My Chamelecage!

ilovereptar

New Member
THIS IS MY FIRST POST!

I would like to start off first and foremost by thanking all of you wonderful people who are active in this forum. Even though this is my first post, everything I have learned about taking care of my chameleon has been through this website. It is an excellent database full of knowledge- and even more so, full of personal opinions and experiences.

My chameleons name is Reptar. He is a fun loving 7 month old ambilobe. He went from a starter 14"x14"x24" cage, and I have just recently built him an extravagant kingdom, 36"x60"x18". Inside of his cage I have a schefellera tree, specific information is unknown, I bought it from a garden center. There are 3 individual plants bound together, laying in my tub. Reptar LOVES IT.

I have supported the tallest branched by attaching fake vines that I purchased from pet smart to support it, because my little fatty bends them quite often whenever he is hunting for crickets, or taking it easy and gulping the superworms at the bottom of his cage.

I am making this post because, with the large dimensions of the cage, i am trying to sufficiently light and give my pet the UVA/UVB it needs to be a healthy and fun loving chameleon.

At the top of the cage, i have assembled a Repti Glo 2.0 as well as a Repti Glo 10.0, as a means of giving him both types of light that he needs. However, the two bulbs alone were not bright enough to light the entire cage, but rather 35-40% of it, so I just recently purchased a 100w blue light bulb from pet smart to light the other side of the cage, as well as providing him a basking light. Is this chamelesuicide for my pet? Am i giving him toooo much light?

0362 = Reptar
0359 = The Cage
0297 = The schefellera before we put it in the cage, and you can see his little home that he used to have behind it.
 

Attachments

  • IMAG0362.jpg
    IMAG0362.jpg
    254.8 KB · Views: 170
  • IMAG0359.jpg
    IMAG0359.jpg
    261 KB · Views: 223
  • IMAG0297.jpg
    IMAG0297.jpg
    253.8 KB · Views: 190
Thank you I appreciate it. I sketched it out in a minute, and went to the hardware store and did some basic math with the guy. All in all for all of the nails, staples, wood, and screen, I spent a wopping 100$ AND THATS IT! Add on about 12 hours of man work, and the 100$ lighting system, and wallah. A great cage for 1/10th of the cost I saw them on the internet.
 
Your Ficus isn't a Ficus but instead is a poisoness version of Shefellera. Only Shefellera Ambrolica (Dwarf Schefellera's) are listed as Cham safe and widely used. It sucks though because the version you have is structurally a perfect Cham plant and looks way better than the dwarf ones. I'm by no means the end all expert so if anyone can say differently please do.
 
I definitely meant a shefellera, I was looking at a small ficus today judging wether or not I could fit in another plant into his cage area. However, I did not realize that the one I had was a poisoness version of the Shefelerra. he has not had any issues for the last month of using the cage, but I will look into wether or not I should change it for a healthy future.
 
I should also mention that there is about a 20 degree difference from the top to the bottom of the cage. The bottom sits at the mid to high 60s (65-70) where as the top stays from 76-82 degrees.
 
Wow, I'd be loving that enclosure too! Unfortunately it is the wrong kind of Schefellera (the arboricola is the one you want), but otherwise I love the setup. Very nice looking cham you have there too!
 
If I need to get rid of his plant I will do so immediately. This is my first chameleon and I want to take the best care of him and not hurt him. I guess i'll have to go back to the plant database and try and find more large plants that I could throw into his home.
 
I wouldn't say it will kill him immediately but surely it isn't the best idea. You can find the ambrolica's in larger sizes and with some pruning they can grow taller. A cool Ficus would work too. A few pothos vines are always a nice addition.
 
I wouldn't say it will kill him immediately but surely it isn't the best idea. You can find the ambrolica's in larger sizes and with some pruning they can grow taller. A cool Ficus would work too. A few pothos vines are always a nice addition.

Ditto! All of those are good ideas. The arboricolas can get really big, and would fill up your enclosure nicely.
 
Your cage is great! And Reptar is a stud!!!

As for plants, you cage looks more than sturdy enough to be able to hang a really nice sized pothos from the top. The vines will grow downward over time and will aide in covering up the bottom a little bit. In our 2x2x4 cages we have 1 scheffrella on the floor, which have grown up quite a bit since we got them, and 1 pothos we hung from a bird ladder.
 
Back
Top Bottom