I Hope Your Guys Are Proud Of Me Now!!

[HollySaurusRex]

Hello all,

If you have been following my threads about my little carpet chameleon.. you will hopefully be proud to hear that I got a FULLY SCREENED tank for him! I hope he does well in here! does anyone recommend a certain wattage of bulb for heat for a screen tank? I've never worked with one before.. and its now going into summer time so I ocasionally have the AC on in my room but its set a 67 degrees? Will this be ok? ADVICE is welcome!! Thank you everyone! I am attaching photos of him now..


Holly



[ ATTACH]View attachment 2012-06-09 14.41.51.jpg[/ATTACH]View attachment 2012-06-09 10.55.39.jpg

 

[Falsetree]

His colors are beautiful!

 

[HollySaurusRex]

Thanks so much! Compared to his colors when he first got unboxed.. they're dull but as he gets happier and older he should brighten right up!

 

[DanSB]

With the AC make sure the vent isn't blowing directly into the cage and I think it is fine.

As far as bulb wattage you will need to play around with it until you hit the right basking temperature (which I don't know for Carpets). I personally like to use a higher wattage and lift the lamp off the screen but that is one of those preference things.

 

[Wykd]

cool looking cham... i love the lines on him!

 

[HollySaurusRex]

Well I just woke up from a nap.. and I had the AC off because I was afraid it would get too cold.. and I looked at the temp when I woke up and it was 81! I flipped out and got scared because his normal area of the tank should be in the 70s and the basking area about 85 I was told.. I have a 60W regular bulb in there now.. I'm going to buy a 40w..

 

[Wykd]

We know its a screen, what size is the new cage and how far is the light from that bask spot?

Problem with suggesting light bulb wattage is often not taking into consideration those questions. Like Dan aid its trial and error, my wife thought i was crazy 30 minutes in the light bulb dept at lowes this morning. lol

Example: I run a 40w narrow spot light in a 2x2x4 with 9-10 inches between the bulb itself and the branch.

I also prefer to use a spot light on my basking spot it focuses the heat better than a normal light bulb due to its design. The normal bulb sends out heat in a wider foot print I find. Once again that is what works for me and gives me the temperatures I want.

 

[Kmw]

He looks good, i'm rather quite fond of the carpets actually! Good job!

 

[del33]

His new cage looks nice and definitely better furnished. Just my opinion though; you really didn't need to get a screen cage since your glass one was perfectly fine (just a little bare inside). I wish people would get off the whole "it needs to be screen" motto. It's actually easier to maintain a more stable environment in a glass enclosure but there's nothing wrong with the route you took (you might have to cover up some of the sides to keep humidity). You wouldn't have to be worried as much with your AC either with the glass enclosure. I noticed that his basking spot is a vertical vine. You should provide him a branch or vine going across the cage horizontally. That way he can just lounge and heat his entire body rather than just his head.

 

[Elizadolots]

Proud and totally jealous because that is such a cute chameleon!

 

[HollySaurusRex]

Thanks so much for all of the opinions! I will get a horozontal branch for him in there! I never thought about heating up just his head on the vertical vines and stuff! Good thinking! and yeah but he was so black in my glass tank and he wasn't really getting better.. than I put him in the screen tank and he's been green ever since.. so I'm super excited that he's happy! As of right now I feel like the screen tank was a good idea.. it may have saved his little life since my jackson does fine in his glass tank that's a reptiterrium but this little guy wasn't doing so good.. so I find good luck with both types of cages.. some may just like one more than another..

 

[DanSB]

I think some do just have a personal chameleon preference between glass and screen. My guy would get angry in his glass tan because all the reflections bugged him. So I got him a screen and he is perfectly fine, it's just a lot more work for me to maintain the humidity but the happy cham is worth it.

 

[del33]

Thanks so much for all of the opinions! I will get a horozontal branch for him in there! I never thought about heating up just his head on the vertical vines and stuff! Good thinking! and yeah but he was so black in my glass tank and he wasn't really getting better.. than I put him in the screen tank and he's been green ever since.. so I'm super excited that he's happy! As of right now I feel like the screen tank was a good idea.. it may have saved his little life since my jackson does fine in his glass tank that's a reptiterrium but this little guy wasn't doing so good.. so I find good luck with both types of cages.. some may just like one more than another..

It's great to hear that he likes his new cage and seems happier. I think that your glass cage was kept too humid for his liking which is why he was gaping. Either way, he is a cute little guy and I wish you the best of luck with him

I think some do just have a personal chameleon preference between glass and screen. My guy would get angry in his glass tan because all the reflections bugged him. So I got him a screen and he is perfectly fine, it's just a lot more work for me to maintain the humidity but the happy cham is worth it.

You know what they say, "there's more than one way to skin a cat" I hope that I didn't come across as trying to push my opinion or preferrence on anybody, just merely stating the pros of having a glass enclosure. Both plans of approach work but it's just kind of a pet peeve of mine when I see people state that a screen cage is the only way to go. The reflection issue is a valid point. I've had all of my chameleons in cages with at least a plexiglass door for clearer viewing and have had no issues with reflection, but each chameleon has a different temperament.

 

[Goatsniper]

hes sooooo pretty!!!!!!!!!!

 

[HollySaurusRex]

Why Thank You! he's my little guy<3 i love him dearly, and he's soooo happy now.. i'll take a picture of him in his tank when i get home.. he's SOOOOO green.. when i hold him and take a picture i think he gets alittle freaked out because of the cellphone.. but he's still just so cute! I COULDN'T HAVE DONE THIS WITHOUT YOU GUYS' HELP! thank you so much! I'm going to post another thread to see what people come up with names! follow that thread if you want, or post an awesome idea for a name for this little guy!

 

[laurie]

Awwwww you did a great job. I am a very proud mom. You might want him to have more horizontal branches. They are easy to do, just make ti branch a little bit wider that the cage and wedge it so the screen holds it in place.

 

[reptilover]

Awwwww you did a great job. I am a very proud mom. You mingh want him to have more horizontal branches. They are easy to do, just make ti branch a little bit wider that the cage and wedge it so the screen holds it in place.

Carpets arnt very heavy of course and lauries ides is great but if ur Like me and want s littke added security do wat Laurie said then put a thumb tack through the screen on either side to ensure it doesn't fall, i even put 2 in one side to keep it from twisting.. a carpet may never have an issue just thought id say since its wat I would do.

Over all he looks amazig snd I'm very happy u did this for him.. very proud