Adult enclosure advice

[Josh167]

Hi
I'm due to upgrade my chameleons enclosure soon because he's starting to outgrow his current setup!

I've been looking at wooden vivs (which I would add extra ventilation to) and also screen enclosures which i'm sure both have their benefits.

What would you recommend?
What are the pro's and cons?
Bare in mind I live in the uk before I'm bombarded with people saying screen is the only way to go haha. And if anyones got any tips of any modifications and things they've made it would be great!

Cheers for any advice
Josh

 

[Lindsey]

I think wooden vivs have more of an aesthetic appeal to them, so if you could find one with appropriate ventilation I would go for that.
I have never built an enclosure from scratch myself, so I'm not too much help there, but if you use the search feature there are tons of examples of home-made enclosures.
Ideas for the taking!

 

[Xepera]

What kind of chameleon do you have?

I built a terrarium recently for a veiled with 3 painted wooden walls, glass doors, wire mesh top and proper ventilation holes on the bottom of both sides. I live in Finland, so no-one even tried to persuade me into making a screen cage. I'm far from a pro myself, but I think I managed to do a decent job anyway. The decicions I made can be seen in this thread: https://www.chameleonforums.com/our-first-not-so-humble-calyptratus-terrarium-41883/

I've heard that a mixture of screen and wood is usually the best alternative for someone who doesn't live in a very cold environment. In that the problems of both alternatives could be minimized... For example it could be very difficult to keep heat and humidity in desirable levels in a mesh enclosure all times of the year. But with a wooden enclosure you have to pay extra attention on making all wooden surfaces waterproof and not putting poisonous materials in while doing that.

Drainage ideas are something that you really have to think about before building or buying anything. I didn't, but luckily with veileds you can manage anyway with a little creativity.

 

[SliK JiM]

I'm in the UK mate and built these for my chameleons:

First, my yemen's (its 3 x 4 x 8):
https://www.chameleonforums.com/my-build-guide-everyones-use-38695/#post379288

Next, my new panther's (2 x 2 x 7):
https://www.chameleonforums.com/my-latest-build-progress-40191/

All screen is the way to go! Everything I bought was in the UK so if you need any help just give me a shout!

 

[bradley]

im in the uk and use the biggest reptibreeze zoomed do they are great cages and are just like the ones in the us

 

[SliK JiM]

How much do the big reptibreeze's cost these days?

I built my latest enclosure for around £60 (£20 = wood, £20 = mesh, £20 = everything else!). It does take a lot more time and effort though I will add!

 

[bradley]

i get mine £95

 

[Tazjunky]

i get mine £95

Im still debating making an enclosure or getting a reptibreeze, have you got any pics of your set up?

 

[sandrachameleon]

plastic (or painted wood) peg board works well for sides - allows ventilation but still retains more heat and humidity than a screen cage.
Pics of mine:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/members/sandrachameleon-albums-cage.html

You may find some of the links in this blog entry useful - there are several that have info from UK folks
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/82-enclosures-housing.html

 

[Josh167]

Thanks for the feedback here!

It's a male panther I've got, about 6 months old. I think I'm leaning towards a wooden viv with added ventilation because it can get a bit too cold in the winter for a screen one at home. I was looking at the reptibreeze ones which do look good (and they are cheap too). I reckon the wooden ones look pretty good too so I agree with Lindsey there!

Xepera, I'm far from a pro too so I think I'll stick to just buying a viv ready made! Ha. What do you suggest for drainage then? A lot of people say it's important so what could I do?

Cheers