Thoughts on this enclosure for a baby girl, nosy be panther.

[lojack13]

OK, I just lost my first Cham. To those of you who read her memoriam and followed my other forums I'm sure your up to date, and thank you again for your support and sympathy. I got her form a local pet store, a female senegal, her name was Phoebe. She only lived for 20 days despite my best efforts. I feel I did nothing wrong, and the vet is starting to think that she was far older than the petstore let on and near the end of her life. She was very loved and I almost was considering not keeping Chams anymore because it hurt me that bad. But I must go on. I am getting a baby girl, nosy be panther tomorrow. She is 3 months old ( only about 3 inches long from what the breeder tells me ) Anyway, I wanted to post pics of the enclosure I have waiting for her and see if anyone has any critiques or thoughts on it. Any help would be much appreciated. Basically it is a 18X18X36 DYI cage. It has an 18 inch reptisun 5.0 UVB lamp, 75 watt reptisun bask lamp - getting a steady 90.1 degrees for her bask spot - about 75-77 ambient. Both lights are on 12 hour shift timers. The plant is a big, hearty arboricola I just bought from lowes and fully cleaned in my shower leaf by leaf just in case it may have some insecticides or anything on it. I have a 6 foot vine system winding through the arboricola. Back ground is a exo-terra. The bottom of the cage is a DYI PVC substrate pan that I lined with a vinyl tile from lowes, it has a bathtub drain drilled through it which drains into a green plastic pan located in the drawer beneath for easy clean out. It all sits on a 24 inch kitchen cabinet I got for a whopping $10 at a closeout lumber yard. I have a mist king starter system mounted and set up in the base. Note in the closeup pic I ran the dripper tube straight through the exo-terra back ground about an 3 inches into the enclosure. And that's about it I guess. Just a few notes: It is by a window but I'm getting a temp reading of 75 F right at the window edge so draft is no issue. I figure this cage will be good for her for a little while but will probably move to a 24x24x48 when she reaches full size and I will thin out the arboricola as she grows as well. Also, obviously the temp gauge will not be left dangling where it is, just had that there to get an exact reading of middle of bask.
Sorry about the length of this post!! I about wrote a book there.
Thanks everyone!

 

[BeBoSON]

Looks great!

 

[grimjob]

Looks like you Cham is going to love it it's perfect, is it a mesh cage? The only problem with mesh is keeping the humidity in, what I do with mine is I've screwed 2 full pieces of Perspex on the back and one of the sides just to help and that way you can still look in at it looks good

 

[lojack13]

Looks great!

Thank you!

 

[carol5208]

looks very nice and so glad you are not giving up and getting another! P.S. LOVE your floors!

 

[whereswaldo]

oh yea the floor looks great! im sure the new baby will do great!

 

[lojack13]

Looks like you Cham is going to love it it's perfect, is it a mesh cage? The only problem with mesh is keeping the humidity in, what I do with mine is I've screwed 2 full pieces of Perspex on the back and one of the sides just to help and that way you can still look in at it looks good

Yeah its all screen. That's my big problem so far is keeping in humdity. I am going to invest in a room humidfier and may have to end up doing what you did with the sides if I can't keep a good level in there.

 

[Trin]

The cage looks great... and to help with humidity, you can get some other plants in the room too, bromalids are great humidity uppers as they hold water in the center of their leaves (that's how you water them, you pour water in the 'cup' at top and it sits there until they need it XD) and as your baby girl grows, you can use the plants to free range her as a treat.

I'm very sorry to hear about your other baby, and am impressed that you are getting another, I know how much it tears your heart out. I hope everything goes better than you expect.

 

[Olimpia]

Looks great! She's going to be in heaven! Post pics of your female when you get her, I love seeing the little females! They are so cute, and so underrated. My female is a cross, but she's mostly Nosy be as well and she's such a pretty girl with her pinks and oranges.

 

[laurie]

I think your set up looks awesome. I am glad we were able to convince you to get another Cham. You tried so hard with Phoebe that I know you will have a healthy girl this time.
I do have a couple thoughts about your cage. I consider 90 to be to hot for a baby. I would use a smaller watt bulb and bring it down to between 80 & 85. The pan to catch water looks small, it may run over. I would get some river rocks, like you get at the dollar store, and cover the soil on her plant. Just a safety step to mahe sure she doesn't ingest the dirt.
Getting your baby from Tom Kilgour makes sure you will get a good healthy baby,great choice. I thought Tom was out of babies right now, but I am glad you are getting one without shipping. I know that worried you .
We are looking forward to pictures and watching your little one grow.

 

[MATT2504]

Looking good

 

[JackP308]

Looks sweet. I like how everything is so neat and stealth. Good Job!!

 

[jayrosantos]

where do you get Perspex? do local stores like home depot sell them?

 

[K9Luvn]

It looks great and I am so happy you are getting a new little one from Tom. He really cares about his Chammy Kids. Sounds like Laurie is really helping to get things lined up with your enclosure. Make sure you show some photos of you new little one when you get home!!

 

[grimjob]

I got my Perspex from a Perspex plastic fabricator, they cut it to the size I need and I just screwed it on, I guess you could try home depot, if they don't have it I'm sure they could lead you in the right way

 

[lojack13]

I think your set up looks awesome. I am glad we were able to convince you to get another Cham. You tried so hard with Phoebe that I know you will have a healthy girl this time.
I do have a couple thoughts about your cage. I consider 90 to be to hot for a baby. I would use a smaller watt bulb and bring it down to between 80 & 85. The pan to catch water looks small, it may run over. I would get some river rocks, like you get at the dollar store, and cover the soil on her plant. Just a safety step to make sure she doesn't ingest the dirt.
Getting your baby from Tom Kilgour makes sure you will get a good healthy baby,great choice. I thought Tom was out of babies right now, but I am glad you are getting one without shipping. I know that worried you .
We are looking forward to pictures and watching your little one grow.

Thanks Laurie! OK I was wondering, I thought that may be too hot. I put a 50 watter in there and I am keeping steady at 84 F. Still looking on a bigger pan. The issue is getting a bigger one that clears the drawer top when you pull it out. So far I have had no issues with too much water, but I'm still going to keep looking. The soil impaction thing was a worry as well. I'll definetly go to the store tonight and load up on some river rock.
Yeah Tom was a heck of a nice guy, I could tell he absolutely loves Chameleons. When I contacted him 3 days ago he only had 3 nosy bes left. 2 females and a male. Kind of wanted the male but another buyer got him and one of the females yesterday. But when I went to pick up my new baby, Tom was a little perplexed, he is starting to think she is actually a "he". He says sometimes the males don't show there bulges and colors till a little later and he swears he sees some blue scaling and a small bulge on the baby I just bought. I'll post pics.

 

[lojack13]

The cage looks great... and to help with humidity, you can get some other plants in the room too, bromalids are great humidity uppers as they hold water in the center of their leaves (that's how you water them, you pour water in the 'cup' at top and it sits there until they need it XD) and as your baby girl grows, you can use the plants to free range her as a treat.

I'm very sorry to hear about your other baby, and am impressed that you are getting another, I know how much it tears your heart out. I hope everything goes better than you expect.

Thanks! I'll look into that. I went and bought a whole room humidfier today as well. Going to see if it helps out at all.

 

[lojack13]

looks very nice and so glad you are not giving up and getting another! P.S. LOVE your floors!

LOL! Thanks! Yeah I love the floor. I installed it myself. It's called "Africa Wood" It's actually vinyl believe it of not. It's awesome when you have 2 dogs and a Cham cage! Easy clean up!

 

[lojack13]

Looks great! She's going to be in heaven! Post pics of your female when you get her, I love seeing the little females! They are so cute, and so underrated. My female is a cross, but she's mostly Nosy be as well and she's such a pretty girl with her pinks and oranges.

Will do! LOL! Problem is the breeder is starting to think she might be a he!

 

[lojack13]

Thanks so far to everyone! We are super excited! OK I'm gonna post the best pic I could get of our yet unamed baby nosy be. We can't settle on a name because when we went to pick her up, Tom - the breeder, is starting to think she might be a he! He thinks he sees some slight blue scaling and the start of a bulge. Pic coming right up!