DIY guide for the Ultimate Baby Chameleon Cage

[Seeco]

Hi I have just updated my blog with pics and a guide to build the best baby cage ever. Check it out:

https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/seeco/512-ultimate-cage-babies-hatchlings-neonates-pygmies-any-small-chameleon-part-1.html

In the guide I provide explanations about each feature. It is much more than a box with a bunch of branches and each one takes several hours to build but it is worth it in the long run.

 

[eisentrauti]

Depends on the species you breed. I doubt that you will have good success with raising Bradypodions with this cage. But for species which require higher humidity levels its definitly a good and cheap solution

 

[Seeco]

Well folks click all the pics. You will see the bottom is all screen. It dries out well between mistings.

 

[Ace]

I SAW THEM ALL< REALLY GREAT!!!!

i plan to use this definately, and a great set by step


you could add wher you got your supplies with an exact name, brand you use, but overall its awsome

 

[Seeco]

Depends on the species you breed. I doubt that you will have good success with raising Bradypodions with this cage.

Well you can just add a screen to the side I guess. What else would you need?

 

[Seeco]

I SAW THEM ALL< REALLY GREAT!!!!
i plan to use this definately, and a great set by step
you could add wher you got your supplies with an exact name, brand you use, but overall its awsome

Thanks Ace. Yeah I did have some at the show just not fully set up. The container is a rubbermaid roughneck. I have seen them at several Home Depot's. I guess the "guide" is really just a bunch of photos.

 

[suzi]

Well folks click all the pics. You will see the bottom is all screen. It dries out well between mistings.

The puddling on the bottom of the plastic is such a hassle- this is great!!! And the hardwood cloth for climbing is awesome, what a great idea!

 

[Seeco]

The puddling on the bottom of the plastic is such a hassle- this is great!!! And the hardwood cloth for climbing is awesome, what a great idea!

With my misting schedule it would be constantly swampy poop soup on the bottom if I did not have screen there.

 

[jdog1027]

I had a VERY large batch of baby Veileds hatch out this July, and I had a tough time with a few things. I've went back and forth from keeping some chameleons outside-some inside over the years. This batch I decide to give natural sunlight to. I have always stubbornly used screen cages-I'm very anal about it. I came home one day to find I had lost a huge portion of my babies to a Fireant invasion. The remaining ones started to drop out slowly. I finally moved them back inside and made some plastic bins for them, because me and forum member jrh3 made the determination that most of the tiny crickets were just slipping through the screen and escaping. Only the biggest, healthiest ones were getting fed, out competeing the smaller weaker ones. My luck has completely turned around and all remaining babies are doing great, and I think the main reason why is that the crickets can't slip through the screen and are picked off quickly. I try to wait until my crickets are big enough so that they can't slip out, but you always have a variety of size in a given batch.

My baby bins are very similar to these that Seeco has made, and yeah, it takes some time to make each one- I hate hot glue!!!!! Very time comsuming. However, due to the cricket escape problem, I did not make the entire bottom of the bins screen.

Hot glue will stick well to some material, and not to others. Some plastic will not allow hot glue to fuse to it, so I drill a series of holes around the perimeter of the lid and make what I call 'Hot Glue Rivets'. You just make sure the glue goes through to the other side, then I blow each side with great force while it is still soft until it flattens out, forming a min glue rivet. This keeps the glue from losing its hold on the plastic.

For drainage, I drilled several large holes about 1/2 to 5/8" in diameter and hot glued 2 pieces of aluminum screen over it to to allow good drainage, but to keep the crickets from escaping.

I cut 2 pieces of PVC pipe and set them over the rack and placed the bins propped up on them with the drain holes at the other end. This creates enough slope so that there is never any standing water in the bins. The screen does accumulate wastes and must be cleaned every 1-2 days in order to maintain maximum drainage. But my babies are doing a whole lot better in these cages.

And ever since having chameleons since 1997, I finally got my first bite from a psychotic female Veiled today. They have quite an impressive grip!!!

 

[Seeco]

Hot glue "rivets". That is an extremely good idea.

 

[CleaTheChameleon]

This is a great blog! Thanks for sharing! Will remember this for the future for sure.

 

[Seeco]

First off I would like all of you to please share your ideas here.

One more pic. I just want to compare this to the commonly seen wood skewer framework. This is easier and sturdier and your chameleons can just walk around each other instead of on top of each other when they meet head on. You do not even need to make this whole hinged structure you can just bend the mesh in a huge rectangle and stuff it in the cage.

 

[Zach Valois]

Seeco,

what kind of chameleons have you successfully raised in these setups?
I will be hatching out panthers soon and am debating on the best way to raise them. I am thinking I will raise fresh babies in tubs, then use my small screen cages for seperating groups, housing holdbacks, etc etc.

How might this method compare to the screameleons jug method (http://www.screameleons.com/site/3467/default.aspx)?

Thanks for sharing

 

[perry123]

Awesome Ideas

 

[Seeco]

Seeco,

what kind of chameleons have you successfully raised in these setups?
I will be hatching out panthers soon and am debating on the best way to raise them. I am thinking I will raise fresh babies in tubs, then use my small screen cages for seperating groups, housing holdbacks, etc etc.

How might this method compare to the screameleons jug method (http://www.screameleons.com/site/3467/default.aspx)?

Thanks for sharing

Hey, the jug method is great but I recommend using a Crystal Geyser gallon jug and cutting the whole bottom out in addition to one side and attaching screen with a hot glue gun or silicon. You can keep the 45 degree angle on the top of the jug and that will keep the babies in. Four hatchlings max in that method and only one after a month or two.

My blue cage will work for pardalis but you need to make the platform on the top more narrow or cut out some 2x2 squares from the mesh because they will not be able to squeeze through the gauge after about 2 months!

I think this approach is great for groups until you observe food stealing or aggression. Hatchlings you can keep 15 in there. By one month there should only be about 6 maximum. By 2 months 3-4. Solo you can keep a pardalis in there for maybe 5 months but you should probably transfer before then. As the cham gets bigger you need to empty the cage out more to free up space.

 

[jdog1027]

Seeco, do you have a problem with the feeders escaping through the screen bottom? I've never used plastic bins for chameleons because I've always been taught anything other than screen is a 'No-No', but I've definitely decide to use these with hatchlings now. The main reason I switched is because of the feeder escape issue. I know that you make the entire bottom of your's screen. This don't happen with your's?

 

[Seeco]

Well the charcoal colored screen is usually finer than the silver. Even with the charcoal, D. melanogaster can escape so you must wet the cage down to minimize escapes. D. hydei can not escape this screen ever but sometimes find a way out through the lid or somewhere but not many.

With the amount of misting I do I really need screen. I like several wet to dry cycles per day.

 

[Seeco]

bump for the new breeders here

 

[Mike Fisher]

I'm gonna give this a try. I might try using plastic mesh and zip ties instead of the coated wire because I already have a bunch of it and the coated wire is hard to find locally for some reason. Thanks Seeco!