My New Enclosure - Progress thread

[Simon]

I picked up my new cage last night from Terry Thatcher.This type which he has made looked a lot better than the flexariums, I'm going plant and decor shopping over weekend. Will update this thread as it progresses and to check everything I'm doing is right before I go cham shopping! What do people do for backgrounds, do you bother? The polystyrene stuff in fish shops seems expensive, is that even suitable?

 

[ChromaChameleons]

Foliage is your chameleon's friend. Instead of a background, I simply fasten a silk plant to the screen at the inside back and sides of the cage. It looks good and your cham will feel less stressed if it has optional places to hide or hang out amongst greenery.

 

[Dylan Dutz]

Yeah don't even worry about the background, use lots of foliage and branches and vines. And I see your chams cage is up high, that's good What type of cham are you getting?

 

[Zoey]

The person I got my male from had stapled (on the inside) one of those fish backrounds... Personally I think they look better without a backround and I ripped it out (partly because half the staples were a danger zone for the chameleon)

Don't use a backround, just put in lots of greens and vines.

 

[PardalisGirl]

Skip the background......

Ditto on skipping the background. You have a nice cage there. A very good choice. What kind of chameleon? Some nice bushy plants like ficus are needed for hiding and hydration. The live plants will boost the humidity and provide surfaces for drinking. The plants should reach the upper portion of the cage. You can set a shorter plant on top of an upside down pot to make it taller. After the plants are in place, you need some climbing branches/vines to wind around the upper and mid areas of the cage. Search this site for pictures of what other people have down. There are lots of good examples here.

 

[Simon]

I'm going for a Veiled cham. its my first one if anybody had missed my other threads

I had a look at some plants today, only found Ficus from the plants that are safe, but one store only had really tall plants, too tall for my cage and the other store only had really small ones so shall try some other places tomorow. Have started getting some wood, branches etc got a couple of the exo bendy vines to help secure things.

Thanks for the help

 

[eldarado]

if you do want a background there are a couple of options.. I know how you feel
it makes the cage look awesome.. first option is to get a piece of plexi glass the
the same exact size as the back inside dimensions.. it needs to fit tight..
you can wedge it in with fish background behind it.. trust me if its snug the crickets wont get behind it.. another option would be getting the same snug plexi glass,same size as the other option and scuffing it up with sand paper and using great stuff foam.. this is tricky because you need to sculpt it,cover with tile grout and then pain it.. but if done the right way it looks beautiful... and you can form it around tubes that go out the back.. and make little potted plant forms in the foam.. the tubes are for drainage.. and the rocky background
is easy to clean and awesome for the chameleon to climb on..

search vivariums and you will see examples of this method

 

[Simon]

Been buying some plants and stuff over weekend will fit it out tonight and stick up some photos. Whats the score with Air Plants? garden center were selling some for 50p. So cheap I grabbed a couple, not sure on compatability, was going to stick them in some driftwood I've got

 

[Simon]

Update!

Getting there. What are peoples thoughts suggestions? Not sure if I should have light positioned on top or side, on the side it gets closer to branches, I took photos in both locations. Think I need a higher watt bulb too. Currently the thermometer is resting on branches closest to bulb and is only reaching 80ish, thats with a 60w.

Made a reflector for the UVB light from half a drainpipe with foil glued to the inside!

Won't be a while before I go cham shopping, want to make sure everything is setup right first!

 

[Cainschams]

I think it is looking great. I personally wouldnt put the basking bulb right on top of the cage. You can try twisting your biovines a little closer to the top of the enclosure so they can get closer to the lights. I have mine about 5 or 6 inches from the top going all the way across.

 

[Guardian]

Fabulous!!

 

[Simon]

Thanks, Not sure I have anything I can hang light from so will have to sit either on top or clamp to side, will have a look at getting branches higher though.

How long should the UV light need to stay on for a day? same as heat bulb?

What the score with Scindapsus plant, the central plant is one of those, the lady in the store looked it up and said it was the same as what I printed off from the plant database here, but she sid it is harmful for pets if eaten? Wil take it out if so.

 

[Zoey]

The lights should be on the for the same time as far as I know.

I'm not too plant savvy. So i can't help you there.

 

[Electric]

some people (like myself) also set the heat lamp to come on shortly after the uvb tube in the morning and turn off shortly before the uvb tube at night to mimic a 'heating up' and a 'cooling down' period like the sunrise/sunset

 

[Simon]

some people (like myself) also set the heat lamp to come on shortly after the uvb tube in the morning and turn off shortly before the uvb tube at night to mimic a 'heating up' and a 'cooling down' period like the sunrise/sunset

The reflector I brought has a glow coating inside so after the bulb goes off the reflecor glows for a little while which looks quite nice and so also simulates the 'cooling down' period I suppose, otherwise I guess you have to run both lights on seperate timers?

 

[Electric]

yeah you do pretty much need two timers... there are timers with two outlets that have memory for like 20 on/off settings, but I've yet to find one where you can set each outlet for different times