First cage build and setup from a cham newb

[Hdale85]

Ok this is a thread is a build log for my first cage setup. This will be my first chameleon so I'm learning as I go here and figured I would share. So far I've been working on building my cage. It's 36x24x48 and made of oak wood with charcoal aluminum screen mesh. Here is a picture of the basic frame. I'm about to start building a door and framing it into the front of the cage. Eventually I think I'm going to build a little stand and use moulding to frame it all in and make it look nice.

Basic frame (that's a 65" TV behind it for reference)

Here is how I did the joints, I found this to be very strong and the whole frame actually doesn't flex much at all without corner braces. I'm also framing in a door to the middle which will strengthen it even more.

(excuse the mess been building in the living room and 2 kids lol)

 

[Tetsuo]

Move the cage Disney Channel is on!! Lol Jp The frame looks great by the way.

 

[Hdale85]

Ah it was just that Salena Gomez cinderella movie that my wife was watching, and then left it on and went upstairs as if I was watching it.....I was working on the cage though lol.

 

[K9Luvn]

Very nice and solid looking so far. Your plans sound awesome! I plant to fallow this thread so keep posting pictures so I can see the progress!

 

[Olimpia]

Awesome so far! I'm SO happy to see someone provide more horizontal space as well, I find that mine love to go side to side up high in the cage, and 2'x2' may not be large enough to let them roam and get their exercise in. So I love the size.

What chameleon are you getting?

 

[Hdale85]

Awesome so far! I'm SO happy to see someone provide more horizontal space as well, I find that mine love to go side to side up high in the cage, and 2'x2' may not be large enough to let them roam and get their exercise in. So I love the size.

What chameleon are you getting?

I'm not entirely sure, I'd love a Panther but we could end up with a Veiled or something. There is apparently a reptile show in Cleveland every month so we might go to it next month and check everything out. I'm not saying we'll come home with a cham but it's a possibility lol. Have to see if the cage is done yet.

I'm still thinking a bit on drainage. I have a bunch of fiberglass mat, and if I get epoxy resin I could make a floor that is slopped to the middle of the cage so it would all drain out the middle into a bucket. So right now this is what I'm considering.

 

[Hdale85]

Well been working on the front of the cage. Unfortunately I think I need to grab one more piece of wood still. Probably won't be able to do that until next Friday though. I MIGHT have enough here to do the door and finish up the front, but I need to finish up the top as well.

The door is going to be 28" Tall and probably 16-20" wide. I still have to put in the side rails for the door and then create the door frame.

 

[reptilover]

Ah it was just that Salena Gomez cinderella movie that my wife was watching, and then left it on and went upstairs as if I was watching it.....I was working on the cage though lol.

Ya aint gotta lie to kick it and sweet speakers! Lol.

Cage Is looking great very nice size! Be sure to keep us posted as it looks like u plan to. I look forward to these things

 

[Hdale85]

Yea definitely will keep thread updated all the way up through the purchase of the cham .

 

[Hdale85]

Been working on it a bit today but then my drill died so waiting for it to charge. Unfortunately I don't have enough wood to finish the door lol so I definitely need another 10ft piece or so.

 

[Hdale85]

Alright, here's the latest pic. As you can see the opening for the door is all set. Door will be roughly 28x21. I need to grab another piece of wood to finish up the top and the door and then I'll be sanding and putting clear coat on it. After that it'll be stretching and stapling the screen on.

 

[Black Panther]

Where did you find the screen? Everywhere I look online only has 100 ft sheets for like $160 so I figure buying a cage is much more cheaper than building one.

 

[Hdale85]

I got it at lowes, it's window screen. It's 36" wide and 25ft long for like 28 bucks or something. You can get it in like 48" (or maybe it was 60"?) width as well.

 

[Hdale85]

Alright, picked up some more wood and got the door all done today (frame anyways). Going to finish up the sides and top here in a bit if I feel like it anyways lol. I might put it off until tomorrow as I'm going on about 5 hours of sleep and have been non stop running all day.

 

[Black Panther]

That's turning out to be a really cool enclosure. I'm looking to build a cage with those same dimensions but I added up the vista using aluminum framing and it was still more expensive than buying one. How much was the total cost of this?

 

[Hdale85]

Hah, so far? Probably ~130 or so. It's a big cage though and I used oak wood. You could use poplar or something or pine and spend a lot less. If you aren't worried about how nice the wood is could even use construction grade 2x2's. I'm loving how its turning out though.

 

[K9Luvn]

Excellent job you are doing on this. I like that you are using the wood screws. Looks very stable and nice too!

 

[DanSB]

Great cage so far! I can't wait to see it when it's all finished.

 

[Hdale85]

Yes its extremely sturdy. If I had used these 3" screws from the start though I would not have had to use the blocks in the corners. Definitely have to pilot drill with screws that long though.

 

[Hdale85]

Ok, I got some work done today.

These first 2 pics are showing the door. I got it sanded and a couple coats of the clear on it. I'm using semi gloss so not super glossy which is how I want it. It's still pretty light but it'll darken over time with UV exposure.

These next 2 pictures show the lip I put in to staple the screen to on the sides. Basically it's just a round over corner piece of oak trim. It should work well for what I need though.

This last picture is just the whole cage, you can kind of see the spot I built for the light fixture. The heat lamp will just sit on top of the screen more then likely.

Next up I'll be sanding and clear coating the whole enclosure. After that I'll likely start working on my idea for the drainage floor. I have a giant roll of fiberglass mat already as well as some fleece to start with. So I need to get the drain and some wood to build the frame of the floor out with.