My Methods Part 5 Cheapest Cage Ever and Egg Laying Bins

[Seeco]

I like to do things my own way. The result is often failure, but sometimes I come up with some interesting innovations. I'll be posting a few threads of some things I have slapped together. Instead of explanatory captions I'll just answer any questions you ask. The closer you look the more you will learn. There is more on my blog.

If you learn anything or use these methods please credit me via my profile page url. Or better yet, use it to keep and breed Kinyongia species! As with a lot of home-made stuff it the little tweaks that make it function properly so don't assume your version is safe just because it looks similar.

So this is the cheapest cage ever. It is also the best cage ever for 95% of chameleon keepers. If you want, you can enhance it much more than I have. For me it is just an egg laying cage for my outdoor animals. Not much else to say. Every single thing available at big name hardware store. Total cost with plants and soil is under $75 and it is HUGE. The angle of the photos make it look too narrow. Totally suitable for adult veiled cham -- you just need big stout branches instead of a spindly ficus tree.

This here is the rest of my egg laying setup. Since most of my cages have zero substrate I just pay close attention to my females and transfer them to these bins filled with soil when the time is near. There are also 2 hovbators that are useless for incubating chameleon eggs but excellent for making fruit flies. What a mess...

 

[Seeco]

Oh I forgot to mention -- the lids to the egg laying tubs are old window fan covers but small Kinyongia females can sometimes slip through after laying. Guess how I figured that out?

 

[okiroo]

Oh I forgot to mention -- the lids to the egg laying tubs are old window fan covers but small Kinyongia females can sometimes slip through after laying. Guess how I figured that out?

how did ou find out??

 

[moviemanmania]

As always, I enjoy your posts and innovation.

 

[clarkrw3]

Try as I might, I have not been able to find the rubberized metal screening you are using for all these enclosures. Can you post what it is, size, and brand if possible? They don't have anything like this in my valley Lowe's. It's either plastic or galvanized metal but not both. I did up up a bunch of the buckets at Lowe's they were clearancing them for under $4

 

[coldbloodedAL]

What kind of tree is that in the cage?

 

[maxttu]

Forget the cage talk! What about that boat?? When we going fishing?!?

 

[coldbloodedAL]

Forget the cage talk! What about that boat?? When we going fishing?!?

lmao... Love me some rod n reels!

 

[Action Jackson]

I like the laying bin bottom. Here's a picture when we got started with chameleon's back in 1995. Jacksons on the left and Panthers on the right. This was just the begining.

 

[Action Jackson]

Fishing! Oh yeah. Done alot of that too.

 

[PantherEnvy]

Very ingenious

 

[Seeco]

Try as I might, I have not been able to find the rubberized metal screening you are using for all these enclosures. Can you post what it is, size, and brand if possible? They don't have anything like this in my valley Lowe's. It's either plastic or galvanized metal but not both. I did up up a bunch of the buckets at Lowe's they were clearancing them for under $4

Ya lowes never has it but home depot does. It is called vinyl coated hardware cloth or PVC coated hardware cloth.

 

[Seeco]

I like the laying bin bottom. Here's a picture when we got started with chameleon's back in 1995. Jacksons on the left and Panthers on the right. This was just the begining.

Oh that pic is great! Is it scanned? What a nice little jungle there!

What are those clear plastic shoeboxes? Is there a pump in the for misting?

 

[clarkrw3]

Ya lowes never has it but home depot does. It is called vinyl coated hardware cloth or PVC coated hardware cloth.

Thanks Louis I will check tomorrow!!

 

[Action Jackson]

Oh that pic is great! Is it scanned? What a nice little jungle there!

What are those clear plastic shoeboxes? Is there a pump in the for misting?

Yeah I scanned it. We had a problem with ants, so we put all the legs of the stands/cage in cut off water bottle with water in them. The shoebox bins have water in them and the mister lines run out of them. The house was a rental in downtown Huntington beach and the owner had lots of really cool palms growing on the property.

 

[suzi]

Looks good Seeco! I have been using the tube cages like in Action Jacksons with the clear plastic planters on the top and bottom. I got the idea from sticky farms ( are you sticky farms Action Jackson)? I used the hardware cloth with nylon screen around it. Are those orange tops and bottom ceramic or plastic planters or something else?

And Seeco I really like the bucket bottom! What a great idea!

 

[Seeco]

...And Seeco I really like the bucket bottom! What a great idea!

Yeah one great thing about the base is that it adds a ton of weight and makes everything more stable.

One problem -- that Action Jackson mentioned -- is ants. You gotta be careful with this method, especially if females are gonna be digging there and vulnerable. You can sit this whole thing on top of one of those planter bases and add a bit of water underneath. (Or just spray a ring of bug spray around the outside )

Did you guys see this thread https://www.chameleonforums.com/my-methods-part-3-outdoor-caging-72563/ :

Go check it out -- it is everything proof including neighborhood kids (until they get taller) https://www.chameleonforums.com/my-methods-part-3-outdoor-caging-72563/

 

[Seeco]

What kind of tree is that in the cage?

Regular Ficus.

 

[Eltortu]

Those are great setups you guys have -Seeco & Action Jackson -. I wish had a better weather here...

 

[Action Jackson]

Looks good Seeco! I have been using the tube cages like in Action Jacksons with the clear plastic planters on the top and bottom. I got the idea from sticky farms ( are you sticky farms Action Jackson)? I used the hardware cloth with nylon screen around it. Are those orange tops and bottom ceramic or plastic planters or something else?

And Seeco I really like the bucket bottom! What a great idea!

We got the idea from Sticky tongue farms too. We used to buy all our Panthers from them. The orange ones are plastic and work much better as they have a lip that the screen sits in.