Greenhouse with Melleri is working better than I thought.

jpowell86 said:
The last ten days here have been brutal with heat indexes reaching 108 in my area. But, this was a perfect situation to see how my greenhouse would hold up to the heat.

I think I have solved my heat problems. During the hottest part of the day, my greenhouse maintained a 79 degree temp. When I kicked on the misters inside, the temp dropped to 71 degrees. At night, I have been able to drop the temps down into the lower 60's with ease.

Needless to say I will be expanding the greenhouse techniques and pushing to keep more outside this way.
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First of all, well done.


Second, and this comes from a guy who lost nearly all of his collection that I'm friends with, when you build this, and you invest all your animals into this outside enclosure, invest in a second cheap A/C unit.

The second unit should be set on a thermostat that ONLY turns on if the temperature rises 5 degrees above what the first one is set at. The reason for this is so that if the first A/C unit breaks down (shit happens) the second unit kicks in if the temps start to rise into dangerous territory. It gives you a safety net.

The friend I have, local fires caused ash to take out his outdoor A/C and he lost dozens of chams. An indoor wall mounted unit for back-up would have saved him. Anyway, since you found a cheap unit, to me you can find another..so there's my .02
 
OldChamKeeper said:
First of all, well done.


Second, and this comes from a guy who lost nearly all of his collection that I'm friends with, when you build this, and you invest all your animals into this outside enclosure, invest in a second cheap A/C unit.

The second unit should be set on a thermostat that ONLY turns on if the temperature rises 5 degrees above what the first one is set at. The reason for this is so that if the first A/C unit breaks down (shit happens) the second unit kicks in if the temps start to rise into dangerous territory. It gives you a safety net.

The friend I have, local fires caused ash to take out his outdoor A/C and he lost dozens of chams. An indoor wall mounted unit for back-up would have saved him. Anyway, since you found a cheap unit, to me you can find another..so there's my .02
Click to expand...


Thanks!

I'm actually glad you brought this up though, because this is something I never mentioned about the must haves of a greenhouse if housing chameleons inside.

I actually have a thermocube that kicks my secondary a/c unit on if the greenhouse is at 78 degree or more. So basically, if my one unit craps out, the other will kick on immediately.

But, more important than that, I have to mention that I have all of my electrical for the greenhouse ran through a backup generator. I have taken precautions for temperature issues. I have thermometers in the greenhouse that constantly show to my phone. I have the secondary a/c unit. But, all that means diddly crap if you lose power.

So, if you are to build a greenhouse, I totally suggest putting in a backup generator to sustain power for those "just incases".

In my area, an hour without the a/c unit would spell disaster for my chameleons.
 
Bush baby said:
Wow! Great pics. That's Cham heaven. All that space without the threat of predators.
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Thanks!

I am still working out kinks to make it a true "chameleon heaven"! I have learned a ton about what will and what won't work with larger free ranging chameleons. One thing that is amazing is the plant growth in the greenhouse v inside. I wasn't thinking about that when I first set it up. I mean, you set up an enclosure inside and you may have to trim the plants once a month or so. In the greenhouse, I am trimming constantly keeping the plants under control.

I think I am going to expand that particular greenhouse out a bit and I would like to add four more feet to it vertically. That would really help with the heat as well and give me the ability to grow the plants even larger!
 
Wow! Joel had to take a second look I though for a minute there I was looking at a zoo display. Very nice I'm sure your chams are in heaven. Great job.
 
Joel

Great to watch you discover greenhouses for chameleons. I have always stated greenhouses are the best way to recreate a tropic environment outside of the tropics. Inside enclosures just cannot recreate seasonal changes ( seasonal temperatures changes, daily changing sun lighting, UV lighting and moisture) that a greenhouse can. That along with that the chameleons and plants respond extremely positively to living in a greenhouse.

Best Regards
Jeremy A. Rich
 
jpowell86 said:
I lived in Chandler while going to college. That would be a perfect area for a greenhouse!
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Really, I lived in chandler as well when I went to ASU :). But now I live in the up north and gets zero degrees here most of the winter, we get like 2 months of warm weather out of the year lol. So I dont think I could heat it :(. I would say I could add a skylight, but I think the snow would cave that in lol.
 
cyberlocc said:
Really, I lived in chandler as well when I went to ASU :). But now I live in the up north and gets zero degrees here most of the winter, we get like 2 months of warm weather out of the year lol. So I dont think I could heat it :(. I would say I could add a skylight, but I think the snow would cave that in lol.
Click to expand...

I went to ASU as well. I lived in the Fairways Apartments on the San Marcos Golf Course. I remember you saying you were in Pinetop on another thread. I never made it up that way, but my buddies and I would always jump in the car and make our way up to Flagstaff to get a break from the heat.

Zero degrees??? I couldn't handle that. I am not good with cold. A winter that gets below 40 is too cold for me.
 
jpowell86 said:
I went to ASU as well. I lived in the Fairways Apartments on the San Marcos Golf Course. I remember you saying you were in Pinetop on another thread. I never made it up that way, but my buddies and I would always jump in the car and make our way up to Flagstaff to get a break from the heat.

Zero degrees??? I couldn't handle that. I am not good with cold. A winter that gets below 40 is too cold for me.
Click to expand...

Ya its gets zero a lot up here, we are a tad higher up than flagstaff but similar :). I was just looking at the weather report the other day, and at the end of next month its going to be in the 60s as a high already :(.

It sucks I hate it, and I hate the cold too. I figured you went to ASU as well :), me and some buddies rented a house on Arizona ave and Ray when we were at ASU.

Fun times, I grew up in South Phoenix but never went to Mill till I was in college, best place ever lol.

Fairways sounds familiar, I think I went to a few party's there :p. Yep I looked them up I been there before. Did you go to Polytech? I went to both and worked at Polytech. My degree is in IT, so I had classes at both campuses.
 
0*degrees, not to shabby, Chicago winters can dip into 20* below 0, but the windchill will easily dip below that. I like the seasonal changes, it gives you a better appreciation for summer spring and fall. I lived in Texas where it was always warm or too damn hot, Christmas wasn't the same without snow,
That greenhouse is insane, I would be like ace Ventura surrounded in wild animals if I had enough dough and space like that, well done
 
Alexander1 said:
0*degrees, not to shabby, Chicago winters can dip into 20* below 0, but the windchill will easily dip below that. I like the seasonal changes, it gives you a better appreciation for summer spring and fall. I lived in Texas where it was always warm or too damn hot, Christmas wasn't the same without snow,
That greenhouse is insane, I would be like ace Ventura surrounded in wild animals if I had enough dough and space like that, well done
Click to expand...

Oh it gets colder, We have some days that are in the negatives, just not as many as 0-10. Chicago defiantly gets colder :). It also largely depends where you live around here.

The coldest it has ever gotten here though, has Chicago beat :). -40 degrees one night in 1971, god I couldn't do it lol.

That also leads to this being a weird state, as just 5 hours away from me is Havasu that hit a record high of 128.
 
jpowell86 said:
I lived in Chandler while going to college. That would be a perfect area for a greenhouse!
Click to expand...
I was born and raised in southern AZ.. Land of the swamp cooler. Didn't have air conditioning back then. Perfect for the chameleons in the greenhouse.

Oh yeah, back in the day, NOBODY lived in Chandler! Lol.
 
bobcochran said:
I was born and raised in southern AZ.. Land of the swamp cooler. Didn't have air conditioning back then. Perfect for the chameleons in the greenhouse.
Click to expand...

Most of AZ is yes, I sadly dont live in south AZ anymore though. I was also born and raised in Phoenix, however now I live in Pinetop, which is on the corner near Colorado. Its 7500 feet, and gets very cold most of the year.

I use a Swamp cooler for our house even up here though :p. It kinda sucks here, it hits the 100s in the summer for the 3 months it is warm, then cold and snow the rest of the year lol.

Phoenix at least gets winters in the 70s, and hell on earth summers :p.
 
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