Building a habitat for a Cham

[Mark7616]

Hi guys I am new here and I am looking in to purchasing myself a panther or yemen chameleon. I was looking at the exo terra flexariums and aluminium ones but didnt really like the look of the so was considering buliding one myself. I feel if I built my own I dont need to suspend the lights etc from the ceiling or am I missing something as I would have a 12" enclosure ontop to contain all the kit. Anyways how does my design look, anything you would change / do differently what would you personally do its in my living room so want it to look nice and not like a mess stuck in the corner. Also as for water I will be adding a waterfall inside aswell so I will have something simular to the plastic containers that you put inside the flexs. Just some advice aswell please:

I am going to have a hinged type door. Now what would be the best mesh to use on this 1. for safety purposes and 2. to be able to vie it best. Also what staining / varnishing product can I use on the wood that would be safe fro the Cham. And lastly can anyone see any problems with having a wooden top it wont cause condensation issues will it?

This is my design:

 

[Mark7616]

So no one on here can offer any advice for me????

 

[kylerenz]

The design of the cage, although a very basic drawing, looks good. Good dimensions so long as it is an adult. Scrap the substrate idea. Use paper towels to catch fecals. Substrate will just put your chameleon at a huge risk for impaction.

 

[Mark7616]

I will be getting a juvie and growing it but what I intend to do is limit it to a certain part of the enclosure and then extend its boundries as it grows. Where would be the best place for placement of a water fountain?

 

[Mark7616]

Ok from resarching a bit more indepth I dont like the sound of the waterfall and the bacteria growth so I will incorporate a drip system in the top with the bulbs to drip down over the plants and ill spray 3 times a day or maybe invet in a misting system meaning I can go out for the day and not worry that it has not been misted. A couple of quick questions should I use 1 or 2 18" 5.0uvb bulbs and would 1 100w heat bulb be sufficiant im looking to keep it at around 88 in his basking area now what happens at night time do I just switch it off or what how do I maintain a steady lower temp? Also one more thing now im using a dripper system what do I do about all the water that will collect at the bottom of the cage?

 

[Fred]

Yes waterfalls bad, dripper great, u can build ur own mister, if u use the search button, I believe its under DIY mister, one 5.o should be good, just keep it very close to basking light bc this is where ur cham will spend most of its time, 100 watts should be fine-have gauges to check ambient and basking temps, all lights out at night so if placing in the living room I hope it is low traffic and vacated by 7pm and dark so ur cham can sleep!! Lights work well on timers- 12 hr schedules-unless ur living room temps get below 50-60F u won't need to worry about temps at night-they need a temp drop of 10-20 degrees like in nature. alot of people use containers with screening over the top (to keep feeders ect. from drowning) and empty it often (to keep bacteria from collecting) Oh, NO SUBSTRATES of any kind : ) look around on this site alot- some learning to do before getting ur cham, u want his enclosure up and running before u bring him home-less stress for them this way!!

 

[tv321406]

here is the cage i just built, looks similar to yours in certain aspects. im going to be posting plans soon when i finish them if you need any of the technical stuff worked out

https://www.chameleonforums.com/finally-finished-building-enclosure-19588/

good luck!

 

[DarkRapture]

Great design you have there. The hood on top is a fantastic idea, have you measured the spot lamp fixtures? I would listen to what others have mentioned and skip the substrate idea. There is going to be a lot of water in that cage, and that is why I chose to have drainage holes in the bottom with a basin underneath. I will post a few pictures for you to see how I have my veiled cham set up. He is almost a year and a half old now and doing great!

My cage is 75" tall, 30" wide, and 24" deep with black aluminum screen for all the sides and top. My male veiled uses every inch of his cage and it makes cleanup a snap with an open door concept. I used a waterproofing polyurethane to seal it - 5 coats because I used cedar (which is NOT recommended unless completely water sealed). I used plywood for the base and 2x4's for the legs. Honestly, building your own cage is the best and you can make it custom to the needs of your animal! I hope pictures make things easy to understand my design...

Here is a photo of mine (built last January and is still in great shape!):

You can see that there are 3 doors in the front which makes feeding and cleaning super easy.

A photo of the back - this was a shower curtain and a wooden dowel used to stop all the moisture from destroying the paint on the wall behind the cage. I also used the dowel to attach 2 spot lamps for heat at the top of the cage.

There is a tub underneath the cage that collects water from this plastic, and there are 4 tubes and 2 holes in the bottom of the cage for drainage as well.

The bucket I use for a dripper is a 3g. I have vinyl tubing coming from the bottom and I use a simple (IV thingy) regulator so that it drips every few seconds. The water splashes on the plants on the way down and fills the container below. I use warm water and it drips for about about 6 hours. I still mist 2-3x a day with my pump sprayer -which totally rox, I got it at a garden store! I have a piece of glass on top of the cage for the winter time to keep in the heat better. I remove it for the summer and usually only use one spot lamp when it gets warm enough. The spot lamps are 65 watt and work awesome with his 24" Reptisun 5.0 in the florescent fixture. He can get within 4" of the UVB and has many places to move choose for temps with all the sticks and plants.

I put in a shelf for aesthetic purposes and also to place some smaller plants on. I occasionally use a dish to feed insects and the shelf works great! He is handfed every couple days but when he was little I used a dish a lot. You can't see in these photos, but I used magnetic latches for the doors, they are spring loaded so when I push on the door, it springs out and opens a bit.

If I forgot anything or if you have any questions, I will answer them the best I can! I don't use any substrate, too much fuss to clean, and this way I can get poops out of there in a flash!

 

[dodolah]

I have a piece of glass on top of the cage for the winter time to keep in the heat better. I remove it for the summer and usually only use one spot lamp when it gets warm enough. The spot lamps are 65 watt and work awesome with his 24" Reptisun 5.0 in the florescent fixture. He can get within 4" of the UVB and has many places to move choose for temps with all the sticks and plants.

Just to clarify your post further to avoid any misunderstanding, the glass on the top of the cage does not cover the UVB light, does it?
Meaning that the glass won't be in between of uvb light and the cage.

Glass prevents UVB light from coming thru.
Thus, your chameleon might not get the UVB from the light.

 

[DarkRapture]

Just to clarify your post further to avoid any misunderstanding, the glass on the top of the cage does not cover the UVB light, does it?
Meaning that the glass won't be in between of uvb light and the cage.

Glass prevents UVB light from coming thru.
Thus, your chameleon might not get the UVB from the light.

HAHAHA! NOOOOO it does NOT cover any part of the UVB. If you look closely, you can see that the glass tucks under the very edge of the light fixture (at the right side of the photo) and does not have any way to conflict with the UV rays at all. I could take a photo of the underside if anyone is having difficulty understanding. Sorry I didn't explain it in my post lol

 

[dodolah]

HAHAHA! NOOOOO it does NOT cover any part of the UVB. If you look closely, you can see that the glass tucks under the very edge of the light fixture (at the right side of the photo) and does not have any way to conflict with the UV rays at all. I could take a photo of the underside if anyone is having difficulty understanding. Sorry I didn't explain it in my post lol

all right, then. Just need some clarification

 

[Mark7616]

Not all the pics are showing for me but I have a question regarding the drainage. I like the idea with the bucket underneath this was the idea I was thinking of but couldnt work out how I was going to drain it. Now is your base leval if so how does the water fall into the holes or does it collect in other places aswell?