screen climbing in new enclosure

[Eamon]

Just finished setting up my guy's new enclosure, needs a few more branches but other than that everything's in order. He already seems to enjoy it more but I have noticed some screen climbing I know this is normal when placed in a new cage but how long should I wait before becoming concerned? and will small changes like adding new branches over the next couple of weeks cause him to feel insecure or something like that? any tips for improving his setup would also be greatly appreciated!

 

[Carlton]

If there's an area of the cage he can't get to but wants to get to he may continue to climb the screen. Maybe he wants to roam a larger area or get higher up than he can now...chams tend to feel more secure the higher they can get. I understand you don't want him getting too close to a heat spot and possibly burn himself, but there is a lot of empty (wasted?) space in the upper parts of your new setup. It's possible he's attracted by the "pathway" your misting nozzle tubing seems to create and wants to reach it.

 

[BleuSaphir]

It look good.
Chameleons feel secure when high up and hidden in deep foliage. I really recommend pothos and similar like vines.

 

[Eamon]

If there's an area of the cage he can't get to but wants to get to he may continue to climb the screen. Maybe he wants to roam a larger area or get higher up than he can now...chams tend to feel more secure the higher they can get. I understand you don't want him getting too close to a heat spot and possibly burn himself, but there is a lot of empty (wasted?) space in the upper parts of your new setup. It's possible he's attracted by the "pathway" your misting nozzle tubing seems to create and wants to reach it.

yeah I was planning on adding more branches but ran out of zipties, and i didn't think about the tubes i might try moving them outside the cage.

 

[Eamon]

It look good.
Chameleons feel secure when high up and hidden in deep foliage. I really recommend pothos and similar like vines.

planning on getting some more plants soon I also need the current ones to grow a little more.

 

[MissSkittles]

I know you just finished setting it up, but…. Adding a way to attach more branches and ones of varied diameters would be beneficial. If you have someone to help, things could be much easier and faster. One way is to build a type of scaffolding out of sturdier branches, attaching them to the frame, and adding a cross piece to make like an ‘H’ shape. Then you can attach away without risking damage to the fragile screen. Of course, Dragon Ledges are always amazing, but you’d really have to dissemble everything to install them. Then, there’s garden trellis, which again, you would attach to the frame and then can attach branches to that. Oh…the whole thinking behind all of this is to add more branches (chameleon paths) for him in effort to prevent screen walking.
I do want to add though, that one of mine is around 4 years old, is in a double wide enclosure and he has plenty of branches…and every day I find him walking along on the screen parallel to his favorite branch. I can only suspect either it’s fun or one of those types of behaviors that captive animals adapt, like pacing.