Housing larger species
- Thread starter JohnnyD
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eisentrauti
Avid Member
I don't have a mellers because the 24 x 24x 48 is too small. I am told the need at least 7ft to roam in. I just don't have it so no mellers for me.
That's the point. The ones who haven't the place should think about other species. I would further say that such a cage isn't even adequate for Furcifer pardalis or Chamaeleo calyptratus.
eisentrauti
Avid Member
Still not big enough. Melleris can grown really fast and verrucosus or oustaleti are too active for a cage not this.
Why don't you house a small species in such a big enclosure ? I keep for example a group of Bradypodion setaroi in a 80x80x120cm big aluminiumscreen enclosure. THey do very fine inside and I can even keep several males without aggressions
summoner12
Avid Member
I have three melleri in 2x2x4 cages. These melleri are not adults though.... One of them is close to adult size but needs to be kept in a smaller cage due to a condition. The other two aren't full grown and do just fine in the cages. I wouldn't say melleri are lazy... but some can be. If you had a melleri wandering the cage a lot and climbing the sides I would build something bigger for them to wander around in. The larger cham of the three that are in the cages doesn't have much of a wandering routine, and neither does one of the medium sized melleri. Both have a pretty simple bask/sleeping routine where they tend to be in either spot... or hunting crickets.. otherwise they bask, move to a cooler spot, bask, move to a cooler spot, and then find their sleeping branch. All three melleri sleep in the same exact spot every single night.
If I had to keep a melleri caged into adulthood I would buy two 2x2x4 cages and make a trip to Home Depot or Lowe's and buy some hardware to connect the two cages... Or build a cage in similar size.
Melleri need more horizontal space to stretch out on and to move around on. They don't really need much height. My large melleri, Henry (23" from nose to tale tip), lives in a free range that is 2' deep 4' wide and 3.5' tall. He moves around in it during the day depending on if he wants to bask or sit in the shade or sit near the window to look out.
Another cage option is the reptarium cages... using a 30x30x48 standing up or on it's side. The only big issue with these cages is the mesh the cage is made out of in regards to lighting. You'll need to use 10.0 zoomed UVB lamps and I would definitely use 6500K lamps to provide more visible light and growing light for the plants. These cages are also a bit harder to clean...
I would build a custom cage if keeping melleri in cages. you could build something as simple as PVC piping and plastic mesh from HD or Lowe's...
If I had to keep a melleri caged into adulthood I would buy two 2x2x4 cages and make a trip to Home Depot or Lowe's and buy some hardware to connect the two cages... Or build a cage in similar size.
Melleri need more horizontal space to stretch out on and to move around on. They don't really need much height. My large melleri, Henry (23" from nose to tale tip), lives in a free range that is 2' deep 4' wide and 3.5' tall. He moves around in it during the day depending on if he wants to bask or sit in the shade or sit near the window to look out.
Another cage option is the reptarium cages... using a 30x30x48 standing up or on it's side. The only big issue with these cages is the mesh the cage is made out of in regards to lighting. You'll need to use 10.0 zoomed UVB lamps and I would definitely use 6500K lamps to provide more visible light and growing light for the plants. These cages are also a bit harder to clean...
I would build a custom cage if keeping melleri in cages. you could build something as simple as PVC piping and plastic mesh from HD or Lowe's...
summoner12
Avid Member
Seems like there might be a market for bigger screen cages. Maybe DIY will make one soon. Hint Hint. 36x36x60
They import their cages... I can't imagine shipping that size would be very cost effective.
I would stick to the LLL Reptile cages since those are made right here in the USA and are made of none rusting materials.
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