First enclosure

[woodsball]

So the past two weeks I've been building my first enclosure for my first chameleon. Been doing alot of research and decided on a 4x2x2 custom enclosure. I went with aluminum mesh and used a staple gun/braid nailer with a compressor to create it. with a little help from my buddy who has a bearded I came up with what I think is going to look amazing once I finish the foilage (just picked up the umbrella tree and pruned it last night), as well as built a 2x2x2 stand with storage for it to sit on.

I still need to put the wood piece for the back and paint it, then use polyurethane to protect the wood from water, then seal the joints.

building the frame - my buddy inside of it very proud of himself

painted the frame black with leftover paint

put a base on the frame

frame and base all painted up

meshed the back and sides (eventually took the mesh off the back for wood)

pretty much done!

top with brace for any heavier items like a dripper

 

[woodsball]

just for people wondering about costs of building their own enclosure... it cost me about $10 in wood ($1 an 8 foot piece) and $27 for screen. good deal!

 

[PedroANDAshley]

Did you go to home depot?

 

[woodsball]

yup... home depot for everything.

scored the umbrella tree there for $8.44! what a steal

 

[PedroANDAshley]

Im soooo tempted to build my own.
But Im not so good with wood work! haha

 

[woodsball]

honestly, either am I... This is one of my first projects of this scale. It's a rectangle so it's extremely hard to mess up. I did have the advantage of all my dad's amazing equipment tho.

If you have a skill saw and a brad nailer you could put this together in two days. If I were to change anything it would be using 2x2's for the frame... and finding something to cover up the inside stapling of the mesh to keep the chameleon safe from cutting itself. I cut out wood to go around all those parts instead

 

[PedroANDAshley]

Eh, I could beg my husband to help me out haha!

Did you use a hand staple gun or a compressed one?

 

[woodsball]

i used one attached to a compressor... but that's because my dad has a whole slew of air tools.

 

[woodsball]

added the back and have painted the back and bottom with varathane wood sealer. just putting the final touches of wood over any exposed meshing cuts...

purchased a hibiscus tree to also add in there however i have heard of having issues with them inside the cage. still looking to find a 2 bulb 2ft fixture so i can have one for plants and one for the reptisun.

working on purchasing a drain, and will have an night stand to put the enclosure on for hidden drainage. then i also have a spot for any supplies i need such as feeders/supplements

has anyone tried using rope purchased from home depot over vines?? seems like it would be alot cheaper