got a good start on my custom cham cage! with pics

[kingjohn]

so i finaly started the cage i been meaning to make for so long now and im happy with it so far

its 3ftx2ftx18" with glass door mesh sides and roof and will be fake rock background with waterfall

watch this space

ill keep u all updated when i get time to do more im hoping by the weekend that it will be ready for final decorations

any sugestions welcome

thanks for looking

atb john

 

[renzo0684]

Jeez super pro wood worker!!! I built mine in my kitcken with a hand saw and a hammer lol... It looks great!

 

[kingjohn]

lol thanks mate

about time i brushed up on my joints by hand instead of all the pre made stuff i do at work

cant wait to do more to it lol need an early finish at work to get a nice few hours in

 

[bigcappa]

man that looks awesome, puts mine to shame!! Great job!

 

[GoFast]

Looks great you crafty craftsman!

What are you putting in it though?

 

[kingjohn]

lol thanks

oh yeh forgot to add its for my veiled hes around 18months old and im moving him out of a flex thats just abit smaller but looks nasty lol

 

[GoFast]

lol thanks

oh yeh forgot to add its for my veiled hes around 18months old and im moving him out of a flex thats just abit smaller but looks nasty lol

Very cool! Just a couple of suggestions though...I would forgo the whole waterfall thing. They really aren't a great thing for chams and tend to become more of a bacteria cesspool. Also, since you are doing this yourself, you may want to go with the preferred 4ft height for a male veiled. The 3ft'er would be great for a fem but the males prefer a slightly bigger cage.

 

[kingjohn]

cheers gofast will take them points into mind its actualy 40inches high inside mesurement and i would of made bigger but the place it has to go in my room i made it max size, but hopefuly will be able to move soon and make a much bigger one

as for the water fall thing what im planning is to have egg crate floor with largeish pebbles as a substrate, and the whole back wall a man-made waterfall made of grouted foam and slate, ive routed in the back panel and screwed it so it can be easily removed for easy cleaning too (ive also thought if the water fall doesnt work out i can clean the background up and never use water agen)

but i only plan to have it on timer for short periods through out the day (not always on)

sorry for the story lol just trying to paint a picture

what do you think of the plan?

 

[SliK JiM]

I know the waterfall you mean. I'm still never that keen on them, but make sure you change the water daily if you do! You could just run it off a mist system so it spray the wall and the droplets work there way down? Might be a bit easier to do than anything else?

The one thing I would say is what kind of stain/protection are you going to use? Also, have you glued the joints and stuff already as you want to be careful that they are properly sealed otherwise the humidity will wreak havoc on them and rot the wood pretty quick! I had a bit of a problem with one of my joints. Thankfully it wasn't a crucial one (just one that holds the two bottom bits together - which is a long story) so I could replace it!

Other than that, the craftsmanship looks amazing! What do you do by trade then?

Just for some inspiration, the monster I built:

 

[kingjohn]

your cage is lovely mate! and i would idealy prefer mist to come out of the pump but i dont know how/where to get the nozzle and if ill need a differnt pump? i alredy have the crappy exp terra fountain ( was planning to use the pump from that in a tray or water under the whole unit) i see alot of people say get mist king but im low on funds atm but could i just use a nozzle on my pump?

and ive stained it all in teak oil atm to match my bedrom furniture and will be using around 5 coats of spray on varnish once ive got it, the joins are all glued with a very good wood glue i use on stairs (as yes i am a carpenter ) and the frame is screwed from top and bottom also which binds the finger joins very tight, im hoping though thats plenty of varnish will kind of make it almost plastic to resist the water


thanks for your input

have got alot of decor ideas from that cage thanks for the pics mate

atb john

 

[ChamFreak]

both amazing.. I wish I could do something like that, maybe later but indeed amazing and great job both!

now ya just need a mist setup!

 

[SliK JiM]

Sounds like you've got most things covered! I used exterior would stain, 2 coats and it was fine (except at the one joint I didn't do properly!). I doubt the little waterfall pump would supply enough pressure to run a misting nozzle, so you might need another pump, or you could make your own! Here's what I did when I was running 2 nozzles: http://www.captivebredreptileforums.co.uk/chameleons/25589-diy-mister.html Its simple to do and the nozzles you can get from elsewhere in the UK these days:
www.pollywog.co.uk is the best UK but mistking is coming to Poland at www.vivariumland.com on 02/04/10 which would be worth holding out for!

I might have to swap ideas with you when you're done as I'll be building a new one in a couple of weeks for a panther Cham I'm soon to be getting!

 

[summoner12]

wow nice work, just make sure you seal all of the wood.

 

[kingjohn]

cheers slik that was very helpfull just what i been looking for! do you know if that big bottle could be changed for something like an elextric pond pump? just at the moment duno where i could put that big bottle lol

but sure mate just pm me if you want any ideas when making your cage! im off work today so hopefully i can get some more pics up later on

 

[SliK JiM]

I don't know if the pond pump would supply the pressure, but I don't see why you could have a go! I started using a little hand pump sprayer type thing (a smaller version of the big one) but the top quite literally blew off as it couldn't handle the pressure it need to run the nozzles! The bigger manual pumps just seem more reliable!

You could buy a proper misting pump or similar, but you said you didnt want to spend too much, so I guess not. It's all about the experimenting! hahaha!

 

[kingjohn]

ok mate thanks alot, was just a thought think ill go with the same way you done it for now and spray mist at the "waterfall background" im making and at the plants of course,

i sprayed 8coats of varnish on the cage and door today also so has been very well protected lol would post pics but just looks abit more shiney than before lol

but im sure by sunday ill be out picking plants to finish it up

so any plant suggestions will be great am looking for ficus tree and umberella plant i think, not sure what they look like or what type i need though lol


atb john

 

[SliK JiM]

Sweet. Will look forward to seeing some pics! The best place to get plants from at the moment is focus! They've been having a good slae on everything that's can friendly!

It's hard to see in mine, but the ficus tree is the back left, the umbrella plants are left and right at the front. The one in the middle is an acera palm (I think its that one) and the big on in the back right is a ficus lyrata (which has worked great even though I'm still keeping an eye on it as different websites said different things. The other plant you may want, which I now have in mine but haven't updated my pictures is pothos. It's normally labeled devils ivy and sold it pretty useful tower shapes. Like this:

What are you basing your rock background on? There are some great ones on http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/forums/ just search around a bit if you havent already.

 

[kingjohn]

cool cheers mate your one helpful guy

im kind of goin for a greyish fake rock background with pieces of slate and fake plants bedded into it, also gona have a branch in it to so i can wrap vines round it and stuff should look cool if i make the image in my head come out on the 3d background lol

im a member on that site too

im off out now to find and treat a nice branch for the backgorund should have more pics in a few days


atb john

 

[SliK JiM]

Good stuff! Keep us updated! For a long time I considered doing a rock background but gave up when I planned to make my enclosure so large! Maybe if I get some frogs I might do it one day!

I'm probably gonna start work on my next enclosure this weekend, so I'll have to get some pictures up too!

 

[FiReBaNaNa]

I know the waterfall you mean. I'm still never that keen on them, but make sure you change the water daily if you do! You could just run it off a mist system so it spray the wall and the droplets work there way down? Might be a bit easier to do than anything else?

The one thing I would say is what kind of stain/protection are you going to use? Also, have you glued the joints and stuff already as you want to be careful that they are properly sealed otherwise the humidity will wreak havoc on them and rot the wood pretty quick! I had a bit of a problem with one of my joints. Thankfully it wasn't a crucial one (just one that holds the two bottom bits together - which is a long story) so I could replace it!

Other than that, the craftsmanship looks amazing! What do you do by trade then?

Just for some inspiration, the monster I built:

what are the demensions of ur cage man