New cage design input. Vendors welcomed!!!

[dga]

Hi everyone,
I am making this thread in search of an honest/reliable company to help me take a product to market. And also input from other avid chameleon keepers/breeders. Attached is a short video demonstrating this product/ chameleon enclosure. Please let me know what you think. Your input is much appreciated, as I will soon be contacting several reptile supply companies.

I have had this design of a cage for over 15 years now and have made several prototypes since then. Just like a lot of people who have or have had chameleons as a pet. I have bought my share of cages and also tried building my own enclosures to suit my needs. There have been times where I did not have a chameleon(s) but still had cages sitting around taking space. So like most people I eventually placed an ad to sell them. Only to regret that I needed a cage at a later time, because I picked up another chameleon at the local “Reptile Convention”!!!

In designing this cage I’ve oftened wondered how long breeders/vendors need in order to set up their display cages for a reptile convention. And how much space is needed if all the display cages are already built before transporting them. Even though the standard chameleon cage needs anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes to set up with a screwdriver, I’ve only ever seen one reptile cage on the market that breaks down and setups up in an “instant”. My cage design will change how the average and advanced chameleon keeper stores and transports their enclosure when in use and not in use.
Thank you for taking the time to read this thread.


***sorry had trouble attaching video, here is link to photo bucket***

http://s115.photobucket.com/user/dg...4E-41AB-9D35-D4B7BC049016.mp4.html?sort=3&o=0

 

[Olimpia]

That's pretty awesome. Is there any chance of it collapsing with an animal inside or does it "lock" somehow?

On a side note, I had to open your link on a different browser because via the one I use normally all I could see was a close-up of some pecs moving about! lol It chose to do a weird crop.

 

[dga]

Thanks for the first input!!! No, it will not collapse in itself once fully setup.

 

[Norcal55]

Look nice. I would love hose for doing shows when setting up multiple cages

 

[JonRich]

That is sick. I currently have 4 cages that i would love to fold up and tuck into a closet.

 

[jmwhitel]

You need to get that in front of the appropriate investors! Then find a good company to help with manufacturing. Then market yourself via this forum and various rep shows and such. You have something there!

 

[Bug Trader]

Very nice depending on the final price per cage vs what's out there on the market. Its definitely something anyone vending shows would be willing to use. Nothing like dealing with a van load of cages you can't break down.

Michael

 

[KarmenCham]

at the moment what size does it come in? just thinking might be handy Summer months so I can get my cham outside for a bit if we ever manage to see the sun, is it patented yet?

 

[dga]

Right now the only size I made is a 2 footer. But working on a 3 and 4 footer.

 

[Mike Fisher]

Unless I'm missing something, the enclosure in your video appears to be missing the top and bottom frames.

 

[dga]

You are correct. The video is just a brief look of the cage and how fast
it breaks down. The top and bottom install/attach pretty quick also.

 

[Saldarya]

You would do yourself a ton of credit shooting the video where we can actually see you collapse it. I mean, I assume you collapsed it that fast, but as far as I know, you stepped in front of it and replaced it with something else as the curtain in the background moved around.

I mean the idea is awesome and I would love to see something like this, I would buy them.

But thus far I have seen a cage with no top and bottom, then you step in front of it, you move back away, and then there are pieces of the cage stacked neatly.

I hope you dont take it the wrong way, but again, not sure why you got in the way of the 'money shot'

HTH,

 

[dga]

Thank you for the input. As for the money shot your going to have to wait. The video is meant to be as brief as possible as to not give up more info than I want known at the moment. As I said in the last reply the top and bottom attach quickly.

 

[Mike Fisher]

But thus far I have seen a cage with no top and bottom, then you step in front of it, you move back away, and then there are pieces of the cage stacked neatly.

I hope you dont take it the wrong way, but again, not sure why you got in the way of the 'money shot'

HTH,

There is no secret there, you can see how it is built before he steps in front of it. It is an enclosure with no top or bottom. The front and back screen frames are attached to mitered angle frames allowing them to be a rigid panel so that the hinges can attach to something more solid than just the thin screen frames. The sides are made from two screen panels per side that hinge in the middle so that it can collapse like an accordion. So, what you can't see is that he flips it on it's back, the sides fold in and it folds flat. The angle frames also provide a nice place to hide the side panels after it is folded because they nest inside them.

When I tried to market a similar design 20 years ago, the biggest stumbling block was the tendency for the side screen frames to twist or rack from the tension of the screen fabric. It was most troublesome on the larger sizes. Without screwing or riveting the frames together, the large ones were super flimsy. That and the price of all of the hinges made the enclosure more expensive than what most reasonable people would pay.

This design can probably be marketed, but I predict there will still be further engineering challenges to overcome. And I don't believe that the solution will involve currently available off the shelf parts from Home Depot.

 

[Saldarya]

Interesting, thanks Mike.

With your explanation, and re watching the video, I 'get it' now.

Regardless, if it come ever come to a solid fruition, a neat idea.

 

[Mike Fisher]

Regardless, if it come ever come to a solid fruition, a neat idea.

I agree. If he can achieve a fold-able design that is still rigid at an affordable cost, I'm sure there is a market. Especially because they could be pre-assembled and shipped flat. That was my primary goal 20 years ago.

With traditional screen cages I had too many customers stripping out screw holes during assembly, or just plain failure to read illustrated instructions. But they were too expensive to ship assembled due to dimensional weight.

Good luck dga!

 

[dga]

Thanks for the input everyone!!!