Newbie but not new to reptile keeping

Rufus73

Rufus73

Member
Hi ,I've kept reptiles for many years mostly snakes and ball pythons in particular , but now I'm in the process of setting up two enclosures for my soon to be gotten panther chameleons

I'm based in Scotland UK so a screen enclosure is out of the question as it's too cold most of the year I wouldn't be able to keep a constant temperature and humidity

So I'm going for wooden vivariums the tallest I can find is 4 ft so I'm purchasing a 5 X 4 and a 4x4 as I believe bigger is better and hopefully they can make use of the extra width

Uvb lighting is Arcadia 6% T5's
Which will run 2/3 of the length of enclosure (there the largest I
could find

Basking is daylight 150w spotlight bulbs

Night time winter heating (it will be needed) is in the form of CHE

Plant lighting will be Arcadia jungle dawn

All bulbs protected with guards

Thermostats are microclimate Evo digital multi functions

I'm also getting the mistking ultimate which will provide mistings in both enclosures

I'm getting foggers at a later date as the one I want is out of stock and can easily be added once everything is up and running

Branches I'm thinking of using bamboo canes and attaching them to the wooden Viv somehow

I'm going for large live plants to create lots of shade and hiding places

I've been researching for the last 6 weeks or so and I'm nearly ready to start purchasing although I won't even start looking for my chams till everything is up and running as it should be

Thanks for reading and hopefully someone could point me in the right direction if I've missed something off or could be done differently

Rufus
 
Looks good! Don't forget tools you may need to get humidity and temp readings. Also, you are able to just get the mistking starter. I'm pretty sure it supports like up to 10 nozzles or something, which is more than enough for both cages. Do you know what kind of live plants you're planning on getting?

Also, just curious, you said your pro t5 is only half the length. What size are you gettting?
 
Ive been looking at ficus benjemima , devils ivy , rubber plants , bromeliads and a couple of others

The uvb is 117 cm and 87 cm long , there the longest they do

I have hygrometers and thermometers lying about the house so forgot to include them

The mistking after weighing both options the ultimate is worth the extra for my needs i think ,
It comes with 3 nozzles so thinking 2 in the larger enclosure and 1 in the other plus it comes with all the bits needed

Thanks for taking the time to reply
 
First of all, welcome to the forum!

The ultimate isn't necessary at all for you, I've ran 6 enclosures on the starter... the ultimate is for people with entire rooms filled.

I'd use branches from outside instead of bamboo.

150w basking sounds too strong, I was using I think a 60w incandescent.

Does your house get into the 40s every night? If not, you don't need night time heat and shouldn't use it.
 
Hi Thanks for the welcome

The thing that made me want to go for the ultimate is that it comes with 3 nozzles and the bulkhead adaptor so I don't need to buy anything else apart from a reservoir

If you can convince me otherwise that would be great as it would save me £130

The 150 w basking bulb are run on dimming thermostat so if I need the extra watts in wintertime then there there

My temps do go very low in the winter and definitely below 15 c with no heating through the night
They will only come on if it drops below 15 as there connected to a pulse thermostat

I could go for a walk with a saw and see what branches could be got instead of the bamboo
 
The starter comes with the bulkhead as well. And idk how many nozzles? The thing with mistking is you can add to it, you can just purchase some extra nozzles/lining. What you're paying for in the ultimate is a more powerful pump to handle a large amount of nozzles. I had like 10 nozzles or so running on my starter perfectly fine.
 
So if I went for the starter which only comes with one nozzle ,would I just need to purchase 2 more nozzles or is the any connecters etc to connect it all up ?

Nighttime temps should be fine then and will me save some £££ in the overall costs

Thanks
 
When you go outside to collect branches, make sure that they are sturdy and not too big, and go through the proper procedure to sanitize them by baking. Just thought I'd throw that out there. Otherwise, everything sounds good!
 
Or exo terra do them terra-fans?
I will want to add mistking eventually too will you be taking water from mains (cold) or from a reservoir (room temperature) which could be warmed too with a fish heater also easier to dose dechlorinator with latter as set amount water used even Reverse osmosis water can be used to keep nozzles crystal clear.
 
I've looked at reverse osmosis machines but I'm not very handy so wouldn't trust myself plumbing it in

The other option is distilled water online , which I think will be the best option

It's coming in at £15 for 5 litres which would last a couple of weeks

Not even considered heating the water but something I will look more into

If I'm installing fans for circulation then a grow room fan is much to powerful ,it would be like a constant hurricane

Pc fans are the way to go I think but would need to look more into them .
 
You might find a mistking in a non mesh cage overkill, and unnecessary. What is your average humidity if your on west coast Scotland if imagine its fairly high.
Im near lake District and at end of a peninsula so average 70% humidity. All be it when gets cold gas central heating drys air out especially when on 24 hrs mid winter.
 
I'm on the east coast and I've just took an average reading over the last hour in my living room and it's reading 59%

I will monitor it over the next couple of days

The mistking will only be on 15-20 seconds at a time and thinking 2 mistings a day

One in the middle part of the night and the other mid afternoon and that way the enclosure has a chance to dry out

Do you use a screen cage or wood and what do you do misting wise
 
Im still building mine it reptibreeze xl, ive designed my drainage to be able to take a mistking if i need it I'm not doing the bio ser up just potted suspended plants. Will cover back panel, start with hand misting and a dripper maybe a fogger for night. Then if i find im struggling with humidity will go for a mistking they highly recommended
 
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