Wall-crawling: how to stop it?

[slowfoot]

So, my adult male panther (tentatively named Don Chameleone by my husband) is an extremely active guy. He is always on the walls of his enclosure. Well... he's everywhere else too, but he's on the walls more than I would like. He pretty much uses every inch of his 6ft x 5ft enclosure.

I first had the walls made out of hardware cloth, but it was abusing his feet. So I covered the inside with a soft plastic mesh. He's now climbing on that, but it's still bugging me.

I've tried all the usual tips: adding more foliage at the top, more branches to break up the empty walls, and so he can't climb unimpeded. He just pushes all of that aside to climb.

I guess I'm just not used to such an active guy. I've mostly kept Jacksons and quads before. I know he's a young dude, so he's probably just on the prowl for hot chicks Anyone have any suggestions?

 

[jannb]

He probably wants out of the cage. Make him a free range.

 

[dannigrrl]

My only worry would be him falling and hurting himself. Make sure you have foliage at the bottom (like buy a bunch of fake leaves at Micheal's) so that he can fall on a bed of leaves, not a hard surface when he looses his footing.

Personally, I'd let him climb as much as his little heart desires!

 

[Dinky]

my guy is the same and i haven't been able stop it he just prefers the mesh to everything else and as long as he isn't climbing toward the light i dont see a problem with that it just makes the game of find that chameleon easier

 

[jannb]

I free range my guys. If you think about it these guys are not meant to be in a cage.

 

[slowfoot]

I know he wants to be free, but he does live outside I put down a bed of dried leaves (that I change regularly) because he likes goes onto the ground and I didn't want him in contact with the dirt, so I think he'll be pretty safe if he falls, though it is a long drop to the bottom.

Maybe it's just his thing. Otherwise, he's a perfect cham: no biting or lunging at me, and he's not shy. Eats whatever I provide. I think he just needs a girlfriend. Of course, my husband doesn't know that I already plan on getting him one

 

[xanthoman]

some chams have more of a tendency to crawl on the wires than others, but most chams tend to grab what is conveinient, that being said you may want to re-evaluate your cage funiture,plantings/climbing structure to reduce your open wire space. he is less likely to crawl on the wire for extended periods of time, if everywhere he steps there is a branch/planting /climbing structure in his way, thats not to say he doesnt need open space. its frequently attributed to newer chams and enviroments.often times they will get over the habit and you start to (slowly) open your cage structure back up

 

[tkilgour]

some chams have more of a tendency to crawl on the wires than others, but most chams tend to grab what is conveinient, that being said you may want to re-evaluate your cage funiture,plantings/climbing structure to reduce your open wire space. he is less likely to crawl on the wire for extended periods of time, if everywhere he steps there is a branch/planting /climbing structure in his way, thats not to say he doesnt need open space. its frequently attributed to newer chams and enviroments.often times they will get over the habit and you start to (slowly) open your cage structure back up

This is a very good point! I have dealt with this issue with some chams. One Nosy Be I have always climbed on the wire wearing out his nails, thus causing him to fall. At first, I put up that green fencing and thought it took away from the looks of the enclosure. Then I re-evaluated the furnishings and figured I could stop it if I did exactly as mentioned above and added a lot more climbing areas. I added a lot more bio-vines for perching, a larger plant, and some more silk vines. This totally stopped his wire climbing as time passed, I opened up the areas where he didnt go as much and kept vines and perches where he liked to go the most. To this day he has totally stopped his wire climbing, and all his nails are long again. Good luck!

 

[slowfoot]

Thanks for the advice! I ended up adding another, taller tree to the enclosure (it hits all 4 sides and the top) and filling in all the other blank walls with branches. Now the little jerk spends a lot of time climbing all over the door, which is the one clear wall, for obvious reasons.

I think he's just extraordinarily active - he does laps all day. Makes me miss my laid-back Jacksons

 

[tkilgour]

Thanks for the advice! I ended up adding another, taller tree to the enclosure (it hits all 4 sides and the top) and filling in all the other blank walls with branches. Now the little jerk spends a lot of time climbing all over the door, which is the one clear wall, for obvious reasons.

I think he's just extraordinarily active - he does laps all day. Makes me miss my laid-back Jacksons

Yes, mine did that also. I just lined rows of silk vines from the top to the bottom of the door. This way if he decided to climb on the door he could still grab the vines and I can still open the door.

 

[sandrachameleon]

Im with xanthoman in thinking you may need to put a surplus of vines and wires, even right against/over/covering the mesh surfaces. Small mesh can damage toes & nails, just as hardware cloth can damage feet. Assuming that everything is right temp humidity and in terms of what he can see/stress about, He may just grow out of the restlessness. And you could then reduce the vines/plantings.

 

[slowfoot]

The mesh he has now is big and fairly soft - he's not able to reach the hardware cloth anymore. I did have fake vines twined on it, but it didn't stop him from crawling all over the walls and I just ended up not being able to see inside. Plus, it was seriously blocking the sun and he loves to bask.

Here's some pic of enclosure V 3.0:



Plants - I've got a mix of gardenia and crepe myrtle:



Mr. Grump, about to start shedding:





Here's a picture of the soft green mesh over the hardware cloth - it's big enough that he can grab it pretty comfortably and I don't need to worry about nails being pulled out:

 

[HairyScaryMark]

Maybe i've missed something but what's the problem with him crawling on the walls?