Critique My Enclosure

[Brad Ramsey]

Here's a bad picture ... the enclosures have never looked better or provided as much security and humidity for my chameleons.
I have this arrangement now for montium, deremensis, xantholophus and calyptratus. The pygmies are in glass and the cristatus is in 1/2 glass.
I would consider keeping some of the other montanes in glass terrariums like the exoterra ... but I don't have anymore right now.

Great work on your enclosure Linkin!

-Brad

 

[Chase]

Here's a bad picture ... the enclosures have never looked better or provided as much security and humidity for my chameleons.
I have this arrangement now for montium, deremensis, xantholophus and calyptratus. The pygmies are in glass and the cristatus is in 1/2 glass.
I would consider keeping some of the other montanes in glass terrariums like the exoterra ... but I don't have anymore right now.

Great work on your enclosure Linkin!

-Brad

Thanks! And your enclosures look good! Do you have all of them near each other? Or are the Veileds in a different room?

LPR08

 

[Brad Ramsey]

That is all of them.

-Brad

 

[Chase]

That is all of them.

-Brad

How is regulating the montanes with the the Veileds? I have my Jackson near my Veiled, and it seems the humidity is higher for the Veiled is higher, but temps are still fairly easy to keep at the level they need to be at. Just wondering your experiences though.

 

[Brad Ramsey]

The room has a tiled floor and I use a space heater to keep the ambient temp at about 70 in the day and 62 at night.
Obviously it is warmer higher up in the room. Veileds and a couple of the montanes are on higher shelves, the rest of the montanes are on lower (ground level) shelves.
Each enclosure is a micro habitat with different wattage basking lamps or no basking lamp.
Misting happens two to three times per day. In each enclosure, whether high or low, I have been able to create a decent temperature gradient.

-Brad

 

[Courtney]

i understand where you want to make a living viv how ever i would just use poted plants ontop of papertowels get a repti fogger and clean it out often....depending on your exp with a living viv plants die mould etc really fast unless you know what your doing...also a heat pad on the bottom should you choose to continue to do the living viv would help with excess moisture build up...when crix dies in the living viv it can also creat a problem look at my https://www.chameleonforums.com/pic-heavy-panthers-baby-sub-adult-35682/ second page of my exoterra SET UP i have done the living in the same enclosure for a senegal and it was a pain in the ass the 2 times i had "fuzz" growing in the hydroton/rocks etc...i also had a pacman living in the bottom to eat excess crix...im not saying you shouldnt do it but perhaps get one thriving working out all the kinks before puting an animal into it...it would have saved me alot of money and back breaking work had i done so as well...the exoterras do get great vaccume ventalation...when i turn my fogger all the way up i see fresh air come in from the top and lowr stagnet air out ofthe fron vents also the small crack around the door create air flow as well....maybe ill hand somethig black around my exo terra and video the air flow...good luck dont let anyone discourage you....ill try to get that video up

 

[Brad Ramsey]

i understand where you want to make a living viv how ever i would just use poted plants ontop of papertowels get a repti fogger and clean it out often....depending on your exp with a living viv plants die mould etc really fast unless you know what your doing...also a heat pad on the bottom should you choose to continue to do the living viv would help with excess moisture build up...when crix dies in the living viv it can also creat a problem look at my https://www.chameleonforums.com/pic-heavy-panthers-baby-sub-adult-35682/ second page of my exoterra SET UP i have done the living in the same enclosure for a senegal and it was a pain in the ass the 2 times i had "fuzz" growing in the hydroton/rocks etc...i also had a pacman living in the bottom to eat excess crix...im not saying you shouldnt do it but perhaps get one thriving working out all the kinks before puting an animal into it...it would have saved me alot of money and back breaking work had i done so as well...the exoterras do get great vaccume ventalation...when i turn my fogger all the way up i see fresh air come in from the top and lowr stagnet air out ofthe fron vents also the small crack around the door create air flow as well....maybe ill hand somethig black around my exo terra and video the air flow...good luck dont let anyone discourage you....ill try to get that video up

A couple of pretty bad ideas in the advice given by Courtney:
A Pacman frog? Springtails will do a great job of cleaning waste, dead feeders, etc and won't eat your chameleon.
Heating pad? Not a great idea for any chameleon enclosure ... especially one that will house montanes.

Linkin, you have a great set-up for this project add some branches like Chris suggested and you are good to go.

-Brad

 

[Todnedo]

i understand where you want to make a living viv how ever i would just use poted plants ontop of papertowels get a repti fogger and clean it out often....depending on your exp with a living viv plants die mould etc really fast unless you know what your doing...also a heat pad on the bottom should you choose to continue to do the living viv would help with excess moisture build up...when crix dies in the living viv it can also creat a problem look at my https://www.chameleonforums.com/pic-heavy-panthers-baby-sub-adult-35682/ second page of my exoterra SET UP i have done the living in the same enclosure for a senegal and it was a pain in the ass the 2 times i had "fuzz" growing in the hydroton/rocks etc...i also had a pacman living in the bottom to eat excess crix...im not saying you shouldnt do it but perhaps get one thriving working out all the kinks before puting an animal into it...it would have saved me alot of money and back breaking work had i done so as well...the exoterras do get great vaccume ventalation...when i turn my fogger all the way up i see fresh air come in from the top and lowr stagnet air out ofthe fron vents also the small crack around the door create air flow as well....maybe ill hand somethig black around my exo terra and video the air flow...good luck dont let anyone discourage you....ill try to get at that video up

A heating pad on the bottom of a wet cage? Wow that sounds very dangerous. Even if it wasn't an electrical hazard, it would boost bacteria growth.

 

[Courtney]

A couple of pretty bad ideas in the advice given by Courtney:
A Pacman frog? Springtails will do a great job of cleaning waste, dead feeders, etc and won't eat your chameleon.
Heating pad? Not a great idea for any chameleon enclosure ... especially one that will house montanes.

Linkin, you have a great set-up for this project add some branches like Chris suggested and you are good to go.

-Brad

pac man frog was the size of a quarter...he was eateing the touusands of pin head crix that were destroying my plant

heat pad i was in georgia and it was winter my house was old and would get cold and drafty the bottom would stay so cold that my plants were suffering from it and the large amount of condinsation building up because of the cold caused mould to build up twice within 3 weeks.. i bough a$15 dollar under tank heater for reptriles that barely put out any heat but just enough to keep the ground from being like cold mud concidering after puting it there its been a year since it was cleaned out plants are fine and no mould....i know the frog wasnt a great idea but alot of things arent great ideas but they work for some people...cham never noticed the frog and vice versan i dont advise on doing so

also not everyone knows what a spring tail is ill look it up any way

just curious chris...dou you ever have more than 3 nice words to say to anyone or are you always so crucial to people....i understand the reasoning behind it but your the Dr. House of the forum...im not trying to be disrespectful in any way....also the experiences i mentiond were then and this is now they were just ideas that worked for me, where i was located and what i had going on...i have to say for an in experienced cham owner i didnt do bad at all....i didnt have this network of peple to help me nor did i have the resources to find this forum i was in the middle of no wheresville deer looking in my bedroom windows kinda thing no internet or cable the house hadnt been updated in that aspect....i like you alot chris but damn your harsh id love to see how nice you could be ohh wait i have when you sell the cages you build!!!!!!! great prices man

 

[tkilgour]

A couple of pretty bad ideas in the advice given by Courtney:
A Pacman frog? Springtails will do a great job of cleaning waste, dead feeders, etc and won't eat your chameleon.
Heating pad? Not a great idea for any chameleon enclosure ... especially one that will house montanes.

Linkin, you have a great set-up for this project add some branches like Chris suggested and you are good to go.

-Brad

springtails are a good idea. I didn't think of them for that solution. What about Isopods? I know they do the same thing are they safe in a planted viv. for chameleons?

 

[Chase]

I'll look into the Springtails, and putting some sticks in the enclosure to finish it. Thanks for the tips guys!

 

[Courtney]

A heating pad on the bottom of a wet cage? Wow that sounds very dangerous. Even if it wasn't an electrical hazard, it would boost bacteria growth.

it goes on the underside.....not in the viv and it didnt produce much heat like other heat emiters...

 

[Brad Ramsey]

springtails are a good idea. I didn't think of them for that solution. What about Isopods? I know they do the same thing are they safe in a planted viv. for chameleons?

Absolutely.
I utilize them as well.

-Brad

 

[Chase]

Absolutely.
I utilize them as well.

-Brad

Where did you get yours?

 

[Brad Ramsey]

isopods?
In the garden under rocks and logs.
Josh's frogs should have springtails.

-Brad

 

[Todnedo]

it goes on the underside.....not in the viv and it didnt produce much heat like other heat emiters...

Oh you said on the bottom when you meant under the bottom. gottcha

 

[rcmike]

I only have potted plants in my veiled enclosures purely because it is easier for me to clean due to the large amount of waste they produce. I recently made a pygmy enclosure and it well planted with soil. I would think if you want to have soil for other chams you just need to keep an eye on them to make sure they aren't eating it excessively.

I do kinda see what Chris is saying. I have went through the same thing on reef forums and a seahorse forum I was on. Some people go to extremes to sterilize the environment of the seahorses especially. I remember one case where someone posted a picture of a flatworm they found in their tank and asked what it was. It was a harmless type that really just feeds on copepods and don't overrun the tank like some flatworms. They were promptly told they needed to tear down the tank and basically bleach the tank and all the rocks to kill any of them. Of course then you would have to cycle the tank again and put the seahorses in another tank in the meantime. Sounds a lot more stressful to the animals to me.

One thing we shouldn't forget is these animals come from outside where there are sticks that haven't been baked in an oven, there are poisonous insects to eat, there is dirt on the ground, etc.

 

[Chris Anderson]

Pssh - The point is that your lack of experience with raising babies, let alone montane babies, makes you fail to recognize the intricacies associated with their care. As a result, your good intentioned recommendation is no longer a benefit but a hinderance to everyone, particularly those that don't already know that they should take what you say about these topics as a grain of salt. You may think its insulting but its true, you shouldn't be giving advice on things you are clueless about.

Baby Jackson's chameleons are no more prone to impaction then pygmy chameleons which we recommend for fully planted enclosures all the time and do great in them. Chameleons do come across soil in the wild and amazingly enough they haven't gone extinct. Well cared for chameleons should not ingest a significant amount of soil and the small amount they may ingest during feeding should pass fine.

Regarding the height of the enclosure, the two inches lost by the soil is an inconsequential height difference. The benefit of the soil is far outweighed by the loss of 2" of height.

just curious chris...dou you ever have more than 3 nice words to say to anyone or are you always so crucial to people....

'Tis a rare event that some believe could trigger the end of the world, but a couple fortunate people have witnessed such a moment. I think the word you were looking for was "critical", though

In all seriousness, I simply have no tolerance for people who make things up and give bad advice on topics they don't know a thing about. Its a plague on this forum! It endangers people's animals and the last thing I ever plan to do is encourage it.

The errors in some of what you brought up, Courtney, have already been outlined so I'll save us both time and simply let you know that adding a charcoal layer and establishing a springtail colony will help eliminate fungus issues in the soil. The last thing you want to do with baby montanes, however, is add additional heat form an under tank heater and pacman frogs don't make for good cage mates.

your the Dr. House of the forum...

I like that, I may have to talk to Brad about letting me use that as my user title, kind of like Kent's "Advocatus diaboli" and Tyler's "Right Wing Extremist".

Chris

 

[Courtney]

Im very glad you didnt take that the wrong way...its a good thing....some people are just nasty and i admit i can be.....YOU ROCK!!!!

 

[Lizardlover]

I am all for natural enclosures but with organic soil is there not a risk of parasites and other nasties from the soil? I know it can be baked but that kills some of the good stuff plants need doesn't it?