plain board as a counter top and drilled a hole and added $5 worth of pipes and a bucket for drainage. Made sure we got a mesh drain cover so no crickets make their way down the drain. Works perfect in my apartment with limited space.

 

[Adman]

I have an XL reptibreeze also. I bought an unfinished (so I can stain it myself) completely assembled kitchen base counter from lowes for $80. It's 24x24 and 35" high. I added a plain board as a counter top and drilled a hole and added $5 worth of pipes and a bucket for drainage. Made sure we got a mesh drain cover so no crickets make their way down the drain. Works perfect in my apartment with limited space.

Could you post a photo? I'm not sure what you mean by a kitchen base.

 

[Viggypop]

Pics

Here is the semi-finished product, still nothing in the cage, and the original cabinet and the link to it on lowes' website. There was a sale at my local lowes so I paid about $10 less.

https://www.chameleonforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=107756&stc=1&d=1429140616

 

[Viggypop]

Link

http://www.lowes.com/pd_336301-6615..._product_price|0&page=1&facetInfo=23.75|35|24

Also I stained it espresso to match the rest of my living room. I had 2 weeks between staining and getting my cham, so there was time for all fumes to dissipate.

 

[Hart20009]

My cage is smaller for my female , but I ended up using a pot tray close to the same size as the pot. I drilled and glued a small hose through the bottom and through bottom of cage. The hose I bought at Wal-mart . It was an ice maker hookup hose. I then elevated it slightly with some small plastic blocks and ran the hose behind the stand and under to a small catch tray for the water. I am sure anyone could do this. It cost me 12 dollars total. pictures are not the best, but i am sure you will get the just of it.

 

[reptoman]

I've been making these for years. They are fairly easy to build.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.580902221963326.1073741843.291375457582672&type=3