How to select a Chameleon Cage
Getting ready to buy a chameleon cage? We often don’t think about how we are going to set things up once we get our chameleon cage. After years of doing this, I’d like to share five things that can make the difference between annoyance and smooth sailing!
Get the right size and shape of chameleon cage.
The bigger the chameleon, the bigger the cage needs to be. But you should be getting the biggest cage possible anyways! Take a look at the Chameleon Academy care guides on the website. Each lists a minimum size cage and encourages you to go bigger! 2x2x4 will suffice, but, if you have the space, a 4x2x4 is better! Also, a wider cage placed up high is better for chameleons than a taller cage placed low. Size for us chameleon keepers is not so our chameleons can run laps. It is so our enclosures are big enough to hold a number of gradients and microclimates that will fit our chameleon's entire body. This is why a proper chameleon environment will be bigger than a cage that contains the chameleon’s body. Instead of shopping for the smallest cage which will keep a chameleon on his stick, think less about containing the chameleon and more about creating the elements of a chameleon sanctuary with multiple areas with different microclimates and gradients. This is why we, the world creators, need space to work. Yes, the smaller the chameleon the smaller those spaces need to be, but there are also limitations of how small you can go because we have lighting/UVB/basking lights that are designed for larger cages. Don’t get a small cage that seems sufficient for the body size of the chameleon and then put larger cage lighting on it. You won’t have room for the heat and UVB gradients. With chameleon cages, err on the side of bigger.
Get the right type of chameleon cage.
When we dive into material construction of chameleon cages you have heard me differentiate using the terms Screen vs Hybrid vs Glass. I use these because they are relatively easy to understand and are in the ballpark of being accurate. In reality, these represent the amount of humidity and heat insulation the cage provides.
Screen represents ventilated cages which mimic the outside conditions. There is little difference inside the cage to the outside of the cage. You can create limited microclimates. Any heat source or humidity source affects the area directly in front of them when on, but the area quickly reverts back to ambient conditions when the source is turned off. Screen cages are excellent for areas - or times of the year - where the ambient conditions are close to what a chameleon wants.
Hybrid is a term that officially applies to any cage that brings in advantages of screen and solid sided cages. In practice, it usually represents PVC solid side cages which restrict airflow in order to retain humidity. I differentiate between PVC and glass, even though glass fits this description, because glass adds another dimensions. We will get to that. But for the sake of this discussion let’s accept that, for this discussion, when we say hybrid we are referring to a PVC sided cage. The top is screen and the front is either screen or is acrylic with a small screen vent at the bottom. If the entire front is screen then you are getting the benefit of mist retention and some humidity retention if you create humidity pockets with live plants against the solid walls. The full hybrid experience is when the entire cage is solid except for the top and a small vent by the bottom. This creates the chimney effect where the warm air under the lights rises and pulls in cool air from the bottom vent. This creates an air exchange that keeps the cage from becoming stagnant. The air exchange is slow enough that humidity can be retained.
And
Glass represents glass cages which are great at insulating not only humidity retention, but also heat retention. Glass cages are, technically, hybrid cages, but I break them out into a class all their own because they are so much better at heat and humidity retention to the point where it is a powerful tool to create the proper environment or, if you do it wrong, an easy way to kill your chameleon. I break it out also because there is so much controversy in the chameleon community over using glass cages. But, glass cages are only dangerous if you use them improperly. Chameleons can get a respiratory infection in screen cages or any cage with improper husbandry. Screen cage husbandry applied to a glass cage will be a disaster. Using a glass cage properly will provide a powerful tool to create the environment your chameleon needs when that is different than what is ambient conditions in the room.
Mounting Branches and Plants
Plan for how you will mount branches and plants. You need to have a plan for how you will get branches and plant cover in the upper middle of the cage. And this is a good thing to plan for ahead of time so you aren’t faced with an assembled cage and have no idea how to make it suitable for a chameleon. Of course, many of you know I design and offer cages through the Dragon Strand chameleon caging company and those cages come standard with Dragon Ledges that mount to the sides of cage and give you the ability to suspend plants in the middle areas. But if you are planning on another cage then you will have to have some plan. Hybrid cages are an easy solution because you can screw branches directly to the sides. Screening is not meant to be weight bearing so do your connections on the frame. Or, just get Dragon Ledges which are the right tool for the job! Glass cages will require strategic use of silicone to anchor branches in place.
Accessory Mounting Hardware
Make a list of all the equipment that you will be using for your cage. Mister, fogger, lights, feeder run cup. How will these attach? The Mist king mist nozzle attaches differently than the Exo-Terra Monsoon. And the misting mount is not included in the standard package. So, ask the question before you get to time to mount it! I would say that the misting nozzle mount is actually the number 1 surprise people get. They build the cage and then open the mister box and then realize they are missing a part! And, if you have ever tried to attach a fogger hose you know the experience could use some help. Of course, I solved this issue with the Dragon Strand cages by just including hydration mounts and a fogger input as standard so when you build the cage it is already ready for industry standard mist nozzles and fogger tube.As far as lights, are you going to lay them on the top of the cage or will there be a shelf that they rest on or hang from? For basking lamps and UVB you will probably have to elevate them so that the energy going into the cage can be at safe levels. I suggest drawing out the cage top area and figure out where the lights will be placed. Figure out how things should be raised up if they need to be raised up. I like using deep dome fixtures for my basking light to keep it a couple inches away from the top of the cage and I either hang my UVB lamp from a shelf above or even just use wood blocks to raise it above the surface of the cage.
If you are getting a feeder run cup, how does it attach? Every manufacturer has their own take on mounting. Some have a hook, some have a ring, and some attach to the screen with pins or magnets. Make sure you know how yours attaches and bake that into your plan.
And, are you using any other accessories? A drip bottle? Is it too heavy for the screen top or is there enough room with all the lights? Whatever accessories you plan on having, connect the dots and purchase whatever mounting or connection hardware is necessary.
Drainage solution
And, finally, drainage…the #1 thing that is most likely to surprise people setting up a chameleon cage for the first time. All the mist and fog needs to go somewhere. Assuming it doesn’t go through the screen cage and onto your furniture, most of it will end up on the floor of your cage. Some cages are water tight. In this case, it will puddle and gather until you have a pond at the bottom of your cage. As peaceful as that may sound, in this case it isn’t so much. At the bottom of the cage is where the poop is and any escaped feeder insects and the last thing you want is for all that to mix in a puddle of water, much less a pond of water. In this case you will have to install a drain and get that water out of there. People have created drainage layers like dart frog keepers do, but for this to work it requires that you balance the water input into the system with how much your drainage layer can take without overflowing and saturating the soil. It can be done, but this requires a level of experience and skill that I wouldn’t recommend starting off with this solution in mind. Find a way to drain your cage. I do a series on Youtube with James Cross called the DIY Chameleon Guys and we touch on drains and such often.Other cage designs have a floor panel that is not water tight so water will flow out of the cage. For this you set the cage on top of a drainage tray. With this system, I actually encourage the drainage by drilling holes in the floor panel when I use the plastic floors. You can use any tray that fits, such as dishwasher trays, water heater trays, or dog crate trays, but use stand off supports for the cage so it isn’t sitting in the waste water. My favorite way to empty the tray is to use a wet/dry vacuum. You can always add a 1/4” drip system valve to it if you want a gravity drain.
My solution with the Dragon Strand cages is to include a drainage tray with the cage. It looks good and has built in supports. I also include two floor panels. One is plastic and one is screen. The screen floor panel can be used when you have a clear floor as you would in the floating garden style when you use Dragon Ledges…see how this all fits together! When you use a screen panel for the floor you do not get puddling and it is easier to keep the cage hygienic. Having an extra floor panel also allows you to deep clean a floor panel and just replace it with the clean one while you are cleaning the dirty one. I chose the drainage tray approach over the sealed bottom approach because the drainage tray solution is self contained. You can place the cage anywhere and not worry about where a bucket will go.
Why Don’t all companies include these options?
So, a question that begs to be answered is - why don’t all the other caging companies offer all these features? Wouldn’t that make sense for ZooMed, Exo-Terra, Zilla, and the raft of off-shore companies Amazoning or, now Temu-ing it into our online shopping? The answer is not really. This is a basic implementation of product marketing. And that is what I am professionally trained in. When you are creating a product whose main selling feature is price you have to justify each and every feature. And if your customer base is not aware of the benefit of the feature you have to then justify the added marketing expense to educate the customer about the feature. Your standard person walking into Petco for dog food and walking out with a chameleon is going to be turned off by a higher price. You say, but these are features they need! And, I hate to tell you this, but it is a more successful strategy to offer the base product and then either offer the accessories as upsells or else let them figure it out later. As long as the lack of a feature does not result in a return, the feature doesn’t get put into a cage that uses price as its main appeal. If you are thinking that is taking advantage of customers that are not educated enough to know what they do and don’t need or are shocked that the welfare of the animal is not being taken into consideration then I would like to introduce you to the capitalist system. And also to human beings. Price is king for us. We get such a rush thinking we got a great deal we will compromise the quality or else are willing to pay more later for what we need as we hold on to the feeling of buying the original purchase for such a great deal. This is human nature. And appealing to human nature is the most successful approach in business. Everything other than price requires marketing dollars to educate the consumer. And some businesses do that exceptionally well. But it is also expensive. You never have to explain low price.And I say all this without judgement. We NEED low cost, entry level cages. The ZooMed Reptibreeze XL is the most common entry level cage. Without it we would lose out on a chunk of community growth that would balk at buying one of my full featured-out-of-the-box cages. Yes, I lose sales to ZooMed because of price, but we aren’t really competing. The chameleon market is too small for it to be worth it to add cost to an entry level cage. And the volume of a cheap cage is way to high for my hand made in the USA manufacturing. And my specialty is education. I will spend 45 minutes talking about the benefits of esoteric cage features to a small audience. That is what I do so I am uniquely suited to produce a full featured cage. ZooMed would have a difficult time supporting their factories with a full featured cage for such a small niche and I would have a hard time making any sort of volume that could support a national distribution plan. So, we all have our place. ZooMed is figuring out how to remove pennies from the design and manufacturing and I am figuring out what new features to add. For example, I just added a fogger input device as standard into every adult size cage and added cost to the Dragon Ledges to make them easier to assemble. And, every time I add cost, I have to increase the marketing to explain why that is a good idea. But, that is what I am here for. We all have our place.
Conclusion:
Keep five things in mind and have a plan for each. Obviously, I have taken these challenges and put all the solutions in the box. That is my answer for all of this. Purchasing a Dragon Strand cage supports the Chameleon Academy outreach so I thank you for your consideration. But if you are working with another cage then go through the checklist.- Is it the right size? The pictures can be misleading, especially if you are looking at offshore company marketing. Look for the actual specs.
- Is it the right type? This is something you decide before you even start looking. Basically, how much do you need to modify your environment? And that determines what level of ventilation you should consider.
- Branch and Plant Mounting. Figure out what the walls are made of and how you will get branches and plants where they are needed. Presumably, you will know the composition because you went specifically shopping for a certain type in step 2!
- Accessory equipment. If your cage does not come with the proper accessory mounting equipment then make sure your products do or you purchase them separately.
- Drainage. Find out of your cage of choice has removable floors, a sealed bottom, or whatever. Cage manufacturers are not used to people asking about the cage bottom and so this information isn’t usually on the product page. But it is important for you to be able to plan what you need for drainage.
