Yet another cage setup question

[kylocats]

sorry for the questions that may be repeats. I have a female veiled she is 3 months old now. She is in a glass cage. I have just purchased a 24x24x48 from FLChams.. I am looking for simple ideas ( I am not handy) to complete her setup. First Is she still too young to go into a cage this size. Secondly ( hope this is not a dumb question) What can I use for the back of the cage so it does not get my walls wet? I am thinking of maybe a bottom of a shower encloser for the bottom . I will then drill holes in the bottom of the cage and hot glue some mesh over it so the crickets do not get out? Thirdly I for now plan on just hand spraying (budget will allow for a misting system in the future) I am concerned about the temp in the lower part of the cage. Also do I leave a gap at the top of the cage say 12 inches and then set up her basking area. Will this be enough for the rest of the cage not to get to cold? I have a exo terra infrared heat lamp 100w. In the winter months my hosue goes down to about 62 at night. If anyone can help I will be very grateful. Just remember I am not handy and the easier the better.
/also does anyone know if the cages from FlChams keep the crickets in LOL.
I have a digital temp. I guess I can slip the wire in and then screw it really tight. Will this work. Should I buy another and have it at the bottom of the cage? Thanks

 

[Hempa]

I dont think you have to worry about the temps in the lower areas of the enclosure. Different temps is good for the cham if it needs to cool off. Your night temps at winter I belive could be ok. But i think there can be problems if the rooms is draughty (spelling?). But if I´m wrong about nighttemps I hope someone corrects me.

Infrared heater is not recommended for chams. Chams search light to get to the heat. So use a regular bulb for her baskingspot. But it´s good to keep some distance between the baskingspot and the bulb but be sure its getting warm enough.

I leave the question about the screencages to some with experience.

 

[Marc10edora]

Maybe some of our Canadian members will chime in. I know that humidity can be hard to keep up in Canada. I know some members here use certain cage setups to fix that.

 

[Brad Ramsey]

For sure no night time heat if it only goes down to 62.
To protect the walls people have used plastic sheeting or shower curtains between the enclosure and wall.

-Brad

 

[davemailcall]

Here is a heating question since we are on the topic. Is it practical to set up a heating lamp outside the cage towards the bottom and allow heat to filter up?

I'm not doing this now, but winters here can be severe and it would be good for a "just in case" measure.

 

[MollyGreen]

About the light aimed at the bottom. I have a cage that is 6 ft tall, i have a basking area aimed at the bottom of my girls cage. My light is clamped on the side, I posted the "should i or shouldnt i clamp this light on?" in a thread yesterday. So far, people have said that it wasnt a bad idea. I think its working out ok.

 

[RhettusMaximus]

lighting

From my experience i have used a heatlamp ontop (100w UVA halogen) and i have one on a stand at the side of my cham's cage that is aimed directly at the middle of the cage (50 W UVA halogen). I have two compact 10.0 UVB bulbs on the top to make a triangle with the incandescent bulb of lighting for the top of my cham's tree. It makes a great basking spot for my veiled to chill in. My cham's enclosure is 6'7" which is pretty big, but I have done lighting this way with great success. He's a very happy veiled in his big cage!

 

[Tika]

I just ordered a mesh reptarium from lllreptile.com they have so many great products for very reasonable prices. Great site for setting up or upgrading your chams

 

[RhettusMaximus]

reptiledepot.com

try reptiledepot.com for cage setups, u can save so much money on there. u can get everything u need for your cham for like 160 bucks shipped

 

[stephen]

Watch out for the heat from extreme bulbs (winter) with those reptariums. Also they do not allow for the greatest visibility

 

[Brad Ramsey]

Yea......
Not a big fan of the reptarium.

-Brad

 

[Vegas Chad]

I just ordered a mesh reptarium from lllreptile.com they have so many great products for very reasonable prices. Great site for setting up or upgrading your chams

Most people, myself included stay away from them cages like the plague because they are a pain to clean, dark and the zipper is a PITA to deal with… Then again some people love them! They are great for keepers on a budget or for a second home for your chameleon. I always recommend a ‘true’ screen cage but since you already got the reptairum just make it work for yea!

 

[mary prefontaine]

if you have her in a glass cage i always thought those were not the best homes to put them in due to reflection problems and humidity problems getting too high? if you want some thing just the right size thats pretty reasonable you can try a 2x2x24 reptarium they come in many sizes but you can alo spend a little extra and get a nice air circulated one from fl chams

 

[mary prefontaine]

i agree the reptariums can be a nusance mostly with the zippers although mine has held up for 3 years now and i can easily carry it in and out as i please cause it so lightweight. but some people just cant afford the nicer cages.

 

[gentlejamo]

In regards to the humidity question, I am from Canada, but a drier area than Vancouver Island. Along the coast there you should be able to maintain a decent humidity level even in the winter. Mine do fine here is Saskatchewan in the winter with simple misting procedures.