Free ranging

[dreamforthedead]

As most people know on here i have a very friendly chameleon Mia, who loves being out her viv. It's got to the point now where every time i put her back in her viv she protests, either by grabbing the roof of her home or turning around and running back up my arm. :s When she is in her viv she sits near her door dark green waiting for me, soon as she spots me she head butts the door and scratches to be out. Of coarse she gets her own way and i open the door for her she pretty much dives on my hand and goes back to a lovely green. I'm moving soon and will have a spare room im thinking of using it for free ranging for mia. Is it hard to do? What about the UV and basking? I know some people on here do it. I'm not bothered about how much it costs to set up, if it makes her happy then so be it. I do have a dog but will keep the door shut at all times. Tips would be good. Thanks

 

[beeze]

I just saw this on here earlier. You might find it helpful. That links showed pictures of free ranges. I'm thinking about making one for my female veiled. She hates being caged. https://www.chameleonforums.com/free-range-problem-42921/

 

[Jimturner]

you can use the same type of UV and basking lights as on her cage, set up a perch close enough to the UV that your bulb is still effective. just be sure she cant reach & climb up onto the basking lamp. the main issue is water, you need to devise some way to keep her hydrated without making a big mess. hand feed or cup feed. also keeping the temps in the normal range can be a bit tricky throughout the year. or set up a small part time free range and move her back to her cage for food, water, sleep, etc. your imagination is the only limit (well maybe your budget too! lol)

 

[hallenhe]

A free range can be as minimal or as extensive as you choose to make it. The first chameleon I saw was in a floor-to-ceiling cage in a pet store, so this was the image of "Chameleon Habitat" I had in mind when I started to think about getting one. I found a website that sold "Chameleon Condos", essentially vertical chameleon habitats that weren't enclosed, and that's what I started with (I believe they've since gone out of business). The Condo is basically a light (screened in for protection) and reservoir/drip system at the top, two hanging plants, one beneath the other, and a catch basin at the bottom - there are two bowls in the catch basin, the top one with drainage holes so, if the chameleon somehow finds itself down there, it's not in standing water. If the plants are kept from overhanging the sides (and the chameleon doesn't take it into its head to leap), the cham is pretty much contained, while getting all the benefits of free air flow and not being enclosed. Something like that could be put together as a do-it-yourself without too much difficulty, or some variation on that theme. After awhile, I expanded my guy's range by stringing bendy vines and live Pothos vines between the Condo and other plants.
This is the "Big Picture" view of the Condo; you can just make out my first chameleon as a little green spot near the top, under the light.

 

[JaxyGirl]

I have a Male Jackson's that has been free ranging in my living room for over a year now. He started out like yours, Dreamforthedead, just not wanting to be in his cage. So I hung a pathos plant above his cage so he could climb up and sit in the plant when I left the cage door open...and I would lock him in his cage at night. It got to the point where he would freak if I locked him in his cage at all so I hung up another pathos plant and left his cage door open so he could go in and out at will day or night. Pretty soon he wasn't going in his cage at all so I hung a UVB strip over the plants and added a spot and a dripper and now that's pretty much where he spends all his time and since he no longer went in his cage I removed it completely. Now he free ranges all over the living room and I've added other plants in different areas where he likes to go.