Enclosure in the wall.

[pieter dhoop]

As LookinRound already has sead

on the soil there are 2 species of isopods and a lot springtails. so it cleans itself. there are also 16 nozzles that cleans all of the leaves.

 

[brownie64]

beautiful

Ever thought about putting some color in there like some Orchids, or some safe flowers? I pump air down into my tank part of my setup to keep the air fresh, I use my wife's old C-pap machine LOL works great though.

 

[pieter dhoop]

Ever thought about putting some color in there like some Orchids, or some safe flowers? I pump air down into my tank part of my setup to keep the air fresh, I use my wife's old C-pap machine LOL works great though.

i do'n t like flower in a enclosure. but it is personal. It's my idea that the animal must "pop-out" of the enclosure and not the flowers

 

[brownie64]

i do'n t like flower in a enclosure. but it is personal. It's my idea that the animal must "pop-out" of the enclosure and not the flowers

Never looked at it that way, but it makes sense after all it is our chams that are the true jewel.

 

[pieter dhoop]

some pictures of the project

 

[jims]

Absolutly stunning!!

What kind of mixture/substrate do you use on your background? And how do you make it stick to the foam? (silicone?)

Again, amazing terrarium!!

 

[pieter dhoop]

on the background i've used a mixtures of peat and cocospeat

for sticking it to the foam i've used epoxy with brown and black color.
finishing touches with silicone.

 

[LLLReptile]

That's absolutely incredible, and definitely looks large enough for a parsonii - looks large enough for you to crawl inside and take a nap!

Thanks for sharing this gorgeous enclosure, looks like it belongs in a zoo!

-Jen

 

[littlepinkpwnie]

That's beautiful!

 

[Mike Fisher]

Thanks for pointing me to your thread. If more people went to fully planted enclosures, they would see that maintenance is virtually nil. They become an ecosystem. The only time I have to clean mine is if the plants become unsightly with dried poop. If it goes to the floor of the enclosure, it breaks down and becomes fertilizer for the plants. Mine are loaded with springtails that I often see my chameleons snacking on. I have one female chameleon that I was very confused about. She seemed to be not feeding, but was gaining weight anyway. Then I caught her vigorously feeding on springtails.

My enclosures never smell bad either, they smell like the forest.

So many people believe in the "no substrate" mantra. Well, given a choice between a bare bottomed cage and one like yours....I'll take the latter.

Your enclosure is one of the best I've seen, Truly like a showcase for prized chameleons. Nice job.

 

[Shaunny]

If you have the time could you do a detailed description of how you furnished the viv......plants etc I am going to do something similar but freestanding in the next few weeks.

I won't be using glass on the front as the water is too hard here in the uk and it scales up on it? I will use mesh but will this lead to me finding springtails over my house if I have an Eco soil like yours?

 

[Action Jackson]

So Awesome! Thanks for sharing this with us.

 

[Mike Fisher]

I will use mesh but will this lead to me finding springtails over my house if I have an Eco soil like yours?

I use mesh and the springtails stay inside the enclosures. No reason for them to leave their perfect environment.

 

[Shaunny]

Cool is there anything else I need? I'm new to this and want to research first.

 

[pieter dhoop]

On the top of the background i have a tube with some small holes in it. Trough the tube flows water every 15 minutes but not at night. so the back can dry out. Only then the plants will grow.

 

[Mike Fisher]

I'm assuming that the plastic downspouts are part of the ventilation system?

 

[darthink]

How does drainage work with all the water going in? And do the isopods and buggies help keep bad stuff from growing, like fruit flies? Can you really just let the cham poop fall to the bottom and break down, never having to remove manually?

 

[pieter dhoop]

@mike: that's correct

the drainage works with a double bottom. the water that is to mutch flows out of the enclosure in the sewer.

in the past most of the cham poop was removed by the bugs (pardalis - jacksonii) . now there is an parsonii in it. and i will remove this manually.

 

[fleetwoodchams]

These type of enclosures really clean themselves for the most part with the automatic watering and the live plants.

I have an in-wall viv about this size but yours puts mine to shame. Amazing exhibit. Thanks for sharing.

Frank,

Don't be so modest. Both your viv and this one are both exceptional : )
Works of art for living works of art!

 

[fleetwoodchams]

Frank,

Don't be so modest. Both your viv and this one are both exceptional : )
Works of art for living works of art!

Please Please I know it's a lot of trouble, but we would be so grateful if you share a step by step photos including planting this wonderful showcase. I personally would love to have my son build one for my chams but I need to show him what I want.
Many thanks!