Updated enclosure check, does this look better?

[Peppered]

Hello! I posted recently about my female veiled chameleon Pepper (~4 months old estimated) and was given some advice about her enclosure to change a few things:

- basking was too hot, around 85 F previously
- exo Terra vines needed to be removed, they tend to flake pieces of that get stuck in the cham's eyes
- needed real live plants instead of fake plants
- cage was too low in height from the floor, needed to lift it higher for her comfort

I think that was it? Either way, I've done some updating and upgrading to her cage and would like to hear from the more experienced folks what they think, and if anything needs to be worked on still!


Cage Info:

• Cage Type - I combined the 2 reptibreeze I had and the final cage is now 32" x 16" x 30". It's all screen but I attached an opaque shower curtain to the back and sides.
• Lighting - UVB is a 24" Reptisun 5.0 T5-HO with an extra 24" LED strip for the plants. Basking bulbs are clear incandescent bulbs. (Not on in the picture, but I'll explain that below) All are on a timer for turning on 9am to 9pm.
• Temperature - I have 2 digital probe thermometers, one I've attached to the highest branch under the heat lamp (left side of cage) with a zip tie, the other attached in the lower right around the dracaena/money plant. I turned the basking light off so it can cool off and I can swap the bulb for a lower wattage because it was still hitting ~84 F at the basking spot, and the cool area is sitting steadily between 71 and 72F. I'm aiming for a basking temp of 80 F so I'll keep fiddling with the bulbs til I get it right!
• Humidity - I added an opaque show curtain to the back and both sides to help retain some humidity. Humidity levels raised to about 75% last night after I gave it a good misting, and are back to around 35-40% daytime humidity now. I have 2 digital hygrometers, one in the top right of the cage and one towards the lower middle on the left half to get an idea of different zones humidity
• Plants - I've added my pothos, dracaena, a small arrowhead plant, and a money tree plant. My intention is to divide some of my pothos plants so I can pot them and place all throughout the cage but I'm going to work on it tomorrow lol... For now I added back 2 of the fake plants from her old setup because it was pretty sparse in more of the upper areas, but I'm aware of the dangers now and will keep monitoring for any signs she's biting them. I'll take the fake ones out after I arrange more of the pothos around the cage
• Placement - her cage is in my bedroom-slash-office, against a wall near my desk.
• Location - central Illinois, USA

A couple more notes, I replaced the bamboo sticks with natural branches and sticks I collected from a pesticide free area. I noticed she didn't like grabbing them much, it seemed like her grip was very slippery on them.

I also drilled holes into the floor panels towards the center of the cage, propped them up slightly on the outer edges to form a slight ramp, I placed the removed screen from the cage between the metal shelf and the bottom of the cage to act as a barrier for bugs, and put an under bed storage container underneath the shelf holding the cage to catch excess water. Between that and the shower curtain I'm glad I won't have to worry about stray water going everywhere

Thank you in advance for any critiques and insight!!

 

[Peppered]

Oops, I posted this in the wrong forum I think? It was suppose to go in the enclosures forum!

 

[GrannyK]

You have made some great improvements!!!
It’s ok you posted here, they’ll find it. just want to confirm you have a branch that goes across under your t5 uvb bulb and what the distance the stick is from the bulb. If it’s placed too far away they won’t get correct amounts of uvb needed, if too close they could burn.

 

[Peppered]

You have made some great improvements!!!
It’s ok you posted here, they’ll find it. just want to confirm you have a branch that goes across under your t5 uvb bulb and what the distance the stick is from the bulb. If it’s placed too far away they won’t get correct amounts of uvb needed, if too close they could burn.

Ah yeah there are a couple of more horizontal branches that, at the closest, are about 3 inches away from the screen top. Could that be too close?
The way that I braced the cage down the center on top actually causes the light to sit a little angled, which adds about an inch or two gap from the light to the screen. I think the closest distance she can get is about 4 inches away, unless she tries to climb upside down, but ever since I swapped her uvb bulb for a new one she doesn't do that any more (at least in the old cage, and haven't seen her do it in this one)

Featuring Pepper asking for more food of course

Edit: also adding that with the lower wattage bulb the basking temp is sitting perfectly between 79.5 and 80 F! Yay

 

[MissSkittles]

Pepper is such a cutie and you’ve done a great job. Once your pothos and other plants grow in, you’ll be moving the plastic plants out - yes?

 

[Peppered]

Pepper is such a cutie and you’ve done a great job. Once your pothos and other plants grow in, you’ll be moving the plastic plants out - yes?

Yes my goal is to have only live plants in the end! I'm getting some more plants soon and plan to separate the pothos clusters into smaller, separate ones to place them through the cage. A friend of mine is also going to give me a cutting of their Chinese banyan plant as well to start up another tree-like plant.

 

[Beman]

Hello! I posted recently about my female veiled chameleon Pepper (~4 months old estimated) and was given some advice about her enclosure to change a few things:

- basking was too hot, around 85 F previously
- exo Terra vines needed to be removed, they tend to flake pieces of that get stuck in the cham's eyes
- needed real live plants instead of fake plants
- cage was too low in height from the floor, needed to lift it higher for her comfort

I think that was it? Either way, I've done some updating and upgrading to her cage and would like to hear from the more experienced folks what they think, and if anything needs to be worked on still!


Cage Info:

• Cage Type - I combined the 2 reptibreeze I had and the final cage is now 32" x 16" x 30". It's all screen but I attached an opaque shower curtain to the back and sides.
• Lighting - UVB is a 24" Reptisun 5.0 T5-HO with an extra 24" LED strip for the plants. Basking bulbs are clear incandescent bulbs. (Not on in the picture, but I'll explain that below) All are on a timer for turning on 9am to 9pm.
• Temperature - I have 2 digital probe thermometers, one I've attached to the highest branch under the heat lamp (left side of cage) with a zip tie, the other attached in the lower right around the dracaena/money plant. I turned the basking light off so it can cool off and I can swap the bulb for a lower wattage because it was still hitting ~84 F at the basking spot, and the cool area is sitting steadily between 71 and 72F. I'm aiming for a basking temp of 80 F so I'll keep fiddling with the bulbs til I get it right!
• Humidity - I added an opaque show curtain to the back and both sides to help retain some humidity. Humidity levels raised to about 75% last night after I gave it a good misting, and are back to around 35-40% daytime humidity now. I have 2 digital hygrometers, one in the top right of the cage and one towards the lower middle on the left half to get an idea of different zones humidity
• Plants - I've added my pothos, dracaena, a small arrowhead plant, and a money tree plant. My intention is to divide some of my pothos plants so I can pot them and place all throughout the cage but I'm going to work on it tomorrow lol... For now I added back 2 of the fake plants from her old setup because it was pretty sparse in more of the upper areas, but I'm aware of the dangers now and will keep monitoring for any signs she's biting them. I'll take the fake ones out after I arrange more of the pothos around the cage
• Placement - her cage is in my bedroom-slash-office, against a wall near my desk.
• Location - central Illinois, USA

A couple more notes, I replaced the bamboo sticks with natural branches and sticks I collected from a pesticide free area. I noticed she didn't like grabbing them much, it seemed like her grip was very slippery on them.

I also drilled holes into the floor panels towards the center of the cage, propped them up slightly on the outer edges to form a slight ramp, I placed the removed screen from the cage between the metal shelf and the bottom of the cage to act as a barrier for bugs, and put an under bed storage container underneath the shelf holding the cage to catch excess water. Between that and the shower curtain I'm glad I won't have to worry about stray water going everywhere

Thank you in advance for any critiques and insight!!

Ah yeah there are a couple of more horizontal branches that, at the closest, are about 3 inches away from the screen top. Could that be too close?
The way that I braced the cage down the center on top actually causes the light to sit a little angled, which adds about an inch or two gap from the light to the screen. I think the closest distance she can get is about 4 inches away, unless she tries to climb upside down, but ever since I swapped her uvb bulb for a new one she doesn't do that any more (at least in the old cage, and haven't seen her do it in this one)

Featuring Pepper asking for more food of course

Edit: also adding that with the lower wattage bulb the basking temp is sitting perfectly between 79.5 and 80 F! Yay

Very good job... I will go ahead and chime in for the UVB. With a T5HO fixture and a 5.0 bulb you want a total distance of 8-9 inches from the bottom of the fixture to the closest branch directly below the fixture. So if that is currently a distance of 3 inches then you need to lift your UVB up. Measure the distance you have from the cage top to that wire shelf above it. Add that distance to the 3 inches and see what you get. If this works out then you want the fixtures bulb to run in between the horizontal slats of the shelf so the bulb is no obstructed. THe other option is pulling the fixture forward more so it is not directly over those branches that are 3 inches from the screen. Then measure that distance from the screen to the branches below. See if that option works for you.

 

[Peppered]

Very good job... I will go ahead and chime in for the UVB. With a T5HO fixture and a 5.0 bulb you want a total distance of 8-9 inches from the bottom of the fixture to the closest branch directly below the fixture. So if that is currently a distance of 3 inches then you need to lift your UVB up. Measure the distance you have from the cage top to that wire shelf above it. Add that distance to the 3 inches and see what you get. If this works out then you want the fixtures bulb to run in between the horizontal slats of the shelf so the bulb is no obstructed. THe other option is pulling the fixture forward more so it is not directly over those branches that are 3 inches from the screen. Then measure that distance from the screen to the branches below. See if that option works for you.

Oh thank you, thats a great idea! I'll measure inside the cage and move it to the shelf above, I think that will be the best way to create some distance