Outdoor enclosure inspired by lbesok

[Chameleons Northwest]

We finished our outdoor enclosure (except for decorating the inside- as you can see- wtill working on that). It was inspired by the one lbesok did for her Melleri. It's not exactly elegant or anything, and may not look much like Liz's, but it was her post and photo that really inspired us to get this done. Of course, now we have to begin work on the swimming pool.

Here in Washington, placing chams outdoors is not something that is done with great frequency. In fact, this summer has been very cool. Night time temps in the 50s and daytime temps in the high 60s. i was putting them outside in cages any day I could that it was warm enough. I had read it was good for them, but was still very surprised at what a great difference some true natural sunlight seemed to make in their appetite, colors, and activity level. I am guessing it will be a great boost to their immune systems, as well. Not that they're sickly, but every bit helps. Things started to warm up again the other day. Still nighttime in the 50s, but day temps are ranging from 78-90. So the guys/gals are taking turns out in the sun/filtered sun. Today is gals day.

Thank you, Liz, for the inspiration.

Our chams are mostly housed in a "cham room" in a large shop on our property. This enclosure sits outside a sliding glass door in the back room of that shop, for easy access. It is also positioned in an area that our dog cannot reach (she is on a radio collar).

 

[Justin Carl]

Sweet!
Thats a pretty cool cage. The cheapo DIY cages are underrated.
My boss is moving to Tukwila/head quarters in two weeks.
I think I told you about my job offer up there the that last time we talked.
Anyways, he was telling me it was in the 90's up there.
I guess it's will be home away from home for a few days out of the year.
I'm sure your chameleons will enjoy all that rain you get up there too.
I'm not sure about you, but my guys get tossed into the yard when it starts to rain here.

 

[Ryan Jarosek]

Nice work, I love the fact it is right up against the sliding door. I am buying a house soon and cham space inside and outside are one of the priorities.

thanks for sharing.

 

[Chameleons Northwest]

Sweet!
Thats a pretty cool cage. The cheapo DIY cages are underrated.
My boss is moving to Tukwila/head quarters in two weeks.
I think I told you about my job offer up there the that last time we talked.
Anyways, he was telling me it was in the 90's up there.
I guess it's will be home away from home for a few days out of the year.
I'm sure your chameleons will enjoy all that rain you get up there too.
I'm not sure about you, but my guys get tossed into the yard when it starts to rain here.

This cost $200 to make. Which is a lot of dough for something we made ourselves. But it's worth it. One 24x24x48 I guess costs about $100, so we did OK. This is 10 feet long x 6 feet tall x 4 feet deep. We purchased the screening online.

This week it is supposed to reach the 90s a couple of times. For the last 2 weeks or so it's been rainy and in the hi 60s, maybe low 70s, during the day.

Are you saying that you will be coming to the Tukwila area occasionally? That's about 40 minutes from our house. Maybe you could come over for dinner and check out our chams?

 

[royden]

You can't come all the way up here and not visit me too justin!

 

[Brian]

Im a big fan of putting my chams outside My chams are outside right now, the only ones that dont stay out are the babies. I usually take them out in the early morning for 2 hours or so though. I dont have outdoor enclosers, but my cages are on a rack with wheels so I just roll them out. They usually stay outdoors for a few days, weather permitting. I noticed less heath problems when they are outside more frequently. I have never had my chams outside in the rain, but I do have a mister head that makes it rain on them for a good 15 min 3x a day. I was thinking about making some outdoor enclosers though, similiar to yours with PVC and that outdoor mesh.

 

[westcoastchameleons]

Great job on the cage, im sure the chameleons will love being out in the sun!

Jake

 

[FOREVER ENDEAVOR]

awsome cage guys! i cant wait untill the weather changes around here so i can get busy on mine..

 

[Justin Carl]

thanks

Are you saying that you will be coming to the Tukwila area occasionally? That's about 40 minutes from our house. Maybe you could come over for dinner and check out our chams?

You can't come all the way up here and not visit me too justin!

My boss is actually moving up there, but on occasion they have training at Tukwila.
I will be taking a management position here in Florida.
Back in the day, they use to fly people to Tukwila for some good in-house training programs.
Now they do stuff one a year in Vegas, but I might be able to talk them into flying me up there for a week.
Thanks for the invite guys!
I'd bring the camera, so I could take some pics of your awesome chameleons.
Maybe Royden could show me how to use mine.

 

[pmdavalos]

screen

This cost $200 to make. Which is a lot of dough for something we made ourselves. But it's worth it. One 24x24x48 I guess costs about $100, so we did OK. This is 10 feet long x 6 feet tall x 4 feet deep. We purchased the screening online.

This week it is supposed to reach the 90s a couple of times. For the last 2 weeks or so it's been rainy and in the hi 60s, maybe low 70s, during the day.

Are you saying that you will be coming to the Tukwila area occasionally? That's about 40 minutes from our house. Maybe you could come over for dinner and check out our chams?

what web site did you get that screen from?

 

[ciafardo 4]

i agree that is a really cool idea i think it looks pretty good as far as temps i wish i lived there im in delaware summer is always above 90 and 100 % humidity its miserable

 

[Cainschams]

Well done Gesang!!! There is nothing wrong with DIY. I am still making little multi caging units for the babies. While it may not look the greatest it does the trick and really, cutting costs where you can shouldnt be passed up.

I definatly notice the change in my chams whenever they get outside. They are a lot more vibrant in all aspects. I let mine stay out all day and night in the summer, weather permiting, and also take them out on anyday that is good in spring and fall.

 

[Chameleons Northwest]

what web site did you get that screen from?

Industrial Netting. Brooklyn Park, MN. They specialize in outdoor uses, such as bird netting over koi ponds, farmyards, etc. They carry all manner of netting/screening in black, green, white, and clear. Some of it is very fine, some very heavy, and many in between. They will even send you samples so you can get a feel for rigidity, etc. The screen we chose was about 45 cents a square foot. It was about midrange, pricewise. We had to get something very sturdy because of the size of the structure. They also run specials sometimes.

I, as some others on this forum do, dream of someday having a 2 story .5 acre zoo-like net enclosure. But this little guy will have to do.

 

[pmdavalos]

Industrial Netting. Brooklyn Park, MN. They specialize in outdoor uses, such as bird netting over koi ponds, farmyards, etc. They carry all manner of netting/screening in black, green, white, and clear. Some of it is very fine, some very heavy, and many in between. They will even send you samples so you can get a feel for rigidity, etc. The screen we chose was about 45 cents a square foot. It was about midrange, pricewise. We had to get something very sturdy because of the size of the structure. They also run specials sometimes.

I, as some others on this forum do, dream of someday having a 2 story .5 acre zoo-like net enclosure. But this little guy will have to do.

thanks for that info

 

[lbesok]

Wow, I just saw this thread. That cage looks awesome, great for outdoor sunning! My father actually deserves the credit for the inspiration, as he was the one who constructed it That's really nice, how it accommodates six. Where is the door?

 

[Chameleons Northwest]

Greetings, Liz. Just saw your post and question. The door is on the other end and adjoins the sliding glass door into a room adjacent to the cham room. I open the sliding glass door, unzip the screen on that end of the enclosure, and step inside to place the chams in each of the sub "rooms". I used tent zippers from the fabric store to create a cham-proof opening.