Hey from the UK - questions

[Nixehface]

Hi there, I've joined this forum recently for obvious reasons lol, I'm a chameleon enthusiast and I will be getting my first panther in a few weeks
Because I live in the UK though it can get very cold, especially in the winter so I've decided against an all mesh enclosure and instead went for my own design which has 2 main mesh windows for ventilation... It is 42x18x22" as I have heard that male panthers can get rather large!





He will only be 4 months when I pick him up though so do you think this cage is too big? Should I perhaps get some chicken wire or something to close off the bottom of the viv for now?
Also, I was convinced by the petshop to buy some soil for the ground which helps with humidity but I've noticed that alot of people don't like putting substrate in their cham's vivs.
What do you all think?

Thanks so much!

 

[boj3434]

Don't put anything at the bottom if you want to help with humidity and put something down there just use paper towels and change them out a few times a week. I do like the cage though and it should provide plenty of air flow while helping with humidity some but if you want to up the humidity get some live plant like a pothos, umbrella tree, or ficus. About screening off the cage it probably wouldn't help because the reason they are supposed to be in a smaller cage is so they can find food but crickets and other bugs can get through chicken wire. If you can't get a smaller cage then I recommend either watching him very closely or if you can get him to start cup feeding then he would always be able to get enough food. There are some good cup feeding technique on here if you just search, you could try the milk carton one. Good luck I hope everything works out.

 

[Nixehface]

Don't put anything at the bottom if you want to help with humidity and put something down there just use paper towels and change them out a few times a week. I do like the cage though and it should provide plenty of air flow while helping with humidity some but if you want to up the humidity get some live plant like a pothos, umbrella tree, or ficus. About screening off the cage it probably wouldn't help because the reason they are supposed to be in a smaller cage is so they can find food but crickets and other bugs can get through chicken wire. If you can't get a smaller cage then I recommend either watching him very closely or if you can get him to start cup feeding then he would always be able to get enough food. There are some good cup feeding technique on here if you just search, you could try the milk carton one. Good luck I hope everything works out.

Yea I was planning on getting a live plant as I feel chameleons probably like them better anyway lol, thanks for that I wasn't too sure if he would eat from a cup but I will definately try that!

 

[Miss Lily]

Hi and welcome! I am also in the UK! B&Q is a great place for plants - they sell cham safe plants in several sizes. Schefflera (Umbrella plant), Pothos (Devil's Ivy - NOT common ivy) and Ficus (Weeping Fig) can all be bought there. Just wash the leaves with soapy water and rinse well before putting them in the cage- you may also want to cover the soil with river rocks/large pebbles to stop your cham from eating the dirt. Hibiscus are another fave of chams but I can only ever find them on sale in the UK during the summer.

 

[Nixehface]

Hi and welcome! I am also in the UK! B&Q is a great place for plants - they sell cham safe plants in several sizes. Schefflera (Umbrella plant), Pothos (Devil's Ivy - NOT common ivy) and Ficus (Weeping Fig) can all be bought there. Just wash the leaves with soapy water and rinse well before putting them in the cage- you may also want to cover the soil with river rocks/large pebbles to stop your cham from eating the dirt. Hibiscus are another fave of chams but I can only ever find them on sale in the UK during the summer.

Thanks alot
Yea was looking into getting a few umbrella plants to liven the place up

 

[Texas Panther Man]

Great cage for a first timer bro! My first screen cages I built were junk compared to yours. You might want to put some stick down tile or plastic melanine on the bottom. Then drill a few holes and make yourself a drainage system. Also if it were my cage i'd think about staining then sealing all that wood. With chams your going to have alot of water in that cage every day. No sense letting a great cage warp or rot. You can find some great products at home improvement stores for sealing out water. Also you might want to think about using some silicon around the inside of the base of the cage to keep water from leetching out.

 

[Nixehface]

Great cage for a first timer bro! My first screen cages I built were junk compared to yours. You might want to put some stick down tile or plastic melanine on the bottom. Then drill a few holes and make yourself a drainage system. Also if it were my cage i'd think about staining then sealing all that wood. With chams your going to have alot of water in that cage every day. No sense letting a great cage warp or rot. You can find some great products at home improvement stores for sealing out water. Also you might want to think about using some silicon around the inside of the base of the cage to keep water from leetching out.

Yea I've already siliconed the edges and all that.
On my way to getting the wood waterproofed too, just kinda doing it step by step lol. I only had one concern about that and it was whether any kind of wood waterproofer would be hazardous to chameleons? I mean I have looked at different kinds but unfortunately not all of them mention anything about what it could do to animals!
Thanks by the way, I didn't actually make it myself.. I had someone do it for me and he did do an amazing job

 

[Vic]

Hi There im in the UK too! I have a cadge a lot like yours my suggestions would be to tile the bottom so that the water doesnt rot the wood and waterproof the inside. I used a paint on material called plastidip which goes on like paint and dries as rubber it works a treat.

 

[Nixehface]

Hi There im in the UK too! I have a cadge a lot like yours my suggestions would be to tile the bottom so that the water doesnt rot the wood and waterproof the inside. I used a paint on material called plastidip which goes on like paint and dries as rubber it works a treat.

Oh brilliant, thanks for that!
I was getting really concerned that I owuld never be able to find out what I need to use.
Did you get that from B&Q?
Also sorry, checked out your profile... where in Surrey are you from?
because I know quite a few places where you could get your food and what not

 

[Vic]

You can buy plastidip on ebay. i live in Chessington where abouts are you?

 

[Nixehface]

You can buy plastidip on ebay. i live in Chessington where abouts are you?

I live in Leatherhead!
You could go to Clandon reptile park?
I think they are very good with any needs that you have!
Probably about half hour from Chessington though

 

[sandrachameleon]

I only had one concern about that and it was whether any kind of wood waterproofer would be hazardous to chameleons? I mean I have looked at different kinds but unfortunately not all of them mention anything about what it could do to animals!

I use zero voc acrylic latext paint to seal my wood cages.