How do I keep plants from busting through bottom of my enclosure?

[chamcouple]

Hey guys,
Sorry if this has been answered already, i'm new to the site. My goal is to fill my panther chameleons cage with live plants. The problem is, is that my cage sits on top of a drip pan, so the bottom of the cage is screen. I have an aquazamp mister which is the reason I have a drip tray. Occasionally I need to be able to remove the cage off of the drip tray for cleaning purposes. If I place my live plants in pots on the bottom of the cage the pots are too heavy and will want to bust through the screen. I currently have one live plant in his cage and I had to make a little plastic support to keep the pot for busting the screen. Is there an easier way to do this? Currently If i have to take the cage off of the drip pan to clean I have to take everything out of the cage because my live plant has grown around all the branches in the cage and is almost impossible to remove, and if I pick the cage up as a while the weight of the plant will knock the bottom screen out. I'm on a fairly tight budget so I don't have money to build a custom bottom or anything extreme. Any advice would be extremely helpful!

 

[Carlton]

Hey guys,
Sorry if this has been answered already, i'm new to the site. My goal is to fill my panther chameleons cage with live plants. The problem is, is that my cage sits on top of a drip pan, so the bottom of the cage is screen. I have an aquazamp mister which is the reason I have a drip tray. Occasionally I need to be able to remove the cage off of the drip tray for cleaning purposes. If I place my live plants in pots on the bottom of the cage the pots are too heavy and will want to bust through the screen. I currently have one live plant in his cage and I had to make a little plastic support to keep the pot for busting the screen. Is there an easier way to do this? Currently If i have to take the cage off of the drip pan to clean I have to take everything out of the cage because my live plant has grown around all the branches in the cage and is almost impossible to remove, and if I pick the cage up as a while the weight of the plant will knock the bottom screen out. I'm on a fairly tight budget so I don't have money to build a custom bottom or anything extreme. Any advice would be extremely helpful!

It sounds as if you should find a way to suspend the cage over the drip tray so you can slide it out from under the cage when you need to clean it. Maybe build some sort of frame that holds the cage above the tray? You could make it out of pvc pipe or wood 2x2s. Or, possibly find a sturdy, rigid tote that you can cut into a sort of stand...cut out the top (in a sort of grid so there's enough left to support the pots) so the cage drains, and cut an opening in the front so you can slide the drip tray out.

 

[pigglett79]

You will need some type of support beams across the bottom to place the plants on. I used wood as a cross beam and sealed it with spar urethane.

 

[ThePantherBaron]

You definitely need support going through the center of your drain pan. You can try Bill Strand at dragonstrand.com He can probably build you a custom drain pan that will have that middle support you need. Good luck!

 

[melble68]

have a piece of plexiglas cut the size of the bottom at Lowes or Home Depot. If the plexi can rest of the edges of the screen frame, you should be in good shape. Drill a handful of wholes in the center of the plexi, and the plants will flex it enough that the water will run to the center holes and out.