Dutch cham owner here

[Gaarman]

Yoyo, iam Michel from Holland and i got a question for all u americans out there!
Why do u guys always use screen cages for chams? Ok for certain species it might be better like for mountain chamaleons who need REALLY good ventilation, but here in holland and i think in the rest of europe we almost all use glass or wooden Terrariums. here are 2 pics of mine..
My terrarium is home build, made it with a friend, its 190 cm high, 80 wide and 70 deep. dunno in inches, 1 inch is about 2,5 cm so figur it out urself ^^
I have a big ventilation openeing at the bottom as u can see, and the top is almost all from a fine aluminium mesh. I got a adult Veiled in it.

And here is Sjaakie (Dutch name)
He looks fat cuz he was basking here but hes not fat ^^

Thx

Michel.

(edit: made 1 picture smaller, was too large)

 

[mika]

How long have you had your cham?

 

[Brad Ramsey]

Ah ... the great enclosure debate!
Actually there are some americans that use glass enclosures .. some of my Canadian friends do as well and they have great success.
For the most part we have found it easier to maintain the environment here with screen cages.
Thermoregulation is easier, cleaning is easier, obviously ventilation is already built in.
One problem we encounter is maintaining humidity levels, but that has been solved by planting heavily with live plants and misting often, or employing a misting system.
It used to be that all chameleons were kept in glass enclosures here as well. It has been generally determined that you will have better success with a screen enclosure.
I think glass is fine, as long as the keeper is paying close attention to temperatures and movement of air (they do live in trees ... a little vent hardly seems sufficient)
Your guy looks great by the way.
How old is he?

-Brad

 

[Dean Pulcini]

We use screened cages because its warm here and air circulation is vital against bacteria buildup. I cover three sides of my cages with plastic in the winter to keep the heat and humidity up when it gets cold here in the winter. Its a matter of geographics where you live on this planet.

 

[spatulars]

I think you did a great job designing the cage, it looks absolutely beautiful and professional. What type of wood did you use? What tools did you use to build it?

One reason I believe that screen is better for arboreal chameleons is because it is a better recreation of their natural habitat. For example, Panther chameleons live in the open air treetops, so giving them a screen cage mimics the treetop environment they would have in the wild. I think the idea is that it makes captivity less stressful. Veiled chameleons are more hardy, and naturally live in more varied habitats, and your cage is a generous size which helps the quality of the air, with bottom and top ventilation, so I think you've created a good environment.

One problem we see in America is that a lot of people buy chameleons without knowing some of their needs, and will buy them tiny aquariums or glass cages without ventilation whatsoever. Many chameleons contract terrible respiratory troubles and can die in these situations. Air flow is important for reasons mentioned previously, so we tell everyone who is having problems to get a screen cage so there will be no question as to whether or not the chameleon is getting enough air flow to be healthy. However, if you have no trouble keeping your chameleon healthy in his environment, then you have to be doing something right. I love the cage you built.

 

[kinyonga]

Hi Michel,
I live in Canada and when I first started keeping chameleons (20+ yerars ago) I kept them is glass cages, wooden ones and an assortment of others. I have never had any develop a URI or other problems that are normally said to occur when the cages are not screen.

I "graduated" to glass cages that have screen lids and doors....but they are difficult to keep warm and humid during the winter...so lately, I have been switching back to glass ones with screen lids.

I kept C. chamaeleons in wooden cages with glass doors and small vented areas in the ends of the cages. They were WC adults and were still with me for close to 5 years. Most of the hatchlings that I kept back from them lived to be 5 years old and several lived to be 6 (including females).

Glass cages do/can present difficulties regarding water but I haven't had a problem with it.

Screen cages IMHO have different difficulties...the chameleon (when being kept in areas with cooler climates) leave the chameleon sitting under the basking light most of the time just to keep warm. Its also more difficult to keep the humidity up in them.

 

[Gaarman]

Thx for the constructive posts,
I have had my cham since september 2007, the pics i posted are from februari i think, so hes a bit bigger already. According to the previous keeper hes born in april 2007.
With the ventilation i have no problem, when i sprayed my terra, and i do it for sometimes almost 2 mins, its dry within the hour, the bottom is filled with reptibark and i have some live plants so the water that drips down doesnt dry up fast and it keeps the humidity up to about 60% 3-4 hours after spraying.
I made my terrarium with wood which i bought at the hardware shop, they are (exact translation) Furniture boards, its compressed wood with a plastic coating, thats ideal to stand up against the humidity inside. Its 1,8 cm thick, thats almost a inch, In the front panel at the bottom i made a square whole and attached a ventilation hatch the outside, something like this:

and on the inside i glueed thesame aluminium mesh that is on the top so the crickets cant come through the ventilation.

I glueed anticricketcork, its a special cork crickets cant dig in.
Bought some plants and huge vines and voila!
I now described it fairly fast and short but we have been busy for like a month to build it.

michel

 

[spearsre]

Welcome and awesome

What a great looking habitat you have constructed. WOW! I live in Colorado so our climate is semi-arid. I also use a screen cage. I have had some issues with the humidity here. I just notice that my panther drinks a lot of water. I have a medium size ficus that obviously like my setup and is growing. My little female panther loves this tree and stays in the top of it all the time. She will move in and out of the warming lights but always runs to the moisture when I mist the tree leaves. I also drip water which she will drink from for at least 30 minutes a day...I have considered a large glass and screen habitat out here. The local reptile shops swears that panthers have to be kept in glass out here. My experience has been somewhat different.

 

[Brad Ramsey]

. The local reptile shops swears that panthers have to be kept in glass out here. My experience has been somewhat different.

Scales and Tails?
Yea, they are big advocates of keeping chameleons in glass enclosures in Colorado.
I have some strong opinions on how they keep chameleons, which I shall keep to myself.

-Brad

 

[mattjillson]

The is an AWESOME set up for an Emerald or Chondro and large enough to get good ventilation as a Cham enclosure. Using that cork as a wall lining would also keep the ambient humidity high I bet. Nice work, I want to put a Meru in it!