Dripper advice

[Cassie6550]

I'm a pretty creative person, but even this one has me stumped. Any ideas???

Hi there! I just got a young female Jackson and she's my first Cham. The set up I have is an Exo Terra mesh cage, medium size for now. I'm getting pretty creative with the set up, used a cooling rack to keep the lights lifted off the top of the cage, used fishing line to tie up the fake plants in a nice cascade style and got a small 2.5 gallon tank with a wire top to catch the excess water from a good spray down. Although she gets a good mist a few times a day, I still would like to set up a dripping system for her I tried the ice cube in a solo cup with holes poked in the bottom of it. Problem is on this cage, the water pools on top and doesn't drip down. The holes are so tiny on this cage, that I couldn't get a tube through them, and it's more mesh like so cutting a small hole will likely wreck the strength of it and she climbs on all sides so I don't want that.

Any ideas???

When she gets bigger I plan on doing something custom built, but for now I'd really love to make this cage set up work.

 

[ataraxia]

Hi, raise the cup a little from the top screen. A couple inches should do the trick.

 

[Cassie6550]

Oh ya? Well that sounds easy enough to give a shot.
Thanks!!

 

[carol5208]

I never use the dripper tubes. I remove them and let the spicket drip. It usually will go right through the screen without pooling.

 

[Cassie6550]

Are you using a mesh cage? Just tried elevating my "super fancy" red solo- ice cube dripper and it worked well (thanks Ataraxia!!). I'd imagine a dripper minus the tube would give me the same result for a longer time than my ice cubes can help with.

My Cham seems smarter than I expected. After about a week of misting she came towards the bottle for a drink (water, she's not an alchy...lol). She seemed uninterested in the drip from my latest experiment, but if I get a longer lasting source, I'm sure she will catch on.

Any other tips you all can offer? I've read the care sheets, but tips from other owners are most welcome!!!!

 

[JGuinan007]

Are you using a mesh cage? Just tried elevating my "super fancy" red solo- ice cube dripper and it worked well (thanks Ataraxia!!). I'd imagine a dripper minus the tube would give me the same result for a longer time than my ice cubes can help with.

My Cham seems smarter than I expected. After about a week of misting she came towards the bottle for a drink (water, she's not an alchy...lol). She seemed uninterested in the drip from my latest experiment, but if I get a longer lasting source, I'm sure she will catch on.

Any other tips you all can offer? I've read the care sheets, but tips from other owners are most welcome!!!!

Have you tried multiple ice cubes in the cup? That would make it last longer.

 

[Carlton]

Oh ya? Well that sounds easy enough to give a shot.
Thanks!!

The extra height gives the droplets a bit more momentum which breaks the surface tension of the screen. You can also use a piece of hardware cloth on the top of the cage instead of screen, so the droplets have a larger opening to fall through.

I gave up on fussy drippers years ago and use misting systems and ultrasonic foggers when necessary. If you have lots of foliage to trap and hold the droplets from misting in such a way that she can reach them it should work fine. Not all chams learn that a dripper creates a water source. One other little note about ice cubes. If your cham is touchy about the temperature of misting water, she might avoid the relatively cold water from ice cube melt. Some chams don't mind and others do.

 

[Cassie6550]

All good advice. I elevated the cup and it's dripping well. Not sure if she is bothered by the temp of the water or if she hasn't caught on yet. She's caught on to me misting her and that routine. Going to keep this going for a few more days. Do think I'll make a dripper with a plastic tub and a valve- just minus the tubing. That way I can regulate the temp and amount of water stored.

I've looked at misting options, feel like I need to wait for a larger cage/set up for that. I love being creative with stuff and over the next few months I'm going to look into making a bigger and better cage set up that solves for a lot of this stuff. The cage I have now is good sized, but has limitations I didn't think about ahead of time. Works well for now, but looking forward to getting creative!

I've been watching youtube videos about set ups and reading a bunch on here and other sites. If anyone has had their own set ups and has advice I would love to learn from what worked for you!

 

[Carlton]

All good advice. I elevated the cup and it's dripping well. Not sure if she is bothered by the temp of the water or if she hasn't caught on yet. She's caught on to me misting her and that routine. Going to keep this going for a few more days. Do think I'll make a dripper with a plastic tub and a valve- just minus the tubing. That way I can regulate the temp and amount of water stored.

I've looked at misting options, feel like I need to wait for a larger cage/set up for that. I love being creative with stuff and over the next few months I'm going to look into making a bigger and better cage set up that solves for a lot of this stuff. The cage I have now is good sized, but has limitations I didn't think about ahead of time. Works well for now, but looking forward to getting creative!

I've been watching youtube videos about set ups and reading a bunch on here and other sites. If anyone has had their own set ups and has advice I would love to learn from what worked for you!

Getting creative is a big part of what's fun about keeping chams! Trying to find a brilliant solution for a setup problem (that pet product suppliers have never figured out). I love roaming the isles of hardware, home supply, and craft stores finding unusual uses for ordinary things. Using a hydroponics flood table tray as a cage drain pan.....retrofitting an ordinary room humidifier and pvc pipe to create rainforest fog....Back in the early days when "drippers" didn't exist. I'd walk into a home medical supply and buy reusable IV setups to create the same thing. They tended to work better probably because the materials and workmanship were higher quality. The looks I'd get from shop clerks after I explained what I was using it for needed were priceless. I remember one small mom-pop hardware store guy who's face just lit up when I walked in...he said he loved hearing about my next bizarre idea for my crabby little lizards and the stories about the result. Finally brought a couple of the chams in for introductions.

 

[Damicofam6]

just raise it off the cage a little bit maybe an inch and it should work fine

 

[Cassie6550]

Getting creative is a big part of what's fun about keeping chams! Trying to find a brilliant solution for a setup problem (that pet product suppliers have never figured out). I love roaming the isles of hardware, home supply, and craft stores finding unusual uses for ordinary things. Using a hydroponics flood table tray as a cage drain pan.....retrofitting an ordinary room humidifier and pvc pipe to create rainforest fog....Back in the early days when "drippers" didn't exist. I'd walk into a home medical supply and buy reusable IV setups to create the same thing. They tended to work better probably because the materials and workmanship were higher quality. The looks I'd get from shop clerks after I explained what I was using it for needed were priceless. I remember one small mom-pop hardware store guy who's face just lit up when I walked in...he said he loved hearing about my next bizarre idea for my crabby little lizards and the stories about the result. Finally brought a couple of the chams in for introductions.

I love this post! I thought I was the only one struggling to find crazy, out of the box solutions for my Cham! I love to be crafty and creative too. I go to the second hand stores and find things to transform into newer and better things (Pinterest was life changing to me!!). I also think it's funny you called your lizards crabby b/c just now I was telling a friend that my Cham was being cranky, lol! I'm not sure what a hydroponics flood table is, but you can be sure after this post my next stop is google to learn! Drainage seems to be my biggest challenge. That 2.5 gallon tank helps, but it needs to be drained b/c it also doubles as her majesty's toilet some times (it's covered she cant get in it) but draining it is a pain b/c it also holds some of the branches up.

Guess this is just another good excuse to go treasure hunting at Lowe's and goodwill this weekend! If you have any other creative solutions to these reptile mom issues please share!!

 

[Carlton]

Drainage is a big one for most of us. There are hardly any commercial cages that even consider how to handle water.

BTW, a hydroponics flood table is a large ABS plastic pan about 4" deep that all the smaller plant pots sit in. The growing solutions are circulated through the plants' pot media and flow into the pan. The pans usually have a recessed drain port installed so they can be connected to the building's plumbing. I like them because they are larger than the usual plastic sweater box, meaning I can build larger cages, they are pretty rigid so hold the cage frame and pot weight, and the drain is already designed in.

 

[Cassie6550]

Update! Thanks to this forum and all of the awesome advice and pictures I upgraded Nessie!

The shelf helps b/c the table her cage was on was a bit wobbly, I no longer have to keep the lights on a cooling rack and will work well for when she needs a bigger cage. The dripper works so well, no hose needed...great advice! I have a ReptiBreeze cage which has a plastic bottom. I drilled many small holes in it so the water drips out. I also used a plastic planter that is upside down to help hold up the branches (for now until I get more). I drilled some holes in the planter too so that there's on place for the water to pool.