Advice on how to set this large enclosure up

[USSTrioceros]

Good day, folks! I recently acquired some Jacksons. I picked up an aviary and am working on dividing it for them. I have some questions.

I wasn't sure if I should wrangle plants or sticks in first. In my smaller ones I did sticks first so I did that here, especially since I was adding some larger limbs. At this point, would you pull some smaller twigs out, add the plants, and then put the twigs back in?

I have "living wall" I was going to use to assist with plant placement. The hardware cloth on this is a bit wimpy (albeit fully adequate for small birds). How would you reinforce your plant holders? I am envisioning a thinner strip of wood like a yard stick. Attach on the inside or outside?

Lastly, the light. USB/LED from ZooMed. I have 2 of these. Would you use both to assist with plants and UVB availability? I can easily fit both up there with basking lamps.

Any feedback is welcome. It's obviously not completed. It's at a point where I can still change things before I close everything up. The kids are just stretching their legs.

 

[Beman]

Hi there welcome to the forum. So one thing to note with your enclosure. Jacksons need much cooler temps and they need humidity. The enclosure is going to be really hard to have humidity unless you have very high natural house humidity. Placement in front of a window is not recommended. Between drafts and if the window gets direct sun this is going to heat up the entire cage.

Secondly they should not be able to see each other at all or get to one another. So you want to retrofit the entire enclosure so it is solidly divided before adding in your branches or plants. Additionally these guys have very small feet so you want lots of small diameter branches for them to be able to fully grip. This is a great link that will give you a ton of info. https://chameleonacademy.com/the-jacksons-chameleon-trioceros-jacksonii/

 

[USSTrioceros]

Thanks for the reply. I should have explained a bit more. This enclosure is not in its finished state, nor in its final location. The middle divider will be completed to the top and be "forested" with plants and an additional barrier for stability and blocking views. The outer parts of the cage will the the exposed "forest edge." I also have corrugated plastic to install once branches/perches (including smaller ones) are in place to manage humidity. Those will be full coverage on the back and partial coverage on the sides. We're fairly dry here so I'll have a humidifier and a drip watering system for plants and drinking stations.

I'm used to working with smaller enclosures so my brain is balking at what do next because once I get the last panels on there, making changes will be challenging for larger pieces and plants.

 

[Beman]

Thanks for the reply. I should have explained a bit more. This enclosure is not in its finished state, nor in its final location. The middle divider will be completed to the top and be "forested" with plants and an additional barrier for stability and blocking views. The outer parts of the cage will the the exposed "forest edge." I also have corrugated plastic to install once branches/perches (including smaller ones) are in place to manage humidity. Those will be full coverage on the back and partial coverage on the sides. We're fairly dry here so I'll have a humidifier and a drip watering system for plants and drinking stations.

I'm used to working with smaller enclosures so my brain is balking at what do next because once I get the last panels on there, making changes will be challenging for larger pieces and plants.

This sounds like an excellent plan. I will say with the larger gauge you would easily be able to attach egg crate to it with zip ties. You could then use black great stuff expanding foam to secure and create live walls. The nice thing about the atrium you are using is that you can put some really full tall plants into it.

Note I would go ahead and use something to seal the wood fully. This type of enclosure is going to be more susceptible to water damage with the wood. Flex seal makes a great product for this.

 

[USSTrioceros]

Awesome! Thanks for the tips!

 

[Beman]

Awesome! Thanks for the tips!

Your welcome... Note on the lighting... These are not my favorites. The LED on them have colors and colored lights especially red are not recommended for chams. I would suggest getting a jungle dawn led. You will need stronger lighting for pants to thrive.

Additionally. Your gauge on that cage. You have to account for that with UVB placement because it will not reduce the uvb output at all of the bulb. Normal cham cages we use aluminum window screen which reduces uvi about 40%.

So for yours you would base levels on not having a barrier that reduces. With a 5.0 or 6% T5HO bulb you want a total distance from bottom of fixture sitting on the cage to the branches right below it of about 11 inches this will produce a UVI of approximately 3. I would not use a stronger bulb like a 10.0 or 12% because you would have to increase your distance to roughly 16 inches between fixture and branch to get the same 3 UVI.

 

[USSTrioceros]

That's great advice on the UV. Thanks. I don't have a UV sensor yet and was concerned about that. I have a 5.0 HO in the fixture at the moment. I'm hoping to make use of these fixtures until I can get programmable ones. I have some nice, full spectrum, white, 24", LED lights that will up my PAR for the plants and hopefully balance out anything less desirable for the chams.

Again, thanks. I don't have a lot of people to bounce this stuff off of here and some forums have been less than helpful. I want to make an excellent set up for my kids.

 

[Beman]

That's great advice on the UV. Thanks. I don't have a UV sensor yet and was concerned about that. I have a 5.0 HO in the fixture at the moment. I'm hoping to make use of these fixtures until I can get programmable ones. I have some nice, full spectrum, white, 24", LED lights that will up my PAR for the plants and hopefully balance out anything less desirable for the chams.

Again, thanks. I don't have a lot of people to bounce this stuff off of here and some forums have been less than helpful. I want to make an excellent set up for my kids.

No, problem. We are a friendly group here. If you have questions please feel free to ask.