New Enclosures/Set-up

[Brad Ramsey]

I have been working on a complete overhaul/redesign of the chameleons habitats for the last few weeks and I'm not finished yet.
Thought I would share some preview pictures.
These enclosures are various sizes (all 24" high) ranging from 12x18 to 18x18 and are housing, or will house a variety of smaller species:
T. montium
T.deremensis
T.cristatus
R. spectrum
T. jacksonii xantholophus
R. brevicaudatus
F. lateralis
etc.

The enclosures are wood on three sides and the bottom with screen doors and top.
The bottom is built as a box (from 4" to 7" tall) that is planted.
Drainage layers from bottom up are: hydroton, charcoal, soil.
The wood is painted with latex paint and 2 coats of water based polyurethane.
The bottoms are lined with plastic.
I have been successful making these enclosures cricket proof.

-Brad

 

[Brad Ramsey]

Here are two more pictures:

-Brad

 

[Lizardlover]

Very nice! where did you find a UVB bulb that long!

 

[Brad Ramsey]

The UVB tubes are 4' long.
These units are 3 enclosures each. 16x18x24, 18x18x24, 14x18x24 would be an example of the individual dimensions in one unit.

-Brad

 

[Chris Anderson]

Very nice, Brad. The planted terrariums really work great for the montane species, huh?

Chris

 

[Brad Ramsey]

Very nice, Brad. The planted terrariums really work great for the montane species, huh?

Chris

I am loving it and the chameleons seem to be very content.

-Brad

 

[luevelvet]

Very nice Brad! You'll have to look out for changes in deremensis behavior. I noticed they take to the ground much more in a planted vivarium than in a plastic bottom screen cage. The one female in a vivarium has developed a routine throughout the day, which consists of multiple trips around the bottom, not looking to get out at all, just roaming around looking for food. She's much more active than the others.

Luis

 

[Brad Ramsey]

Very nice Brad! You'll have to look out for changes in deremensis behavior. I noticed they take to the ground much more in a planted vivarium than in a plastic bottom screen cage. The one female in a vivarium has developed a routine throughout the day, which consists of multiple trips around the bottom, not looking to get out at all, just roaming around looking for food. She's much more active than the others.

Luis

I am so happy you posted this, because my male has been doing exactly that.
I am finishing an enclosure that is 20x18x48 that I want to try housing him in along with a female.
It will be planted like the other enclosures, maybe even a bit more dense.
We'll see what happens, I have a back up plan in case they don't want to be room mates

-Brad

 

[Klemins]

These enclosures look great, Brad. I'm looking forward to their progression and the larger ones as well.

 

[withlime]

Wow, they look great! Keep us updated with more pictures!

 

[gpmo]

These enclosures are great. Their design is the influence for the ones i am drawing up also. Though i am thinking about 18x18x28, with the bottom 4" being used as a cabinet slot to place my drainage bin. Oh this is for my F. Lateralis Lateralis.

Sorry to thread jack Brad. Thanks for you input and posting this as i already forgot the paint stuff.

Gpmo (him)

 

[laurie]

Brad the new cages, no the enclosures look wonderful. As I am moving to montane species I would like to try doing what you just did. I may need a bit of help.

 

[chams1]

These are excellent, Brad! They look fantastic and I'm sure they will do well in there. Please keep us posted as to their progress!

 

[bigcappa]

Brad, the new enclosures look great and good luck with keeping the two deremensis together, I hope it goes as planned.

 

[Brad Ramsey]

Thank you for the positive comments everyone!
I have one more unit to build and have to do some modifications on the deremensis enclosure and then it should be done.
It's so nice to have custom enclosures that actually fit the shelves I have, maximizing my available space!
I do have two, 2x2x4 screen cages that I am building interior boxes for (going to ditch the rubbermaid tubs) so that I can take full advantage of available planting space. One of these houses Kitty and the other, my male Oustalet's.
I will take pictures of the whole wall and post them when it's done.
Already I am experiencing much higher relative humidity in the whole room with the substrate and all the additional plants.

-Brad