Moving, and need advice on new set up...

[camothechameleon]

Hi Everyone,

I am in the process to moving to a new place, which unfortunately doesn't not have 2 bedrooms like my current place does. The issue that I have is I have 3 cats. In the new place, the only place I can really set up the Chameleon is the living room. Right now, I have a veiled male, about 8 months old, and the 24"x24"x48" screen Cage from LLLReptile. My biggest concern is that the cats can claw through the screen if they manage to spot him. Does anyone have any suggestions as to whether the cage will suffice or if I should get something different? Thank you

 

[sandrachameleon]

One of the reasons I initially moved from using screen cages and wire cages (large bird cages) to my home built wooden cages was that I had rescued a cat. I too worried about what a cat could potentially do to a screen cage, and how its little paws might reach through the wire cage. Now it turned out my cat didnt notice or care about the chameleon. But I was certain my chameleon DID care about the cat. Changing to a more solid cage (its peg-board, so there are lots of little holes but no substantial openings on back and sides) gave the chameleon a better sense of security, I believe. I also kept my chameleon in my bedroom and kept the cat OUT as much as possible. (Its hard to keep indoor cats OUT of anywhere in the house all the time). If I knew the cat would be in the same room as the chameleon (locked cat in bedroom when having a party) I would put a blanket over the front of the cham cage (the doors are acrylic so obviously the cham could easily see the cat out the front unless I covered it). The peg -board cages are also better for retaining humidity, and resolved the issue I had with heat (it was a drafty old house without any central heating).

 

[camothechameleon]

Thank you for the suggestions. I will look into building a new cage. The peg board idea seems great. I might attempt that. I am pretty handy, and can probably whip something up. The funny thing is that he doesn't seem scared of my cats, and they don't seem to notice him now. Sometimes, my wife will take him out and he will sit on her shoulder while she cleans. He is usually the calmest at this time, and in awe, as his eyes take in his surroundings. The cats don't even realize that he is there, and if they do, they will just ignore him. The problem that I forsee is that the cats will catch a glimpse of the crickets or roaches, and flip out. This is where I think they might be tempted to mess with the cage, especially when the crickets chirp.