Glass Terrarium ? and Mood Colors ?

[Menton]

Thank you very much Kat for all the info and help !

from snout to vent, he is about 3"1/2 to 4"

Lights :

1. About a 14" Slimline Desert 7,T-8 fluorescent , 7% UVB
2. a 75w Zoo Med Basking Spot lamp.
and a
3. Zoo Med 150watt HeatEmitter, ( Ceramic Infrared ) that I use at night, and some of the day.

Here is an image of the whole thing, if that helps at all.

Again thank you all for your time and patience!

 

[mika]

What kind of substrate is that?

 

[Menton]

Coco Soft. Organic Fresh Coconut Husks.

 

[mika]

How cold does the inside of the enclosure get when you don't use the ceramic heat emitter?

Do you have thermometers in there?

 

[kyreg]

Coco Soft. Organic Fresh Coconut Husks.

Where did you get that ? im looking for some...

 

[Menton]

Mika : I try and keep it around 80F in the day , and around 70 at night. I have one thermometer in the cool area. Looks like I need to get one in the basking area.

Kyreg : I got it at the "un-named petstore" near chicago

 

[kyreg]

Mika : I try and keep it around 80F in the day , and around 70 at night. I have one thermometer in the cool area. Looks like I need to get one in the basking area.

Kyreg : I got it at the "un-named petstore" near chicago

Ahh, ok.
I looked through the pet store where i go and there was nothingjust moss.that was like dried out and put into a brick.


ps. what do you keep your humidity at ...

 

[Menton]

I do not have anything to check the humidity yet, I ran out of money the day I got him. But I mist 3-4 times a day and he has a dropper.

 

[kyreg]

I do not have anything to check the humidity yet, I ran out of money the day I got him. But I mist 3-4 times a day and he has a dropper.

Well im not a complete expert but i know that you need to get one because the humidity has to be somewhere between 60 and 80.
But thats what i do is i mist 3 times and mine is at 70.
So your good, but get one as soon as you can dood

 

[mika]

K, here is my 1 cents:

That enclosure is better suited for a pygmy.

It does look nice though & I know you'll be switching to a screen soon like you said but you also have to think if that cham gets sick due to poor husbandry, you're gonna end up with vet bills that will cost you more than the enclosure & the cham itself.

I found screen cages 36 inches high on recycler.com or craigslist.org for around 10-15 bucks. I don't know if they can ship it to you or if you even have a recycler.com in chicago.

lllreptile.com has screen cages for sale as well, 57 bucks for a 36 inch

You said the height of the enclosure is 24 inches & you have a 75 watt zoo med basking bulb?

I have a 36 inch tall screen cage & my bulb is only 50 watts. Even with the air conditioning on to 75 degrees my basking spot temps do not drop down to 84F and does not reach 95F

I believe, since your cage is glass with a 75 watt bulb & 24 inch enclosure, you're temps are higher than mine.

I would suggest you check the temps on the basking spot.

About a 14" Slimline Desert 7,T-8 fluorescent , 7% UVB:

I suggest you replace this with a reptisun 5.0, just take out the bulb & replace it. I don't know if they make 14" reptisun's though. Reptisun's are far superior than other bulbs

How fast would that coconut husk dry?

I would personally use paper towels or put nothing as a substrate, if that coco husk doesn't dry at night and you have a glass cage what you end up getting is stagnant air & a cham with Upper Respiratory Infection.

Plus, you don't want to keep buying something you don't really need.

How well do you think chams can digest coco husks? Are you sure it won't cause impaction?

Regarding the 150 watt heat emitter - your enclosure is glass, it's pretty small, are you sure the temps are 70F inside the enclosure because that's gives out a lot of heat since it's 150 watts. I've used those before for bearded dragons when I started and I only had 75 watts in a 60 gallon long breeder tank ( 4ft long )

Humidity - If you have coco husks and your misting with a glass enclosure I assume you're humidity is high since it's not screen. It's probably around 60%. I don't think you have to worry that your humidity is too low in a glass cage.

Thermometers: I would buy an accurite thermometer/humidity gauge. It's an all in one thing like this:

http://www.homeenv.com/Hum_Gge_Acc.htm

 

[mika]

Here is a study on the Reptisun 5.0 -

http://www.uvguide.co.uk/

Live plants are also better for humidity. Chams live up in the trees not in plastic vines and whatever you can do to mimic that environment would be better.

One of the good things also about getting a screen enclosure is that you can put it in front of the window (with the window open of course) and give him sunshine. Nothing beats the sun.

With glass you can't do that & you don't wanna keep on taking him in & out of the cage unless you have to.

What kind of supplements are you using?

What do you gutload with?

What do you feed your cham?

 

[mika]

Here's a supplement schedule (thanks Dave Weldon for pointing this out)

http://vipervenom9.tripod.com/id17.html

I personally use these to supplement:

Repcal D3 (no phos) with AND without D3
Minerall O (cuz my chams get afternoon sun everyday, 4 hours a day, sometimes more)
Vit A (retinyl palmitate)
Herptivite

 

[mika]

Well im not a complete expert but i know that you need to get one because the humidity has to be somewhere between 60 and 80.
But thats what i do is i mist 3 times and mine is at 70.
So your good, but get one as soon as you can dood

Chams do fine at 40-70% but he won't have trouble with 40% since it's in a glass enclosure with coco husks.

I think the problem he'll have is it's too hot, humid & the air is stagnant.

 

[kyreg]

Chams do fine at 40-70% but he won't have trouble with 40% since it's in a glass enclosure with coco husks.

I think the problem he'll have is it's too hot, humid & the air is stagnant.

yah ,
i have newspaper down in my terrarium.
im trying to find out what would be the best thing to put in a planters pot for a substrate for when she needs to lay unfertile eggs.
in a convo earlier a perosn told me play sand and coconut fibers.
but im trying to find different kinds?
because it has to moistened right? inorder for her to bury it. So as well how wet should it be?

 

[Kat77]

Yeah, you should probably get rid of that coco husk. That stuff will get soppy wet and it's tough to clean. It is far better to have no substrate at all at the bottom of the cage. Also, he will probably need better plant coverage than that. Check out the safe plant list that I left a link for earlier in the thread. Ideally, there will be spots in his cage where you cannot see him at all. He will feel happier and safer that way.

 

[mika]

yah ,
i have newspaper down in my terrarium.
im trying to find out what would be the best thing to put in a planters pot for a substrate for when she needs to lay unfertile eggs.
in a convo earlier a perosn told me play sand and coconut fibers.
but im trying to find different kinds?
because it has to moistened right? inorder for her to bury it. So as well how wet should it be?

Are you gonna put the pot inside the cage & leave it there for her to bury her eggs in?

 

[kyreg]

Are you gonna put the pot inside the cage & leave it there for her to bury her eggs in?

I think so..
is that bad idea?

 

[mika]

No it's not bad. That's the ideal situation because it lessens the stress on the female when she wants to lay.

How big is the pot? Is there gonna be a plant inside that pot?

 

[kyreg]

No it's not bad. That's the ideal situation because it lessens the stress on the female when she wants to lay.

How big is the pot? Is there gonna be a plant inside that pot?

well, in another thread, i stated that the GLASS TERRARIUM, yes i will be switching to a screened one VERY soon lol, but it is 12x12x18


and i was told to put a pot that is ten inches deep and eleven inches wide in the enclosure.
andi want to put a plant but i dont know what kind of plant i should get let alone if the local places here carry them. Or the kind of substrate,

 

[mika]

well, in another thread, i stated that the GLASS TERRARIUM, yes i will be switching to a screened one VERY soon lol, but it is 12x12x18


and i was told to put a pot that is ten inches deep and eleven inches wide in the enclosure.
andi want to put a plant but i dont know what kind of plant i should get let alone if the local places here carry them. Or the kind of substrate,

I think I read that thread & I believe Julirs was telling you to put a pot that size if there weren't any plants in it.

If you're going to put a plant in it then you have no other choice than to put soil in it in order for the plant to live ( I dunno about hydroponic gardening)

If you're gonna put a pot with a plant in it in that small a terrarium then that won't be sufficient for a cham to lay her eggs in.

What's gonna happen is the female will start digging but will not bury her eggs in that small of a pot if it has a plant resulting in her being eggbound. Either that or she's gonna end up pacing the enclosure.

IDEALLY, it needs to be twice the lenght of the female.

You might want to check out this thread:

https://www.chameleonforums.com/hello-just-got-pair-3671/