Free Range Questions that went unanswered in Free Range section!

[ChameleonMom]

Sorry, I know this is probably the wrong place to ask but I did pose my questions in the Free Range section of the board but nobody has seen it! (I understand that section of the board may be new?) Either way, I absolutely love the idea of a free range set up and recently had the opportunity to see a whole room dedicated to free range at the home of my reptile boarder's. It was pretty spectacular - there were 2 pothos that had grown so long that the vines had made it around the entilre room which were attached to the wall with hooks, placed about 3 feet from the ceiling. Along with the plant vines, the owners had wrapped vivarium vines amongst the plant for extra grip for the chameleon. The cham in question was thriving and had learned to 'do its business' in one corner of the room, only! (now thats 'training'!) I was bowled over by the set up and have done alot of dreaming since, along with trying to convince my husband I need my own chameleon room for my growing interest in free range! Hey, he's got the garage (man cave), why can't I have my own room (cham cave)?

A couple questions I have though, with a free range set up such as I've seen how can you be certain your cham is getting the benefits of the UVB/UVA lights if he's roaming during the time the lights are on? I would be concerned more time would be spent roaming than sitting under much needed lighting.

Also, how does the cham stay hydrated? I understand that if there is a dripper going the cham will learn its location and return to drink when thirsty, but having lost a cham to dehydration I am super paranoid about hydration now and mist approximately 4 times per day in addition to a dripper. Would a fogger or humidifier create enough dampness in an entire room, to satisfy the hydration needs in between drinking?

Also, I am assuming the cham would go into an enclosure at night and be let out to roam during the day? Or is there anyone here who lets their cham roam day and night?

Any insight would be appreciated, or perhaps more pictures of free range setups may help me out! Thanks!

 

[nightanole]

With the typical "room" setup. There is the business section and the roaming section . The business section is where the watering/basking/feeding/sleeping takes place, then there are vines and stuff to lead out to other places. You could call it a cage without walls.

The basking spot has the uv light, some times a merc light so its an all in one (they only need about 30min of direct sunlight a day).

The feeding and watering section are normally next to the basking section. Then they just kinda know where to go.


Right now mine has a semi free range till trained.
I took the door off the repibreeze. he climbs out of the cage (water/heat/food) and goes to the 10foot section of plants i had to bring indoors for winter. He has picked out one for sleeping, and one for looking out the window. So his daily life is sleep in hibiscus, crawl into cage to heat up, get watered (this is half the day), then spends the rest of the day wandering till its time for bed. He gets cup fed only in the cage, but get hand snacks in the bush.

 

[Carlton]

A couple questions I have though, with a free range set up such as I've seen how can you be certain your cham is getting the benefits of the UVB/UVA lightsAlso, how does the cham stay hydrated? Would a fogger or humidifier create enough dampness in an entire room, to satisfy the hydration needs in between drinking?

Also, I am assuming the cham would go into an enclosure at night and be let out to roam during the day? Or is there anyone here who lets their cham roam day and night?

Some answers for you:

Think about UV exposure differently...the cham needs some exposure every day, but the exact amount each day doesn't need to be identical because the benefits are cumulative over time. If you put the UV light next to the basking bulb (I hung mine from the ceiling of the room) the cham will naturally go higher and closer to the heat to bask each day. Then it gets the benefit of the UV at the same time.

I suppose some people use a dripper in a free range, but you are correct...once your cham is loose in a room you'll have to humidify that entire space depending on what natural humidity level you happen to get in your house. If you free range in a smaller room it can be easier. Other ways to keep a free range cham hydrated include teaching it to accept drinking water directly from a hand held syringe. I did that with my free range melleri and it worked great. I knew for sure how much each of them drank each day.

I left my free range chams out 24/7. They don't wander at night anyway. Once they had their favorite perches worked out I'd usually find them in specific spots at different times of day, including a favorite night perch. They were pretty predictable. Consider that a wild cham has a specific turf it roams in and they probably do much the same thing. Chams like routine and predictability after all. Once in a while one of them would end up someplace odd, but that was the exception.

 

[ChameleonMom]

Thanks so much guys...that helps! I'm certain this is going to take alot of reaearch before I go ahead. Question to Carlton - the free range set up I saw had only one Cham however you imply you have more than one Cham in your free range? If so, did they stake out territory and just know to stay out of each others way? I was under the impression only one Cham could be free range, per free range set up. I wouldn't put my chams in one enclosure, but can I have more than one in a free range? Can you clarify? Again, many thanks!