Cage Critique

[Ferdinand]

Hello Everyone,
I have finally set up my cage for my ambilobe cham and I want to make sure that the enclosure is ready. I have had a problem with the basking temp however. I did not place the lamp directly on the screen because the temp was going over 100F so I clamped it on the side. But the temp is still getting over 100F even though it is well above 6inches from the highest basking point. Im currently using a 75 watt bulb, should I go down to a 50? Any help that you guys can give me would be great.

 

[Julirs]

Yep-go with a 60Watt bulb-that should get you where you want to be.

 

[Ferdinand]

is it ok to have the light clamped on the side like that or does it really matter?

 

[Goggles]

I had to go down to a 40 watt and still raise it so you will have to experiment.
The turf looks good but will be hard to keep clean.

 

[eisentrauti]

You should add more branches and plants. I hope that this cage is for a juvenil, it looks very small

 

[panthercrazy]

Off to a good start. How old is the cham coming?

IMHO, I would add in a little more green to fill up some of the openess, a pothos will fill some space nicely.

The carpet on the bottom, I think you will find quickly to be a pain, keeping the water which will cause bacteria. Paper towel, much easier to toss out.
That leads to another question, do you have a drainage system set up for excess water collection? (IE holes drilled in bottom cage and collection pan underneath?)

50 watt will reduce your temps for sure, looks to be a smaller cage from picture so 75 is probably too much.

UVB? Is that a Repti-Glo or Repti Sun in the fixture. Looks to be a thin fixture and you really don't want to be using the T5 bulb from Zilla as these have been known to cause some serious issues. Repti Sun best way to go

 

[Ferdinand]

The cage is 24"*12"*24" and it is for a 3 month old cham. Ill be going to the store here in a bit to get a new bulb and fake vine plants. I wanted to put my pothos in there but with the size of the pots and the general enclosure size, I cannot fit it in there. The bottom is pvc but its just green and I plan on drilling some holes into it for drainage purposes. Im also using the repti-sun 5.0 for my uvb lighting.

 

[panthercrazy]

The cage is 24"*12"*24" and it is for a 3 month old cham. Ill be going to the store here in a bit to get a new bulb and fake vine plants. I wanted to put my pothos in there but with the size of the pots and the general enclosure size, I cannot fit it in there. The bottom is pvc but its just green and I plan on drilling some holes into it for drainage purposes. Im also using the repti-sun 5.0 for my uvb lighting.

Good stuff! Any chance you can root some of your pothos in one of the pots in cage now, especially if you have some nice long vines pieces already on the pothos. You can then drape through your branches where you need to fill in some space.

As for the heat bulb, a regular 40-60 w house bulb will work. Just need to adjust until you get the right temps.

 

[Ferdinand]

Ok, will do. Thanks for all your help guys. Im going to go work on improving it a little. Please continue with the critique.

 

[Ferdinand]

Is there such a thing as having to many vines and branches and plants in one's enclosures? What is the best plant to enclosure ratio for a 24 inch by 12inch by 24inch cage?

 

[djfunkshowkid]

Pothos are very low profile, yet create LOTS of hiding spaces and vines for your lil critter to play around in.

 

[Docility]

how much is too much? well here is my answer you want to replicate their environment so twords the top kinda sparse so he can soak up max amount if UVB, and then continue down into the natural lush canopy then at the bottom again there wont be much because most plants wont grow due to the canopy block in light. i have a crap ton of stuff. just make sure its not so thick you cant maneuver your hand around in their semi easy