Senior-proofing

[annefirth12]

Hi!

I’m prepping a new enclosure for my chameleon who will be shipped to me in the next week or so. She’s now just over four years old and mostly going strong, but I’d like to kind of senior-proof her new enclosure.

The biggest issue I’ve seen with her is she falls more - her grip is still strong but her nails are worn down from screen climbing that started when we started letting her free roam during the day. I’m setting up her enclosure to have a lot of branches close together and close to the edges, since she usually falls while climbing around on the screen like she’s still 6 months old. I’m also putting a lot of plants on the ground, and I found another thread suggesting putting foam around the edges of the pots so there aren’t any hard edges to bump into.

I was wondering if it would make sense to extend that idea and put half pool noodles down (with spray foam, maybe?) around the edges of the enclosure where she’s likely to fall. I’ve tried a lot of things to encourage her to stop screen climbing but when she wants out, she wants out. At this point, it’s been 4 years and I just want to make sure as she gets older and creakier she doesn’t get hurt.

I’ll post enclosure pictures later when it’s a little closer to being finished- I need to pick up a few more plants.

 

[MissSkittles]

I love the pool noodle idea! Adding more plants is also fantastic to prevent and cushion any potential falls. If you can find some pothos with super long leafy vines to weave around her branches, that would be fantastic. I know some have gotten that soft plastic type netting to keep their falling chams safer. If you have enough branches or vines, I would make levels, like we have floors of buildings. It’s hard to find vine which is very long, but I had coiled it up to form a ‘floor’ when I had a sick falling cham. Hope this is of some help.

 

[annefirth12]

I love the pool noodle idea! Adding more plants is also fantastic to prevent and cushion any potential falls. If you can find some pothos with super long leafy vines to weave around her branches, that would be fantastic. I know some have gotten that soft plastic type netting to keep their falling chams safer. If you have enough branches or vines, I would make levels, like we have floors of buildings. It’s hard to find vine which is very long, but I had coiled it up to form a ‘floor’ when I had a sick falling cham. Hope this is of some help.

I’ve been trying to do that with the branches! Do you mean like hammock-type netting?

 

[ehdee6]

When my little one was climbing the top screen I saw her fall once. I put ferns on the bottom to cushion the fall, but I'm not sure how cleanly that would be in the long run. You might need a bioactive bottom to sustain it, or have a few to swap out once a week or so.

 

[annefirth12]

When my little one was climbing the top screen I saw her fall once. I put ferns on the bottom to cushion the fall, but I'm not sure how cleanly that would be in the long run. You might need a bioactive bottom to sustain it, or have a few to swap out once a week or so.

I was planning on putting down shop towels over whatever I have to catch her since I can change those out fairly often

 

[MissSkittles]

I’ve been trying to do that with the branches! Do you mean like hammock-type netting?

I think this is what I’ve seen people use. https://www.amazon.com/KALYSIE-Plas...8-5-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&th=1
I don’t know if this would work better or not. https://www.amazon.com/FSWCCK-Sligh...616711&sprefix=soft+mesh+,aps,250&sr=8-6&th=1

 

[annefirth12]

oh perfect, thank you so much!

Here is the enclosure, about 3/4ths done. I want to put in another plant in the front top area, and I haven't clipped the zip ties yet since I'm not done. I also think I'll put fake plants around the outside to add privacy, and I am waiting for a better light fixture for the UVB to arrive.

 

[Beman]

oh perfect, thank you so much!

Here is the enclosure, about 3/4ths done. I want to put in another plant in the front top area, and I haven't clipped the zip ties yet since I'm not done. I also think I'll put fake plants around the outside to add privacy, and I am waiting for a better light fixture for the UVB to arrive.

Note adding brightly colored zip ties has the possibility of backfiring. A lot of chams get very anxious with bright colors especially red can trigger them. They all are individual in what sets them off but this is why you want to use black, tan, or clear zip ties only.

 

[jannb]

Here’s how we set up one of our senior guys.

 

[snitz427]

I add a lot of various sized fluker bend-a-branches (cheap on amazon) and often wrap them together to create a variety of shapes. I also add bird ladders horizontally, especially where they sleep and bask… then I weave the flukers fines thru them to add stability and varied surfaces. My really old guys preferred the bird ladders and vines, and I’d rarely see them not using them. Just dont get the colored ones, they’ll stained their feet. (Learned that one when Charlie’s feet were super red! Amazon only had colored in the size I needed and he didnt mind it)