How to attach vines to a screen cage?

[jdub0928]

I just bought a new screen cage for my chameleon. It is 2'x2'x4'. I also just got him a ficus and he also has an umbrella plant in his enclosure. In the old enclosure I used sticks propped against the sides (from one end of the cage to the other at angles so he could get up higher). The sticks don't stay up in the new setup. They will stay for a while but when I came home today one of them had fallen.
I was looking into trying bio-vines, but when I saw one at the store there was no obvious way to attach it to the screen. Has anyone used one before? What is a good way to keep them where you want them? I was considering trying to put something through the screen and the bio-vine to keep it up but I was worried that it would eventually tear a large hole in the screen...how should they be installed?

 

[Ionstorm]

I just use some fine plastic coated green wire I found at a local hardware store. You can get it in lots of different colors.

For the vines just bend the end and put the wire around it and twist it into place on the outside. Go through the caging in two different spots about a 1/2 inch apart and you should have no problems with ripping. For the sticks you can drill through them and use the same method.

 

[reptoman]

I use small zipties to connect branches together and have used small guage wire to affix vines to the screen. I have also used PVC coated wire that you would get from the garden center at walmart, HD, Lowes...etc. Some people have used thumb tacs to hold branches across the sides of a screen cage as well. With using wire, I make sure there is no slack that a cham could snag its feet on.
If you want to really get creative, you could hot glue a bunch of branches together so they fit just right in the cage around your live plant. I do this for my baby bins.

 

[KClark]

i got sticks long enough to fit snugly horizontally across my cage (about 13'') and placed them all at different heights and weaving the vines throughout.. and they seem to stay perfectly.. oh and i twisted the vines together into a braid... heres a picture it may help...

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

I use small wire just around the vine through the screen and it works great

 

[scbikes45]

Thumb tacks, I use them in all my cages, just stick them thru the screen into the vine or branch!
Also look into some grape vine it works wonders

 

[tadeusz]

I drilled some small holes in the vines I am using at each point that I wanted to cross another vine or go to an edge and then attached it with some small, small galvanized steel wire from the craft store. I face the edges outside just in case, but its completely solid and won't budge. easy to do and very cheap.

 

[PedroANDAshley]

I use small zipties
they dont mess up the screen like you think they would

 

[beardeds7587]

i allso use small zip ties or if so small thumb tacks but make sure there aint no point sticking out the vine ...

 

[Dave Weldon]

Howdy,

Here's a thread that talks about that subject: https://www.chameleonforums.com/screen-cage-questions-31310/#post287546

Here was my post about it : https://www.chameleonforums.com/screen-cage-questions-31310/#post288851

 

[KShook]

Heyy, I use Fishing String...In the past I used the wire but it destroyed my screens...with all the holes and such..Fishing string is tough stuff, I only use a 10lb tess..and it's never broken off..and your screen stays intact! Hopes this helps!!

 

[Symbiot]

The cage I bought off craigslist had piping inside the cage that acted as support to wrap the fake vines as well as vines of plants around. It's a pretty nice idea. The screen holes in this case are much too small to use zip ties. What makes this such a good idea, imo, is the fact that it can be used as a sort of dripping system all around the cage as well because the water droplets form on the plastic piping and drip all around the cage when watered down.

 

[jannb]

I use thump tacks for the branches. This is a cage I set up for the babies.

 

[Goggles]

I do the same as Jann but instead of thumb tacks I use small stainless steel screws for adult chams and wooden dowels. You can then bend your bio vines around the dowels if you are useing them.

 

[jdub0928]

Thanks for all your replies! I set up a few sticks with thumbtacks and the vines with fishing line.

 

[hun73r]

20lb test fishing line is the way I chose for the vines. Nearly invisible and smaller in diameter than the holes in the screen.

For the sticks just loosen the screws and use some small diameter wire around the screen frame. One side through the gap between the frames (from the loosening of the screws) and one through the screen itself very close to the frame you can then wrap the loop made around the stick or do what I did and drill a small hole in the stick and push the wire through before attaching to the frame.

 

[jannb]

Be sure that your cham can't get caught up in the fishing line.

 

[hun73r]

Ya as JannB states, make sure it is very tight on the vines so there is no chance of a body part getting in there and you should be good to go.

 

[PaulZarate]

I use zip ties.

 

[turks]

i used a hot glue gun works great no holes in your screen