Drainage

[So Pirate55]

For those of you who have these cages with the pvc/plastic bottoms, how do you drain the water out? My first thought would be to drill holes to allow to drop to a pan below, but i've seen many with drains. So that leads to my next question. If you start with a flat bottom enclosure, how do you get the water to move to the drain without causing an plants to slide around on the inside? i guess the weight of the pot and soil would hold it in place. I've also seen cages made out of utility sinks which i thought was pretty cool, but not for a "for everyone to see" cage, imo.

I've searched the threads and found several really creative ways of draining water, but i was just wondering which seems to be the most effective. also, sorry about a lot of rather rookie questions, i swear i do know where the search feature is, it's just that seeing a lot of methods(not just drainage) at once can be sorta confusing.

 

[SierraNevada]

Do you have that much water collecting on the bottom? I trimmed the bottom pvc with L-shaped wood trim and aquarium silicon. It keeps the water in, and if it doesnt' dry out enough, I just paper towel the excess.

 

[dodolah]

Do you have that much water collecting on the bottom? I trimmed the bottom pvc with L-shaped wood trim and aquarium silicon. It keeps the water in, and if it doesnt' dry out enough, I just paper towel the excess.

whoa.. how is it possible?

I used an automister (and i programmed it 4 times a day, 5 minutes session adn they are 3+ hours apart -7am 10am 1pm 5pm-)
i'm tellin ya.. that misting system can squirt a huge amount of water in 5 minutes. even without the hole on my pvc, the water just drips put of the cage
I use 3 small container to catch the water so that it won't wet my carpet.

Do you use less water or something? or the misting mostly done by the humidifier?

 

[So Pirate55]

Do you have that much water collecting on the bottom? I trimmed the bottom pvc with L-shaped wood trim and aquarium silicon. It keeps the water in, and if it doesnt' dry out enough, I just paper towel the excess.

na, no cham yet. I'm a huge stickler for not rushing into something before covering all the bases first. I havent even gotten a chameleon and i'm already planning for the adult sized cage. I want a panther, and there's no way i'm gonna invest that much money into something without having everything up and operating long before i bring him home. i may be crazy in trying to solve a problem before it shows up but i'd much rather have a game plan for it when it happens or better yet prevent it all together.

 

[Dan]

Im in the same boat...

I have a 4month old panther, and I am in the process of setting up a larger cage for him to move him in, in about a month. I got everything figured out except the drainage. Right now in my small cage I have a drip system, and I hand spray 2-3 times a day. The hand spraying doesnt produce that much water, but the dripping does.

I first thought of letting them drip into the soil of my plants, so I wouldn't have to water, but it over watered the plants. Now I have it set up, so I have small Tupperware in the bottom of the cage with screen over it. The water drips through the leaves and into the tupperware. The screen is to keep the crickets from downing in the water, as well as the chams. There are two problems with this method though. The first being that I have to empty the tupperware at least 2-3 times a day, which can be hard if you are a full time student, and you work. The second problem is that when the dripper drips, it doesn't go straight down into the collecting tupperware. It follows the branches and plants and may end up dripping and puddling up on the opposite side of the cage.

I am working on setting up the larger cage as I said, I want to still have a dripper. and I am thinking of getting a mister. But with that much water, I need a good to way to drain the bottom of the cage. My larger cage is a aluminumn framed screen cage, with a hard, flat bottom.

Going along with the original thread question...what is the best way to drain all that excess water in a way that is efficient, looks nice, and doesn't cost a ton?

 

[arosstyler]

After years of throwing money away and testing Ihave finally dialed in a system that works for me.

1) Tall cage... like at least 48" tall (deal is the farther the mist has to fall the more stuff that can be put in it's path and the less that will accumulate on the solid bottom).
2) Full plants (create a "canopy" by using plants, I have a very full shefflera and a ficus that is full enough to make a canopy of sorts in the 2/3 area of the cage).
- I will explain a bit more Bottom 1/3 area is pots for plans and plant trunks with some climbing vines. Middle 2/3 area is the "canopy" of plant leaves. Top 3/3 area is the rest of the vines some of the tallest plant leaves, basking area etc.
3) A high PSI pump and micro fine BRASS fogging nozzels. ProMist sells parts that meet this in there kits. I use a ProMist pump, Mist king fittings and Nozzels from www.cloudtops.com.
- If the mist is finer and coming out at a higher PSI your flow rate can drop (again the plastic nozzel heads can not do this you need BRASS and the standard cheapo pump at 80 PSI will not cut it either.
- This way you can run the mist for 5 mis and it will hang in the air longer.
4) Plants catch the mist... (if you follow the above setup the "canopy" will catch most of the mist and the plant pots the rest.
5) Bath towels at the bottom... so for what ever mist drips from the plants the towels soak up and keep the humidity up in the cage. These towels MUST be changed daily for fear of mold. They will not be soping wet which is great because of the steps above.
6) A 5 min mist every 3 hours or so. I set it up for 5 mins 4 times during the day and never have run off or drainage issues.

Bottom line for me is light airy fog mist and a plant canopy = no drainage system needed

If anyone wants specs on the exact nozzel part numbers or pics of how I frankenstein rigged them into mistking fittings let me know.

Later
Ross

 

[lonomac]

I drilled a 2 1/2 hole in the center, put a screen filter over the hole. Also use cauking around the edges so the wate4r doesn't seep out the sides. The water then goes through the hole, through a funnel and into a bucket.

 

[SierraNevada]

whoa.. how is it possible?

I used an automister (and i programmed it 4 times a day, 5 minutes session adn they are 3+ hours apart -7am 10am 1pm 5pm-)
i'm tellin ya.. that misting system can squirt a huge amount of water in 5 minutes. even without the hole on my pvc, the water just drips put of the cage
I use 3 small container to catch the water so that it won't wet my carpet.

Do you use less water or something? or the misting mostly done by the humidifier?

What is the purpose of 5 minutes of spraying water 4 times a day? Humidity? Drinking water?

These guys aren't aquatic...it doesn't rain that much in the wild anywhere in the world...and they also get moisture from their prey.

If you want humidity...then get a humidifier. Water problem solved.

If it's drinking water...then a spray which wets the leaves enough to form dropletts is enough...it doesn't take 5 minutes to accomplish this. You guys with that much water collecting at the bottom are using too much water.

The reason they are in a screen cage is defeated when they are soaked in water all day long. And I agree with the guy who said you need a canopy...if you have a bushy ficus...most of your water will collect on leaves and not run down to the bottom.

Just my opinion...

 

[dodolah]

What is the purpose of 5 minutes of spraying water 4 times a day? Humidity? Drinking water?

These guys aren't aquatic...it doesn't rain that much in the wild anywhere in the world...and they also get moisture from their prey.

If you want humidity...then get a humidifier. Water problem solved.

If it's drinking water...then a spray which wets the leaves enough to form dropletts is enough...it doesn't take 5 minutes to accomplish this. You guys with that much water collecting at the bottom are using too much water.

The reason they are in a screen cage is defeated when they are soaked in water all day long. And I agree with the guy who said you need a canopy...if you have a bushy ficus...most of your water will collect on leaves and not run down to the bottom.

Just my opinion...

that 3 hours in between is enough to allow drying for the plant.
But the floor will still be wet.
Even with that misting, the highest humidity i have ever get is 70%.
and he does often go to the misting nozzle and stay there and drink directly from the droplets that fall in his mouth.

Long time ago, i allow only 2 misting by 5 minutes.
and he got dehydrated fast.
That is why i increased the misting session to 4 times a day.
ever since he has no longer develop dehydration.

Some members actually have their misting system runs for 30 minutes.
twice a day.
o.. i also do not use li'l dripper anymore.

 

[Dave Weldon]

Howdy,

Drainage:

http://www.chameleonnews.com/watering.html

I like 15-20 minutes at 8am and 15-20 minutes at 2pm. The length of time is to trigger the sometimes delayed drinking process. I've found mine sometimes wait 10-15 minutes and then start drinking right under the heaviest part of the misty/drippy water.

 

[bg77]

I have a PVC bottom in my cages. I thought about this very thing for a long time and came up with my design. I use some pvc w/threads. I used a combination of regular PVC and the PVC pipe stuff that goes under sinks. It is hard to explain , but use you imagination. I do have a pic. of it in my galery. Once it is all done I just put it in screw it down. The purpose of having it threaded was so that when tight it would bow the middle of the cage for the water to drain out. It works awesome. I will try to get some better pics, soon.

 

[SierraNevada]

that 3 hours in between is enough to allow drying for the plant.
But the floor will still be wet.
Even with that misting, the highest humidity i have ever get is 70%.
and he does often go to the misting nozzle and stay there and drink directly from the droplets that fall in his mouth.

Long time ago, i allow only 2 misting by 5 minutes.
and he got dehydrated fast.
That is why i increased the misting session to 4 times a day.
ever since he has no longer develop dehydration.

Some members actually have their misting system runs for 30 minutes.
twice a day.
o.. i also do not use li'l dripper anymore.

I guess there are two schools of thought on this subject. Some on here mist for long periods of time and swear by it.

Personally...I don't think it's necessary and I explain why in other threads.

 

[So Pirate55]

normally, i'd put a bulkhead in, screen it over and plumb it the rest of the way out. However, i really dont think that the water will get deep enough to make it over the lip. oh well, when i get my cage, i'll make a final decision. thanks for the replies.

 

[Justin Carl]

personally when it comes to misting I'm 3 times a day and it takes about a min. each time. the rest of the day i have a dripper going. I havent had a problem yet.

 

[HiroProtagonist]

frame in the bottom of your cage so that the flat piece (in my case .220 thick plexiglass) slopes toward one corner. Don't make your slope so steep that the plants slide, but only a slight slope is needed so it won't be a problem. Drill a few small holes (or one large hole covered with screen) in your low corner. Then set a bucket underneath or a funnel that pipes the water outside and voila! drainage isn't a problem.

Also, if you've got a schaefllera in there you probably don't want to let it soak up all the spray/drips (they don't like being wet ALL the time), so you could put an E-collar around the top of the pot to deflect most of the water...otherwise that plant could keel over on you out of nowhere... Plus, root rot stinks...and nobody wants that.

 

[Todnedo]

My panthers hate getting wet so I run the misters for a minute or two just enough to get the leaves wet. 3 or 4 times a day.
I have a fan blowing on the bottom of the cage to evaporate the water.
Works well.

 

[bg77]

normally, i'd put a bulkhead in, screen it over and plumb it the rest of the way out. However, i really dont think that the water will get deep enough to make it over the lip. oh well, when i get my cage, i'll make a final decision. thanks for the replies.

Yes, that is the one thing I did was take it to the lathe and cut it down. Once it is installed there is hardly no lip at all. No puddling up, water runs right out of cage.