New enclosure questions!

[Briana Hannan]

I am getting a new enclosure for my 9 month old veiled chameleon, and I was wondering what you could recommend for a whole new set up. Any input helps, I just want to now what's best for my baby boy since he's getting an upgrade.

 

[MSMorgan]

I am getting a new enclosure for my 9 month old veiled chameleon, and I was wondering what you could recommend for a whole new set up. Any input helps, I just want to now what's best for my baby boy since he's getting an upgrade.

Briana,
Just a new enclosure, or a whole new set up? Take a look at Dragonstrand. I hear that they are one of the best if not THE best. When I'm ready, I want to get the clear side model. Looks really great. I believe they are one of the site sponsors.

http://dragonstrand.com/clear-side-enclosures/

 

[NERVOUS]

I'm new to Chameleons, but have kept reptiles for a while (i.e. 20+ years). Dragon Strand is some of the best stuff I've seen in terms of screen enclosures.

In fact, I ordered an Atrium enclosure from them recently to house my new Kammerflage Kreations baby Panther!

 

[DaChameleonKing]

I got the best setup for you thats cheap to!

http://www.lllreptile.com/products/29571-zoo-med-reptibreeze-chameleon-kit

Be sure to buy some plants to like a ficus tree!

 

[Alexander1]

If your as obsessed as the rest of us,your enclosure will always be evolving as better or cooler stuff becomes available, mine is always a working progress, especially as you learn your chams habits and preferences

 

[Alexander1]

heres my work in progress for example

 

[nick barta]

Briana,

Here are some thoughts about your new setup:

Size: 2 x 2 x 4 is the minimum for an adult Veiled, but wider cages will give more travel room.

Water: No matter what you build, if you have automatic watering, all cage builds start with water containment; this sets your base size. If you are hand misting, your water containment is nonexistent, but a big consideration when you have automatic misting/dripping systems. I use a Mistking pump, with 1/4-inch soaker hose found at hardware stores, and have a 18-inch circle of the hose in the top of each cage. It gives the drips instead of the mist which goes outside of the screen.

Cage Surfaces: Screen, clear plastic, glass, white board, pegboard, all are options. I would get an all screen cage, or a minimum of 2 sides screened (see airflow below).

Floors: Most cages come with a white bottom that stains; an option is to replace it with plexiglass for easy cleaning. Also, the floor may need holes/slant for water control. My floor has no pots sitting on it, easy to clean and removes a place for insects to hide and bacteria/mold growth.

Plants: Ficus and Umbrella plants are the common suggestions, but I have changed over to hanging one 8-10-inch pot of Pathos which tolerates the water and heat without dying as the common choices. Pathos adds lateral climbing highways that I can train to go where I want. I would go to a nursery that sells lots of tropical plants and find the expert in that area. Give them the watering schedule and the temperatures in the cage, and they will tell you the few plants that can survive the environment. I have spent at least $800 in plants that could not survive….

Branches: I create a round circle of branches from my yard about 1 foot from the top, and then use that a s a base for some higher basking branches and lower traveling branches. My branches don't go below 2 feet from the bottom, although the pathos will hang down lower. Dragonstrand ledges are the best for this, I created my own as Bill hadn't invented them when I built my last cages!

Feeding Cup: The feeding cup needs to let water through or the feeder will drown, and have a climbing surface so the chameleons see the food climbing up. You can make your own (look up 'DIY Feeding Cups with the search button) or you can look at the Magnetized Camo Feeder Cup I sell in the classifieds under 'Feeders" and "Enclosure Supplies."

Cage Location: Low traffic is ideal, but with enough cover for the chameleon to retreat into, it is not the problem that some say IMHO. Make sure the heating/cooling vent is not hitting the cage directly.

Airflow: Airflow is important, and rarely discussed, but my feeling is with all the water we put through these cages it is imperative that fans are used in the cages to reduce upper respiratory infections. Respiratory infections are a common killer of chameleons, and I have one fan that blows through the bottom 1/2 of the 2 cages for my 2 chameleons.

Cost: Dragonsrtand cages are the best in the market for quality and appearance, if you can afford it, buy Dragonstrand with the ledge package. If you want to save money on the cages, look at LLL Reptile or other standard sized cages, and add Dragostrand ledges to the cage. Between LLL and Dragonstrand is the Kammerflage Creations cages. All are sponsors found on the CF home page.

Building the environment is fun, and ever-changing!

CHEERS!

Nick

 

[Alexander1]

Nailed it