New enclosure!! 4’x2’x4’

[yoyoshi]

I’ve been working on building a new enclosure for my buddy.We believe he is 7 months old. I’ve been basing my build a lot on https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/zen-style-tube-frame-custom-2x4x4-enclosure-build.184391/

It is a wooden enclosure that was painted and sealed with a water based poly. I’ve used 2” styrofoam board as the interior walls, and once I fill little gaps in the wall it’ll be sealed in with corrugated plastic. All of the mesh is aluminum screen mesh on the exterior of the enclosure, making sure he cant be exposed to any edges.
For lighting I have arcadia ProT5 48” UVB and 2 34” jungle dawn led’s.
I’m really hoping we’re safe to start moving onto the next stages and start to add the decor to the space. I have a money plant, 2 swiss cheese plants, and 2 golden pothos for the space as well as a lot of sticks.
I am learning as much as i can as quickly as I can to get him out of the small petco starter kit home his previous owner had him in into this. I would love any advice I could get from y'all would be so appreciated! I need him to be safe and I want to do this right. Thank you very much in advance!!

 

[Motherlode Chameleon]

Looking great! Your off to a great start with your DIY enclsoure. Keep doing what you are doing.

One issue is you may need more lighting for a larger DIY enclosure.

Best Regards
Jeremy A. Rich

 

[yoyoshi]

Looking great! Your off to a great start with your DIY enclsoure. Keep doing what you are doing.

One issue is you may need more lighting for a larger DIY enclosure.

Best Regards
Jeremy A. Rich

Thank you very much. It will have the basking light as well. Havent hooked everything up yet. If i do what would you recommend. Also i am putting the money plant and swiss cheese on the floor and the pothos up high. How would you suggest mounting/securing the pots?

 

[BigSkyCham]

This is amazing! I think you are early in the build process and in a good position to make some informed design changes.

If this is going to be bioactive planted tank or a place for potted plants you might consider a drainage feature. This will allow you to water heavily, spray down plants, wash out poop. If it’s a planted floor the drainage will allow excess water to avoid roots from sitting in water.

If your floor is flat a hole for drainage won’t work….but you could create a pitched floor so the back wall edge is about a 1/2” higher than the front wall edge. Along the front wall edge you could have a drain edge that flows into a gutter and into a bucket under your tank. You could put some sort of pond liner material to seal the corners or guide water from the walls onto the floor.

what type Cham will go in here?

 

[BigSkyCham]

On my back and side walls I used felt planter pockets . You can cut these with scissors to fit your space. I used a roll of sheet felt to make little envelopes to slide into the pockets. This allows me to add or remove plants (if they are in the wrong spot, looking over or under watered I can easily pull the envelope out and care for the plant. I removed the metal hanging grommets and replaced them with plastic grommets to avoid rusting. The felt allows drainage, roots can grow through it and avoids the root ball/constriction effect from hard plastic planting pots.

Below is a build in process pic to show my felt pockets. The top row is a bit too high/ too close to the lights…so they didn’t really get used….maybe use these for some trailing plants or creeping fig.

The next photo is how I used ai to help figure out which plants should go where. It was kind of fun.

Third photo is after planting day….so far the pockets work great. I had a fern that wasn’t looking so hot so I pulled it out and am trying to get it back to health. After 2 months under a 36” Jungle Dawn this thing is thriving.

 

[yoyoshi]

This is amazing! I think you are early in the build process and in a good position to make some informed design changes.

If this is going to be bioactive planted tank or a place for potted plants you might consider a drainage feature. This will allow you to water heavily, spray down plants, wash out poop. If it’s a planted floor the drainage will allow excess water to avoid roots from sitting in water.

If your floor is flat a hole for drainage won’t work….but you could create a pitched floor so the back wall edge is about a 1/2” higher than the front wall edge. Along the front wall edge you could have a drain edge that flows into a gutter and into a bucket under your tank. You could put some sort of pond liner material to seal the corners or guide water from the walls onto the floor.

what type Cham will go in here?

I am planning on having potted plants.

My veiled chameleon will be transferring in.

 

[Motherlode Chameleon]

Thank you very much. It will have the basking light as well. Havent hooked everything up yet. If i do what would you recommend. Also i am putting the money plant and swiss cheese on the floor and the pothos up high. How would you suggest mounting/securing the pots?

I would recommend another 4 foot long Arcadia tube light. That is the direction I recommend.

Best Regards
Jeremy A. Rich

 

[BleuSaphir]

Looking good!