Howdy,
Brad nicely summed-up most of my thoughts regarding the screen vs. solid sided enclosure debate. For me, it's a matter of what major environmental factor are you struggling to overcome. If you are battling extremely low humidity then more solid sides will help at the expense of fresher air and a few other factors. If you already have humidity under control then you can take advantage of a screened enclosure and gain the benefits of better air flow (without the need for fans), lighter weight for easier transportation, more surfaces for feeders to crawl on, less expensive, no broken glass dangers, more often available with a PVC bottom for drilling and drainage, no unsightly water spots
)), and easy to disassemble (common commercial screen enclosures). Solid-sided (non-glass) enclosures do offer an advantage of isolating visual contact with other nearby enclosures without the need for adding visual barriers. If keeping the proper ambient temperature high enough is a struggle then more solid sides would be beneficial too.
If I couldn't keep the room humidity and ambient temperature where I wanted it, I would be looking at solid sided enclosures to assist in controlling those environmental factors. I have the luxury of good Southern California humidity and temperature ranges. Because of where I live, it doesn't take a huge effort on my part to maintain an indoor environment for the typical chameleon species. I'm puzzled with posts that talk about how hard it is to keep the room temperature within margin because of how cold it is where they live. I guess I'm spoiled with a whole-house central heating system with a thermostat
. My overnight setting is 62F so that with no heat lamps at night, I'm still within the limits that I want for my chameleon room. It is a rare day that I have to use my $35 Costco humidifier. But if needed, it will easily keep the 10'x12' room from falling below 40%. If I do need it, I usually set it for 60%. On a typical day, without a humidifier, my chameleon room is usually around 60% while the rest of the house is at 50% and outside is at 40%. Even when the outside drops to 20%, I am still able to maintain 40%-50% in the chameleon room without a humidifier since the automated misted water evaporation keeps things pretty nice.
Whatever enclosure construction one chooses, there are trade-offs that need to be considered. Your choice will give you wider or narrower windows of margin for your husbandry efforts. Making an informed decision is best. Do your research
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