Chameleon Outdoor Cage

[CAMTHECHAM]

Hey guys,

Just have a question on making an outdoor cage for my panther chameleon...

I am wondering if i put a cage under my patio (which is in the shade except for a couple hours of the day during summer) that has a acrylic front (for clarity) and screen sides. I live in Southern California so it does not get to cold during winter but can get a little hot during the summer months...

I am planning of putting a timer for the lights but for the heat light also hooked up to a thermostat so if the temperature gets to hot the heat lamp can turn off and if it gets to cold it can turn on.

Will this work? It gets down to about 40 degrees at the coldest during about 2 weeks of winter and about 100 at the VERY most during summer...

Thanks!
-CAMTHECHAM
_________________________________________
1.0.0 Ambilobe

 

[Carlton]

Hey guys,

Just have a question on making an outdoor cage for my panther chameleon...

I am wondering if i put a cage under my patio (which is in the shade except for a couple hours of the day during summer) that has a acrylic front (for clarity) and screen sides. I live in Southern California so it does not get to cold during winter but can get a little hot during the summer months...

I am planning of putting a timer for the lights but for the heat light also hooked up to a thermostat so if the temperature gets to hot the heat lamp can turn off and if it gets to cold it can turn on.

Will this work? It gets down to about 40 degrees at the coldest during about 2 weeks of winter and about 100 at the VERY most during summer...

Thanks!
-CAMTHECHAM
_________________________________________
1.0.0 Ambilobe

Just a few things to consider:

So, as your patio does not get much sun every day were you planning to use a UBV light as well as a basking light?

During the hottest times you may still need to bring your cham indoors. 100F is pretty hot for them if they don't have a cooler more humid place to retreat to. What is the humidity level on the patio at each season? Might get too dry. 40F is pretty cold for a cham even at night, so again you may end up bringing him indoors. Either make your cage moveable or have 2 setups-indoor and outdoor.

If you use a thermostat to control your basking light what will prevent it turning itself on at night? You won't want that.

 

[CAMTHECHAM]

Just a few things to consider:

So, as your patio does not get much sun every day were you planning to use a UBV light as well as a basking light?

During the hottest times you may still need to bring your cham indoors. 100F is pretty hot for them if they don't have a cooler more humid place to retreat to. What is the humidity level on the patio at each season? Might get too dry. 40F is pretty cold for a cham even at night, so again you may end up bringing him indoors. Either make your cage moveable or have 2 setups-indoor and outdoor.

If you use a thermostat to control your basking light what will prevent it turning itself on at night? You won't want that.

So What i'm planning is to use the uvb light and the basking light. (the primary reason for it being outdoors is to have a bigger cage.)

I was thinking for heat reasons that i would provide a big ficus tree as well as several other places where he can hide form the heat. I am actually going to have an automatic mister misting every hour for a bout 3 minutes to keep his humidity correct and hopefully bring the temp down...

As for the cold months i was going to get a ceramic heat bulb for at night time so that he has a warmer cage at night but will not have a bright light shining in his face

I was also going to have a timer hooked up before the thermostat to not let the light turn on at night.

Is it still a good idea to have a glass front but have screen sides to let the heat out?

Thanks again!

 

[Carlton]

So What i'm planning is to use the uvb light and the basking light. (the primary reason for it being outdoors is to have a bigger cage.)

I was thinking for heat reasons that i would provide a big ficus tree as well as several other places where he can hide form the heat. I am actually going to have an automatic mister misting every hour for a bout 3 minutes to keep his humidity correct and hopefully bring the temp down...

As for the cold months i was going to get a ceramic heat bulb for at night time so that he has a warmer cage at night but will not have a bright light shining in his face

I was also going to have a timer hooked up before the thermostat to not let the light turn on at night.

Is it still a good idea to have a glass front but have screen sides to let the heat out?

Thanks again!

An all screen cage can be easily modified to hold in or let out heat and humidity by season. And, if your cage is going to be large the screen will be less expensive to build. But, you could use a glass front if you want to.