Carpet Kingdom (Enclosure Overkill)

[Brassaxe]

This is my female carpet chameleons current cage. Its a bit overkill but I like to experiment so this is what I ended up with after many many different ways to keep lizards.

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From left to right there are 7 plants. Speckled Croton, Fittonia, Dwarf Umbrella Tree, Pothos, Malabar Chestnut, Anne Marie Ivy (The only plant i'm not sure about), and another Speckled Croton.

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The bottom part is a 75 gallon aquarium and the top is a home made screened enclose where the whole front hinges up. The screen part is also entirely removable so I can clean the tank and leave the chameleon in the screen part on a table. The chameleon can freely walk between the two parts, but not get out.

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The tank is misted three times a day. Once in the morning for about 20 seconds, then twice more for 7 or ten minutes each time. Every day has a different time setting. The mist system is super simple to maintain. The water comes from a RO/DI filtration system in the basement. I pull off the water before the deionization so I just get RO water. It comes up to the first floor in the house through about 70 feet of 1/4" pipe. At that length the water comes out very slow. So under the tank there is a 4 gallon pressure reservoir. Even though the water comes in slow it will pressurize the tank to 50 Psi over enough time. Then the misting system is just controlled via a solenoid to release the water at the specified times. I never have to fill buckets and never have any pumps to power or hear. It's completely silent and works 100% of the time for the past few years. The only change i'm considering is to add a dripper system. The misters are in the middle of the tank and only mist the bottom half. I would like to give her more opportunity to get water. But this increases the amount of drainage water by about 3x..

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The drainage for the tank is pretty basic. Two drains in either back corner of the tank that drain into a 5 gallon bucket. I don't use any substrate in the tank. In this tank it's not necessary.

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There are 9 lights on the tank in a custom made canopy type hood with opaque sides. Not all the lights are necessary mind you.. From left to right a full spectrum 90w equivalent LED spot/flood light, 4w UVA, 25w UVB, 4w UVA, 25w UVB, 4w UVA, and a 90w So-Lux daylight replicating light (Also acts as the heat lamp) Overall the light around the tank can seem like either full noon summer sun or springtime overcast equivalent intensity. Its hard to tell from the picture but the light varies quite nicely around the tank.

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Then there is a 15w reptisun UVB. I use this one because the other UVBs are older one from another cage and far away from the chameleon so the don't give a lot of UVB. This is kind of a convenient way to not have to buy regular bulbs and use up some older but still good UVB's. There is also a full spectum CFL under the tank that lights it from below. I put it in just because it makes the plants look nicer. It also might give my chameleon a greater sense of height because she can see farther down, but I dunno.

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I feed here Dubia beetles most often and I made a little dish with a stick so she can eat whenever she likes without the beetles getting out.

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The tank is monitored by an Extech RH520. It helps me watch what the tank does over the coarse of a day of whatever time length I program. I move the probe around the tank and it's pretty helpful.

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And here is the only inhabitant of that tank.

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The bottom of the tank stays at about 72f and the humidity goes from 60-85% humidity. The top screen part stays around 60% humidity and anywhere from 72f to 90f or probably just over 100f if she hangs on the top screen under the heat lamp. Most of the time she regulates her temperature rather well. She's always active and running around. She spends most of the mid day roaming the middle of the cage and the end she just warms herself and walks around the top. I know its a bit overkill but she is incredibly happy since I moved her out of he old 18"x18"x24" cage.

 

[Brassaxe]

I did end up adding a dripper. It's automatic and is refilled when the misters go off. She seems to have needed it as she immediately used it. She used to get direct water from the misting but since the mister heads are now lower I think this will be necessary. (Or at least more convenient for her..)

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[ChameleonUES]

Awesome!
I have a spare tank, that I wanna turn into something for a dwarf jackson`s.
Do you recommend using a tank? or would you think a standard screen cage works best?

 

[maya2]

Kingdom is right!
That little queen is ready for her royal subjects

 

[Brassaxe]

Awesome!
I have a spare tank, that I wanna turn into something for a dwarf jackson`s.
Do you recommend using a tank? or would you think a standard screen cage works best?

Each cage has to be tailored for it's own conditions. I personally like all glass cages because I can control the environment better. But they need a drain and they Need fresh air. This is Especially true for aquariums.. You really need to get the whole enclosure nearly dry before each misting. Mine has a tiny computer fan which keeps the humidity very stable. It helps drop off the huge humidity spike that you get right after you mist, then it stays at about 80% humidity until all the water dries up. If you have something to measure humidity accurately (most cheap store bought gauges aren't accurate) and you have some DIY skills, glass is much more controllable. If you just want an enclosure and don't want to invest a lot, then screen cages work just fine.

My take on the whole Glass vs Screen.. Just make sure the enclosure is interesting, clean and comfortable for your chameleon.

 

[Brassaxe]

Kingdom is right!
That little queen is ready for her royal subjects

If here royal subjects are the poor helpless beetles in the cage then she has sentenced seven of them to death just today.. She must be preparing to lay eggs and increase the size of the royal family..

 

[Action Jackson]

Wow. Great post. Well thought out and clean. I like it.

 

[Brassaxe]

Wow. Great post. Well thought out and clean. I like it.

Thank you! Even though it's a big setup I probably only spend 15 minutes cleaning it a week. Dumping the drain bucket every few days and rinsing off the plants on the weekend, which by default washes away all the crud on the bottom of the cage. Maybe a quick wash of vinegar or citric acid on the bottom when needed.

 

[MsCham]

You already know I idolize your set ups - but this post is just

If I had money, and space, and a house... *university student envy*

 

[Brassaxe]

You already know I idolize your set ups - but this post is just

If I had money, and space, and a house... *university student envy*

If I were to give an all in amount of money for something this big it's probably over $1,200 . But a lot of this stuff was the end result of years worth of experimenting on other tanks, other setups.. So the money was spread out. Honestly everyone could do this. It's not anything special, just keep trying new ideas and use equipment thats not meant for a single purpose. Things like a monsoon system or other niche things kinda back you into a corner. 80% of the stuff on that tank is from a home improvement store. Even the chameleon, she was in isle 3.. Well maybe not.. Anyway, start experimenting now.. So many cool things to try..