A Bioactive Veiled chameleon habitat

[Rynlwar]

I bought a 24x24x48 screened enclosure from lllreptile last week, The veiled chameleon seems to be doing good, but i am still new at all this i am looking into going for a bioactive habitat is this a wise choice? either way what are some options to making the habitat functional and look pretty? what kind of substrate would be best? i know its best not to use any but if i don't use substrate how do i keep live plants in? any way to have the substrate available to the plants but not the chameleon? also is it normal for the chameleon to not sleep on anything but the screen side :/ it is starting to worry me a lot since he has already fallen once

 

[guanagator]

The first few days they might sleep wherever they are at when the lights go off. Once they get used to a schedule you shouldn't see sleeping on the screen. The bio active set up can work but takes some extra planning and time, for example you'll need to plan out the mix of insects for your cleaning crew, allow the soil to cycle and culture enough of the cleaners to be effective. You'll also need to have the drainage and misting dialed in to maintain the correct soil moisture. One of the biggest issues will also just be the soil trey.. What are you going to plant the 4 Plus inches of soil into? Will be easier to go with a bare floor first that is simple to keep clean, you can use a pot for the live plants just cover the soil with pond stones.

 

[SocialNumb]

Bare floor good, easy to clean.
Potted plants, hung if need be. Cover soil with pond/river stones.
Many vines and horizontal sticks at different heights.
Plenty of places to hide. Foliage.

here are tons of ideas: https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/the-official-enclosure-picture-thread.49688/

 

[pgr7]

I don't know if it's exactly what you had in mind but here's my enclosure. It's a mix of fake plants and real. I found this a good mix to provide cover and ease of cleaning.
1x a month I pull everything out and sit it on a large tray and clean the tank down.
I run a light yourreptiles 24" double t5 fixture with a Acadia uvb 6% and a daylight 6500 bulb for 12 hours and a mistking misting system 3x a day for 5 mins each,and a dripper.
I used organic potting soil for the plans with river stones on the soil.
The bottom is rubber and has large stones to cover it to give it a more natural look.

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[mvad]

Use real plants. They look better and contribute to higher humidity levels.

 

[Rynlwar]

Does the mist king work well? so far i am just using a golden pothos but it is really small at the moment, i have a bunch of fake foliage which he enjoys, i have a big bin at the moment of the enclosure that is about 6 inches high however i have no clue how to have it drain what to use or anything, spent all last night trying to find a good setup, but not one that looks good and is functional, i am looking into getting a huge ficus tree to put in there which will help with filling up the empty space, what other live plants would be good?

 

[Rynlwar]

The first few days they might sleep wherever they are at when the lights go off. Once they get used to a schedule you shouldn't see sleeping on the screen. The bio active set up can work but takes some extra planning and time, for example you'll need to plan out the mix of insects for your cleaning crew, allow the soil to cycle and culture enough of the cleaners to be effective. You'll also need to have the drainage and misting dialed in to maintain the correct soil moisture. One of the biggest issues will also just be the soil trey.. What are you going to plant the 4 Plus inches of soil into? Will be easier to go with a bare floor first that is simple to keep clean, you can use a pot for the live plants just cover the soil with pond stones.

would something that seperates the layers be ok? like for example moss, pots seem to disagree with my chameleon for some reason he hates them which limits the plants i can put in there

 

[pgr7]

Use lots of fake vines and plants to cover the pots in the enclosure.

 

[brownie64]

would something that seperates the layers be ok? like for example moss, pots seem to disagree with my chameleon for some reason he hates them which limits the plants i can put in there

If you are going to use a bioactive substreight you will have to use layers for proper drainage. Without the proper drainage you will end up with a muddy, stinky mess. You don't want to go bioactive unless you are sure you know what you are doing. If you see your cham is going to be a dirt eater you can always plant baby tears, or just cover it with river stone like others have suggested.

 

[pgr7]

The mist king works really well

 

[gotwqqd]

I have a glass enclosure with a draft screen on bottom and top.

3" of soil with vermiculite and spaghnum for keeping soil on dry side yet allows water retention for the plants to draw from while reducing mold potential.

I have schefflera and another growing in soil and a pothos in a earth pot middle of enclosure.
Fake plays on walls which will be reduced when live plants grow in.

Over the soil I have polished Mexican pebble(small 1-2") to keep lizard from ingesting.

I usually turn the stones with droppings over so the excrement feeds the plants.