How do I make a good drainage system in a reptibreeze xl screen enclosure?

[Tnest]

Hi! So I’m changing my panther chameleons cage to a xl reptibreeze. I previously had a hybrid glass enclosure which I was vacuuming water out of manually which gets pretty tedious having to do that constantly and makes it difficult to keep the cage hygienic. I decided to change to a xl screen enclosure (24x24x48) which is also larger than the previous enclosure. Does anyone who has the same enclosure have any recommendations or tutorials on how to create a drainage system? I know I have to drill holes in the pvc at the bottom, and that I need a bucket for the water to drain into, but where exactly do I drill the hole? What can I put the cage on top of so it’s elevated but can also allow water to drain through? (But looks decent since his cage is in my bedroom). Please let me know! Thanks so much

 

[MissSkittles]

Hi. So what I’ve done is to get the ReptiBreeze stand https://www.lllreptile.com/products/35061-zoo-med-reptibreeze-stand-with-shelf-xlarge which is open on the bottom. I drilled some small holes in the middle and placed a small sink drain mat to act as a spacer, which I then placed my heaviest plant (or lay bin) on to help route the drainage. Bucket placed below. This worked really well for me.

 

[Tnest]

Hi. So what I’ve done is to get the ReptiBreeze stand https://www.lllreptile.com/products/35061-zoo-med-reptibreeze-stand-with-shelf-xlarge which is open on the bottom. I drilled some small holes in the middle and placed a small sink drain mat to act as a spacer, which I then placed my heaviest plant (or lay bin) on to help route the drainage. Bucket placed below. This worked really well for me.
View attachment 356881View attachment 356882

Hey! Thank you! So you drilled holes in the bottom of the cage, then into the stand and have a bucket on the shelf area of the stand pretty much?

 

[MissSkittles]

Hey! Thank you! So you drilled holes in the bottom of the cage, then into the stand and have a bucket on the shelf area of the stand pretty much?

The top of the ReptiBreeze stand is not solid. It supports the enclosure at the frame base and has one thin bar that goes across as extra support. It looks really flimsy, but the amount of weight it held for me was insane. I had a fully set up bioactive enclosure with about 8” of substrate sitting on it. I don’t recommend doing that as I think it was at its limit.

 

[ChamelaChameleon]

This is a less expensive option. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FVZ6I9Q?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

 

[Picks]

After drilling holes in the bottom of my reptibreeze I just used a pan underneath. I just dump it weekly.

 

[Bamzeez]

I did it like this, cheap and simple

 

[MissSkittles]

I did it like this, cheap and simple

What is that piece?