Scoots free rang setup

[scooter4n]

I got my baby Veiled cham few weeks ago.
After reading about cages and looking at other people setups I got very excited about free ranging. The idea of having cham right there next to you, see him without screen, and same time him being happy in his setup.
I did lots of reading and researching, and after few ideas I cut online I came up with setup on my own.
Two hanging plant pots from Home Depot, some rope, Ficus tree, stainless steel pipe (from work) two light bulb sockets, and that's about it.
As you see on the picture I have pipe on the rope on the to and the bottom, this keeps cham from getting to the top and burning him self on the hot light and getting to the bottom and who knows what...
All water is collecting on the bottom of the pod and drained via valve.
one 60W light bulb is for the heat keeping around 80C at the top, and another UVB 5.0 for you know what.
Feeding cop only, I prefer to brake legs on the crickets so they don't jump around the house and stuff
If you have any questions please e-mail me: [email protected]

 

[Jordan]

Great job Scooter4n. I have seen a similar idea for an outside cage but I think you took it a step further with that. I like it.

 

[Chris Anderson]

scooter4n,

Don't take this the wrong way but I hope this isn't the enclosure you keep your chameleon in when you aren't around... This enclosure is exactly like the old Chameleon Condo enclosures and one of the main reasons they were so poorly recommended was because they failed to keep the chameleon contained. I hope you've taken any precautions needed to prevent harm for when this happens. Chameleons do jump and to be honest, your chameleon could simply fall and still get out of this setup so it is very important to make sure that when (not if) this happens, you have taken the precautions to make sure your chameleon is safe. I'm sure this was a consideration you made long ago and have made ample effort to make safe but I wanted to make the point for anyone else who is thinking about a similar "enclosure".

Chris

 

[scooter4n]

Thanks Chris for your concern.
I totally understand what your saying. That's why I did long research.
I took all precautions,and only way out is a jump out, me personally i just can't see this slow creature jumping something, I know I know they can, i heard it, but I can't still .
In the worst case I have room locked at all times and I'm keeping my eye on him at all times, This is experimental weekend setup, for the days I'm at work he will be in the cage, till this setup gets perfected and tested.
Thanks

 

[Chris Anderson]

scooter4n,

Glad to hear you're taking procautions. I wouldn't have believed it either before having seen it myself by they can jump an impressive distance! They could easily jump out of that enclosure (just as a warning). Some animals will never jump, some jump at almost every chance they get-its just a matter of the individual's preference. Some chameleons would be very problematic in that type of enclosure. Some wouldn't be an issue at all, it just something you need to be aware of that they are capable of doing and make the proper precautions in the event that they decide to make that move.

Chris

 

[LunaC]

Chris is dead on. Until I had my 6th young cham, I didn't believe they would jump, despite what I had read numerous times. None of my others had attempted to jump even though they did move much faster than I thought they would when feeling threatened or endangered.
My 6th cham however (a baby Panther) proved to me they WILL leap and they can move very fast despite claims that chams are slow. When they want to move fast, they will. When they need to jump, they will. When they feel the need to escape, they will!
As Chris already said, good that you're taking precautions and good that he is contained when you are not there to supervise!

 

[Scrappy]

I just recently hung a large philodendron from the ceiling in my bedroom. It's very viney and I let Bubba hang out and climb on that when I'm in the room. Once I need to leave the room (and not supervise) he goes back in the cage. I had him on it this morning and he loves having a different perspective of the world around him, and definitely did not like it when it ws time to go back to the cage.

 

[scooter4n]

Ok, here is the conclusion.
After having Rex in free range setup for about 2 weeks full time, he was very come in there, nice light green colors, with good behavior.
Now I'm moving him back in to gage, and he is all darker green again, and stripy. Little more disturbed, and just seems more active in the cage now.
So from my observation he was happy in the free range setup even tho he didn't have all that privacy there, and was on the open most of the time, and every time you come close to him he didn't even try to run away, was just looking at you, now he is all aggressive in the cage, runs away every chance he gets.
But, there is that question. He just stop eating on the free range, now as soon as I got him in the cage, he eats again
Don't know what to make of it

 

[zinc99]

Put a cage around that light he will burn himself on that.

 

[scooter4n]

He can't get to the light.

 

[zinc99]

could he not just climb the ropes?

 

[scooter4n]

if you look at the pics, there is metal pipes on top and bottom of the ropes, and they are to large for him to grab on, so no, he can't