I was always led to believe...

[Shelton]

...that the best housing for yemens was Flexariums or Mesh Vivariums. However, I see an increasing amount of people on my everyday forum using exo terra vivariums. To me, this is a bit cruel.

Can someone give me the pros and cons of using vivariums? These people need to be told if I'm right in thinking glass vivs are suitable.

 

[jannb]

Screen is the way to go. Glass get to hot and there's no ventilation. Jann

 

[hawaiianice99]

You may see more and more people saying they use exoterra cages but as soon as they post it they get torn a new one and later we hear they replaced it with a screen cage.

 

[Tygerr]

All-screen cages are recommended because they are the easiest to set up to obtain good conditions for keeping chams.

But many keepers (usually more experienced ones) manage to keep chameleons thriving in all-glass enclosures. They seem to be preferred in the cold, dry climates of continental Europe.
If you go that route however, a lot more care must be applied to setting up the environment so that there is sufficient ventilation. And a lot of vigilance is required to ensure that conditions remain optimal (and it doesn't get too humid in there after countless mistings and drippings). Constant high humidity, with not enough ventilation, is a great environment for bacteria to grow and cause upper respiratory infections.
Also, glass enclosures require a lot more cleaning than screen enclosures (because of all the watermarks on the glass).

So the basic conclusion is that glass enclosures can be used, but they require a lot more work to maintain, and they are not recommended (especially to novices) because it is very easy to get the conditions wrong in a glass enclosure.

 

[skeeta]

There is also the issue of reflections in the glass causing pronounced periods of stress (causing dangerous levels of adrenaline) and the simple fact that chameleons just don't "get" glass. (ever see a cham in a pet store continuously "waving" at you?) Frustration = stress as well. A small amount of stress is necessary in life, and even good, but extended amounts can shorten life-spans.

 

[Eric Adrignola]

If you eliminate the stress accoiated with transparancy (by keeping them from being able to contacting the glass), the problems are limited to ventilation and moisture (which really is fixed by proper ventilation).

It's usually easier to keep the conditions right in a screen cage.

What IS bad is when you see that a person has an enclosure that is clearly not well thought out. Oftentimes, it's a result of "what the guy at pet store X told me to do..."
...and it usually involves glass, waterfalls, and a nighttime heater...