Thank goodness for 9-ft ceilings...

[Lathis]

Thanks! I am not very handy either. Yes, it required a little bit of elbow grease and a LOT of brainpower to make sure I had all the dimensions correct before I bought the material, but I wouldn't say it was "hard". In fact, I'm pretty sure that if I can do it, anyone can.

I can post the diagrams I made for it.

 

[bobcochran]

It LOOKS great! But is it real or is it photo shopped? LOL.

 

[nick barta]

I like the horizontal room you have given for your chameleon, I think we should consider lateral room when designing cages.

CHEERS!

Nick

 

[laurie]

Ok even with your thread a tad old I love the enclosure!!

 

[Chance Leon G]

needs another latch

Wow Lathis your a natural born carpenter. All that by hand, your hired.
I have one suggestion. Add another latch near the bottom. I think with time the wood may tweak enough that a strong cham could escape or get caught in the gap. Maybe also some backup latches if you have any other curious animals around the house.
I have the stock screen habitat from Repti-breeze and added a giant paper clip to it as backup. But then I have two cats who fortunately are not really showing interest other than casual observance which I have discouraged.
Someday I hope to build a nice one like yours.
Your husband is a lucky man. My wife barely tolerates my cham. Hates crickets and their noise. She does not know about the other colonies I have of Dubias and silkworms. Somehow the super worms don't bother her. Out of sight out of mind I guess.
Again, nice job.
Greg

 

[melble68]

Your husband is a lucky man. My wife barely tolerates my cham. Hates crickets and their noise. She does not know about the other colonies I have of Dubias and silkworms. Somehow the super worms don't bother her. Out of sight out of mind I guess.
Again, nice job.
Greg

Greg you are so not alone. My wife thinks we live in a zoo. She does not understand my love for reptiles. I'm forty-six and act like a 10 year old around my chams. I too have NEVER EVER mentioned ANYTHING about the two black bins in the garage cabinet that contain "discoids".

 

[RedMountainHome]

Lathis,

This is a beautiful build you've created. Would you mind answering a couple questions about it?

How did you work out the bottom panel, especially with the drainage? I've yet to figure out if I'm going to do mine exactly. The main points I'm still considering are what materials to use and how to safely and firmly seal the bottom to the rest of the cage while still allowing for easy cleanup.

Looking back now with a few years experience, what do you wish you had done differently?

Thanks!

 

[cyberlocc]

Thank you very much! I freely admit that all my best ideas for the new enclosure were stolen from NorCalAnthony's post. Although his is much fancier than mine

https://www.chameleonforums.com/diy-chameleon-mansion-build-102657/

After he got settled in, Ferdinand is extremely happy in his new cage and makes use of every square inch of space, so I am glad to be able to provide him more room to roam. I have a sheet behind the cage, so you can't see the red wall (although the color doesn't seem to bother my cham). My stone backgrounds should arrive next week.

The pothos, crotons, and dracaena are doing very well (with a grow light), but the umbrella plants still struggle. I try to rotate them, but they just aren't thriving.

Very nice. And do not be so modest yours looks better than his IMO. He didnt even counter sink the screws (maybe he likes that? I dont).

I hope my cage looks anywhere near as good as yours when done, It likely wont as I will cheap out with sliding cupboard doors lol. (maybe not, Everyday I grow closer to using solid doors ).

I must admit I stole a few ideas from him as well.

 

[cyberlocc]

Holy Necro Batman didnt see this was 2 years old till just now!

 

[Lathis]

Thanks! I won't lie, I am still really proud of myself on this build

How did you work out the bottom panel, especially with the drainage? I've yet to figure out if I'm going to do mine exactly. The main points I'm still considering are what materials to use and how to safely and firmly seal the bottom to the rest of the cage while still allowing for easy cleanup.

This is a bit of a terrible diagram, but I'm not at a computer with Sketchup or Photoshop, so deal with it

Essentially, the drainage base is a stand-alone piece. I made a simple rectangular frame out of 2x2 to match the dimensions of the prefab cabinet base. There is a layer of plywood on the bottom for stiffness that is nailed to the wood frame from the underside. I then cored a hole through the plywood that aligned with a hole I cored into the cabinet base (so hard to do by hand!) so water could run into a bucket hidden inside the cabinet. I used a 2" diameter bar drain, which works great.

Originally, I laid the waterproofing plastic directly over this, but it wasn't draining as well as I wanted. I re-fabricated it to include a second layer of plywood. I had the Home Depot guy (thank you!) cut the plywood on an X centered on the drain. Using wood shims (use silicone sealant to hold them in place), I made this plywood layer slope to the drain. Smooth out the gaps between the triangles with sealant. Then, I installed the plastic waterproofing in a full bed of silicone caulk over the whole thing, squeegeed it smoothish, and stapled the edges in place. Then inserted the drain in a ring of silicone.

I like the plastic sheet instead of a coating because if I tear or scratch the sheet, I can replace it very easily. Plus, I can scrub this heavy plastic as hard as I want without worrying. It's the black sheet used for under concrete slabs. If I were to do this again, I would make the frame taller, maybe use full 2x4 set on their sides. I lost my perimeter wall when I added the sloped plywood.

 

[Lathis]

Looking back now with a few years experience, what do you wish you had done differently?

Couple of things I would do differently!

1 - Use pine instead of oak. The oak is gorgeous, but it's such a hard wood to use if you are doing everything by hand.

2 - Make the screens individual panels instead of stapling them to the wood directly - more like what NorCalAnthony did in his post.

3 - Add about 1-ft of plexi to the bottom of the screens for splash guards. I added these later, and how I have done it is a bit ugly. I want to entirely redo my screens.

4 - Include intermediate horizontal bars on the sides to act like those awesome Dragon Ledges to support branches and vines.

5 - Use self-leveling hinges for the doors. My doors have sagged a bit with time. They still look nice, but I need to take them down and rehang them with better quality hinges.

6 - Maybe consider making a solid back piece. Mine is flexible faux stone panels over screen because of weight concerns (I'm a small person), but a solid back piece would add a lot of rigidity to the overall structure and you could use it to support branches and built-in planter pots.

 

[RedMountainHome]

Thanks a bunch for the info! That really helps That's a unique way of sloping the floor, I hadn't even thought about sloping till now. I hadn't thought about making a bottom frame or a plexiglass layer above that either, but they both make sense and I'm going to try to incorporate them into the design. I bet making the seperate screen panels would make things cleaner, but I'm not sure what it'd really help me with besides that so that's a definite "maybe".
I checked out the dragon ledges and the video inspired me... to ATTEMPT a great stuff faux background

 

[Duma]

Wow. I want it! It looks so nice and elegant. Come build one for me!

 

[WAMBO]

Well done!!!

 

[ScarletOwl13]

About how long from start to finish did it take you? and what was it cost wise? If you can do this without power tools I am totally going to try this. I wanted to refurbish an old pantry but the particle board im pretty sure will get wear and tear within months of using it.

 

[Lathis]

About how long from start to finish did it take you? and what was it cost wise? If you can do this without power tools I am totally going to try this. I wanted to refurbish an old pantry but the particle board im pretty sure will get wear and tear within months of using it.

I agree, even with work, a partical board piece if fittings is going to let you down over the long run.

Mine took maybe four weekends, two weekends to construct, two weekends waiting for the stain then urethane sealer coats to dry.

Total cost, probably around $500 to $600 for everything: cabinet, veneer, wood, screws, screen, staples, plywood, plastic, stain, sealer, brushes, rags, hinges, latches, etc.