Glass door in enclosure
- Thread starter stephen
- Start date
Lathis
Chameleon Enthusiast
With Jax who like a lot of water, water is definitely a concern which makes the glass vivs difficult because there is no drainage. But since you are building it, you can make the bottom out of something not glass and drill a drain into it. That would be my suggestion, but yes, you want a drain.
JoCarp
Established Member
I'm converting an armoire to an enclosure and have some pictures in my albums if you want to look. Like Lathis said, since you're building it you can build a drain in, which is what I did. I also built a sloped floor so the water will be forced back towards the drain versus coming out of the front. I drilled a hole in the bottom of my slanted floor and installed a "bar drain" I think it's called. It's just a stainless steel deep drain with a little perforated basket to catch crickets or anything else that may fall down it for easy cleaning. The drain is connected to about 12" of pvc pipe that will direct the water to the catch bucket below. I can try to get a picture of the drain set up from below over lunch if it will help you at all.
stephen
Member
A pic would b great! Only the front door would b glass. The back will b cork, the sides will b half cork and half screen. Also a third screen on the front and of course the top. I'm really liking my design. Probably go with some sort of plastic bottom with a hole in the middle, covered with screen, and a large funnel to direct water.
Carlton
Chameleon Enthusiast
Actually, for jax you will want water to accumulate in order to keep your cage humidity higher. What you don't want is an enclosure that CONSTANTLY stays very very humid. It's a balancing act...you want cycles of higher and lower humidity and a way to keep water from sitting on the cage floor until it stagnates.
When you think about it, we are trying to copy an entire rainforest climate in a small area inside a dry human house. A natural rainforest situation can provide higher humidity as well as good air circulation because the entire climate in the region is humid, not just the patch where a cham happens to be living. The air that flows through it is already humid due to the weather. In a captive situation we have a relatively dry human house with a small humid place inside it. Unless we reduce the airflow out of the cage or add moisture constantly, its going to dry out more than the rainforest would.
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brownie64
Avid Member
The proper substreight set-up the correct way is the best way to house montane species in my opinion. I realize it's not popular on this site, but I have done it successfully for years. It regulates your humidity and keeps it just the way they like it. Here is a link explaining how to do it properly if you are interested.http://www.neherpetoculture.com/vivariumconstruction101 Check out vivarian101, and 102
