DIY cage soon!!!!

[Veild Cham Owner]

Soo recently i have made a thread on getting a new cage for my 3 month old male Veiled chameleon and lots of people had told me he was WAY to small for his cage that he currently is in right now, which is what i was expecting. With all that i will be working on making a cage for him this weekend which i am wicked excited for doing. The current cage he is in is a (height x width x depth) 18in x 12in x 12in glass cage. What i will be making him is a 4ft x 3ft x 2 ft glass and screen cage. The general idea is me getting four strong wooden strip boards and fitting some screen inbetween it with a little door and some sort of draining system. I absolutely LOVE the idea of a screen cage but since i live in the northeast during the winter i feel that it will be way to cold for him in his cage,soo what i will be making is a cage with screen for it during the summer and somehow taking the screen out and replacing it with plexiglass, kinda like a two in one special lol. With on the side i will install some shelves where i can hold his crickets and dusting materials ext. . With me soon having him in this screen/ glass cage i have come yo some consequences. How do i keep the humidity at at least 50% and heat at least 80 (basking temp). One person mentioned putting over some sort of plastic sheet over the sides with screen, great i love it. I also have heard that keeping some live plants in there for him (it will keep up the humidity) but i don't know what plants are safe for him and where i can get them. Just at a local home depot? And also some decorating ideas if anyone has some suggestions to and of the questions comment down below please!!

i am generally trying to get it to look somewhat like this
(NOT MY VIDEO)

 

[pgr7]

You could cut a track or install some kind of track into the wood posts to slide precut acrylic in and out of each side as needed screens too,just buy a window screen kit from local home store and assemble screen to needed size and done

 

[Veild Cham Owner]

You could cut a track or install some kind of track into the wood posts to slide precut acrylic in and out of each side as needed screens too,just buy a window screen kit from local home store and assemble screen to needed size and done

that is actually exactly what i was think of, and thank you for the window idea, thank you!!

 

[pgr7]

Absolutely, you can also still make the screens like I said but use the picture/mirror wall mount holders that are clear plastic attach to the wood you can loosen them to swap between screens and solid sides. This is how I did mine and seems to be working well (knock on wood )

 

[Veild Cham Owner]

Absolutely, you can also still make the screens like I said but use the picture/mirror wall mount holders that are clear plastic attach to the wood you can loosen them to swap between screens and solid sides. This is how I did mine and seems to be working well (knock on wood )

yes i can see it from your profile picture. thanks fro the advice! Do u have live plants in there? if so what kinda do u use and what kinda are safe?

 

[pgr7]

The profile pic still has all screen in it,I spent the weekend redoing those
I have a hibiscus and croton plant in there and a small palm (very small)

 

[Veild Cham Owner]

The profile pic still has all screen in it,I spent the weekend redoing those
I have a hibiscus and croton plant in there and a small palm (very small)

Ok I will look into thoes thanks for the info agian!!

 

[oneillchameleons]

That's great! your little guy will appreciate the room. I'd reconsider using glass and go with all screen. It's FAR easier to raise humidity than it is to lower it (while still keeping your Cham properly hydrated) and you can always cut a piece of thick plastic or plexiglass to cover some of the screen if needed. Just gives you more options. As I said before I live in northern Canada and I guarantee it gets drier and colder here in the winter, and I still prefer the options that all screen cages give you. Also avoid the croton plant, it's listed on the toxic list. Umbrella plant or pothos are the best choices, and while hibiscus are great they are very hard to keep alive in the enclosures.

Edit: sorry just noticed pgr7 mentioned this above

 

[Veild Cham Owner]

That's great! your little guy will appreciate the room. I'd reconsider using glass and go with all screen. It's FAR easier to raise humidity than it is to lower it (while still keeping your Cham properly hydrated) and you can always cut a piece of thick plastic or plexiglass to cover some of the screen if needed. Just gives you more options. As I said before I live in northern Canada and I guarantee it gets drier and colder here in the winter, and I still prefer the options that all screen cages give you. Also avoid the croton plant, it's listed on the toxic list. Umbrella plant or pothos are the best choices, and while hibiscus are great they are very hard to keep alive in the enclosures.

Edit: sorry just noticed pgr7 mentioned this above

ok thank you very much, where do u think i could get them? Also i have idea width putting sticks across the cage ( I will upload pics ), where I could I also get thoes just from outside from my back yard or do they sell them somewhere?

 

[hkitchen]

You can definitely get sticks from outside but make sure you clean them with a bleach water solution or bake them to kill off any outside bugs and such. I bake mine at 350 for about an hour or so. That is definitely cheaper than buying sticks, although my setup also has dowels bought from the hardware store that I cut down to the length needed. Same with the pothos plant, got mine at Lowe's and they will generally have the umbrella plant when it comes in to season.

 

[Veild Cham Owner]

You can definitely get sticks from outside but make sure you clean them with a bleach water solution or bake them to kill off any outside bugs and such. I bake mine at 350 for about an hour or so. That is definitely cheaper than buying sticks, although my setup also has dowels bought from the hardware store that I cut down to the length needed. Same with the pothos plant, got mine at Lowe's and they will generally have the umbrella plant when it comes in to season.

ok yes thank you! i just finished collecting sticks and i will bleach them and bake them next weekend when the cage is finished. Will it rot tho because of the water always on it?