DIY enclosure question

[bdwilson]

I've been researching chameleon care for a while and plan to get a panther cham this summer. I want to build my own cage and have seen other projects where they use aluminum screen or 1/4" hardware cloth. I already have some plastic coated 1/2" hardware cloth, other than prey insects being able to get out, anyone see any problems with using 1/2". I plan to cup feed so escaping insects shouldn't be a problem. And if a few get loose it's no big deal, I plan to house the cham in my fishroom.
Thanks for your responses in advance.

 

[PardalisGirl]

There will be strays...........

You will have crickets escape the cup during feeding. Chams will often zap the cup and get more than one cricket. Sometimes one of the two will get away. Or it can be an incomplete zap that gets the cricket out of the cup but allows it to drop to the cage bottom. Crickets can squeeze through openings that are smaller than their body size. I have dedicated cham rooms in the house. Adult crickets are able to squeeze through 1/4" tiny gaps between the carpet and the baseboard. Their bodies are soft and pliable.

If a cricket escapes a cage and I kill it if I find it. I never feed them out again. That is a precaution against spreading something from cage to cage. Stray crickets can also eat things that are toxic (or icky). I use a vacumn every morning to suck up any strays. My cats sometimes get them first. They usually just like playing with them though. I'd rather not have the cats eating them either. If it was fresh out of my bin I wouldn't worry. But the idea of the cricket eating dust bunnies or things behind the baseboards grosses me out!