Making a cage for my wife's veiled.

[rendos]

I made this over the weekend. I plan to line the plywood on the back and the bottom with FRP (shower stall liner). It measures 28" x 24" x 48". The top is removable and is only to hide the light fixtures. It will have a front door for access to those lights. I plan to install the screen mesh as soon as I can find the right sized mesh. I will also make a front door for the cage. The bottom will open separately to access the drain pan. We will have this sit on top of a cabinet for an overall height of 84". All the wood parts will be painted or stained and clear coated to protect it from the humidity.

We plan to move all the equipment from her smaller cage to this cage once the chameleon is big enough.
My question is where to get the mesh screen we need. All I can find locally has too small mesh size. We are looking for something around 1/8" so that the chameleon's nails don't get caught in it. Any help is appreciated.
Thanks.
I will update this thread as we update the cage.

 

[Tputtwhatwhat]

looks good!

 

[draetish]

First of all, I applaud you for building a cage for your wife's cham Go to Lowes or Home Depot to the fencing/garden area and look for some wire screen there. They have metal and plastic and see if that's what you're looking for. That is an awesome enclosure and well planned out!

 

[reptoman]

That looks like the beginnings of a great cage. About screen, I used aluminum in my first DIY cage and it tore the nails out of my Chams feet. Fiberglass is too thin and crickets can chew through it. I found this other stuff that is a little more $ called pet screen. It is not aluminum so will not hurt the nails, and is so tough my dogs cannot even tear it when scratching at the screen door. From my experience, this is the best stuff to protect the nails and keep crickets from getting out. I got it at Lowes.

 

[boj3434]

I second the pet screen but if you could make the top aluminum because that pet screen doesnt allow as much light through as normal screen so your uvb levels will be a little lower

 

[rendos]

Thanks for comments. I saw the 'Pet Screen' stuff at Lowe's today. I heard that the aluminum was rough on their feet, and the fiberglass was no good with the crickets. The 'Pet Screen' stuff looks to be nylon or some type of plastic. It is very pliable, but seems very strong at the same time. I think I will try it. My wife said something about not putting the lights directly on this type of screen, but the way the canopy is built, that won't be a problem. There will be a gap between the light fixture and the screen of at least an inch...maybe an inch and a half.

 

[rendos]

I second the pet screen but if you could make the top aluminum because that pet screen doesnt allow as much light through as normal screen so your uvb levels will be a little lower

Good idea. That will be easy enough.

 

[draetish]

I second the pet screen but if you could make the top aluminum because that pet screen doesnt allow as much light through as normal screen so your uvb levels will be a little lower

I second this!

 

[rendos]

Will the 'Pet Screen' on the front and sides going to make it difficult to view the little guy? We want to do what's best for the cham, but still want to be able to see him easily, and clearly.

 

[reptoman]

Will the 'Pet Screen' on the front and sides going to make it difficult to view the little guy? We want to do what's best for the cham, but still want to be able to see him easily, and clearly.

No. The pet screen is just as easy to see through as aluminum IMO. That is a good point on making the top aluminum. Both for UVB and if your heat lamp sags down and touches it wont burn through it. The petscreen is vinyl coated polyester BTW

 

[rendos]

Awesome. I will get both. Pet Screen for the front and sides, and aluminum for the top. Thanks for all the quick responses.

 

[rendos]

Got the Pet Screen and Aluminum screen for the enclosure today. I installed the Pet Screen on the sides, and also installed the FRP for the back and bottom. Next I have to install the aluminum screen on the top, make the door, and then sand, stain, and seal the enclosure. My timeline to finish this is December - so I think I should have plenty of time. Here are the new pics.

 

[sandrachameleon]

Will the 'Pet Screen' on the front and sides going to make it difficult to view the little guy? We want to do what's best for the cham, but still want to be able to see him easily, and clearly.

You could use plex or arcylic or glass for the doors.

 

[rendos]

Will using acrylic on the door cause any ventilation issues?

 

[luevelvet]

Not if the sides and top are all screen.

Luis

 

[rendos]

The top will be screen and two sides will be, but the back and bottom are solid. I think I will just stick with the Pet Screen on the door. After putting it on the sides, I see that it is easy to see through. Thanks for the suggestion, though.
This is the fella that is going in the enclosure...once he has grown up a bit...

 

[sandrachameleon]

He's adorable.
Even just one side and the top being screen would have been sufficient for air flow.

 

[jannb]

Personally, I don't like the pet screen, it's to dark. My husband built a cage for my daughter and used the pet screen and it was way to dark and he ended up having to change it to the aluminum screen. You want your chams house to be very light.

 

[rendos]

I was told that the aluminum screen could be harsh on their toes. That is why we went with the pet screen instead. The top screen will be aluminum so that the light is not blocked, but I can see how the pet screen could block light from coming in the sides of the cage.

 

[threelilkids]

When I can't find a certain size wire I go to a feed store. They are also cheaper then the hardware stores(Lowes, Homedepot)and have more size variety. Good luck, cage looks awesome.