It's finished, he's in, so critique my enclosure please!

[SliK JiM]

Well, following on from my last post, I've finally finished my build and have successfully moved my guy into his new enclosure. Here is a picture of the finished product! What do you all think?

Here's the pic of him exploring it, very slowly I might add, but that's to be expected!

So, what do you all think?

 

[pssh]

It looks really branchy. It is massive? Or are there a lot of twigs? It looks like another plant might make a little more coverage! Is that dirt? Be really careful with that.

Other than that it looks good.

 

[OOOst16]

i do agree....i think you need to add some more plants...they dont have to be real ...you have plenty of real ones for humidity...but he needs more coverage then that. i do however like all the climbing space ....but putting plants twards the front for more coverage would be best. also make sure he doesnt eat or acidently eat that dirt / moss....that can cause impaction damage

 

[adamkwas]

Personally, I think a little bit more coverage would be nice. Other than that, you've done a fantastic job! What are the dimensions?




Adam

 

[SliK JiM]

Cool thanks. I've got stacks of fake plants from his last enclosure but I was tempted to leave them out as he has plenty of places to retreat to. But if you think it'll be worthwhile, I'l stick them in tomorrow when I've cleaned them.

It is very branchy as I literally stuck a small tree in that got borken the other week! I've added a few more branches for more chameleon routes and the odd fake vine to bind it all together.

The moss at the bottom is fine. I've been using it with him for about 6 months now. He has no interest in eating it, just the soil, which is why I'm using the moss to cover the soil!

The dimensions are 2.0m tall, 1.2m wide, 0.8m deep! So massive!

I might try and find some hanging plant to put in the front right (you can see an empty vine hook ready to have something put into it!) Any suggestions?

Keep the other ideas flowing though!

Thanks all!

 

[pssh]

Pothos. All the way! I think the cverage it would provide on top would benefit him! If it's big enough you mght not even need fake plants.

 

[OOOst16]

what would chameleon keepers do without pothos?...i guess wed all.... /wrists

 

[hallenhe]

what would chameleon keepers do without pothos?

Pothos - it's not just a plant - it's a way of life.

Lookin' good, JiM! He won't be able to complain that there's nothing for him to see or do in there. If you didn't want to do the pothos, a spider plant is also a safe hanging plant, but I think pothos will bear up to the clamberings of a veiled chameleon better.

 

[nick barta]

Nice job. With the misters, how do you collect the water, is it inside the base?

Nick

 

[SliK JiM]

Cool! Pothos it is then! I'll make a run to the shops tomorrow to try and find one! There should be one somewhere....

Nice job. With the misters, how do you collect the water, is it inside the base?

Nick

Yeah, in the base.The base is split into 2 sections (so I could move them if I ever need to take the cage down otherwise the whole base wouldn't fit through the door!) and lined with pond liner (The join is also covered). The bottom 7cm (roughly) is filled with hydroton on top of which is a layer of mesh to separate the soil from the hydroton (This layer can hold around 35L in each base). This way, any excess water can drain through into the hydroton layer. If I need to, I just have to drain the hydroton layer by inserting a tube down the corners of each base (where I've put a slightly larger tube than the one I'll use to drain it to act in a similar fashion to a dipstick in a car so i can test the level if necessary) and draw it out. I might attach a pump to this, but at the moment, the usual syphon approach worked fine when I tested it.

 

[SS4Luck]

like everyone said some more leafy hiding places up top might be better, but it looks freaking amazing!

 

[nightcrawler]

what would chameleon keepers do without pothos?...i guess wed all.... /wrists

Am I the only one who doesn't use pothos?

I really like it, and im glad some people do use really potted plants. If I ever make myself a cage then I will do the same. The thing looks massive, and im sure your cham will love it.

 

[SliK JiM]

Am I the only one who doesn't use pothos?

I really like it, and im glad some people do use really potted plants. If I ever make myself a cage then I will do the same. The thing looks massive, and im sure your cham will love it.

Dont worry! I don't use pothos either! I couldn't find one today in any of the 4 'garden shops' I went into! How rubbish! Oh well! I'll just put the fake plants back in this evening (as they're currently soaking at the moment!)

I got the idea of another user on this forum a while back and have always wanted to do it! I've started a blog about it that I will finish one day and I will put the whole construction into a pdf file that I'll happily send to you if you want it when it's finished? It might give you some inspiration!

 

[L30girl]

my only critique would be to remove some of the tinier, sharper twigs to avoid scratches and what not... other than that... i'm jealous...

 

[Lizardlover]

Is that a fiddle-leaf fig in the way back? If so that is highly toxic if ingested.

Very nice cage none-the less, pothos all the way.

 

[beeze]

Great looking cage!

 

[SliK JiM]

Thanks! Got a few more fake plants in now! I'll take an updated picture tomorrow. Don't want to diturb him tonight!

He's started exploring the whole place now so I guess he's settled in well!

 

[ijmccollum]

One word, "wow"! Once you get it filled out with all the leaf hidies, "WOW". Curious how you did the bottom.

 

[HairyScaryMark]

Dont worry! I don't use pothos either! I couldn't find one today in any of the 4 'garden shops' I went into! How rubbish! Oh well! I'll just put the fake plants back in this evening (as they're currently soaking at the moment!)

I got the idea of another user on this forum a while back and have always wanted to do it! I've started a blog about it that I will finish one day and I will put the whole construction into a pdf file that I'll happily send to you if you want it when it's finished? It might give you some inspiration!

It's possibly just my luck but I also have never found a plant titled 'Pothos' in any Garden Centre around here or Ikea. There were a few things titled 'Ivy' without a specific name that I thought might be Pothos but nothing titled Golden Pothos, Devil's Ivy or Pothos. I will give B&Q a look this weekend but it's possible they aren't as common in the UK.

I've had Flaming Katies suggested to me on good authority they are safe. They are flowering plants so your chameleon is likely to eat them.

I had the idea of combining Pothos and Flaming Katies into a hanging basket with a Fog Machine/Humidifer sending fog over the sides of the hanging basket. Thought it would look pretty cool.

Also, that's a really amazing cage. I wish I had room for something so big but if I ever build one I may ask you for some advice or check out what you've already written.

 

[SliK JiM]

One word, "wow"! Once you get it filled out with all the leaf hidies, "WOW". Curious how you did the bottom.

The bottom is built like a normal planter. It's split it to 2, otherwise it wouldnt fit through the door (as, one I've planted it, I'd have to turn in on it's side to get it through the door, at which point, mud and plants would be everywhere! ) In each section, I've lined it with pond liner and filled the bottom 7cm (roughly) with hydroton (little clay balls). I've separated this layer from the soil using mesh, so the water can 'pool' in the hydroton layer and not bog up the soil. Then, obviously is the soil, on top of which is the moss, to hold water above the soil and also stop my chameleon eating the soil (as he likes the odd nibble of the brown stuff!) Each base can hold 35L of water in the hydroton layer, so hopefully, I should never need to empty it, but if I do, theres a small tube in each base part (in one corner), so that I can put some polytubing down and drain the hydroton layer if necessary! There will follow a better description when I get everything written up, but that the gist of it!

It's possibly just my luck but I also have never found a plant titled 'Pothos' in any Garden Centre around here or Ikea. There were a few things titled 'Ivy' without a specific name that I thought might be Pothos but nothing titled Golden Pothos, Devil's Ivy or Pothos. I will give B&Q a look this weekend but it's possible they aren't as common in the UK.

I've had Flaming Katies suggested to me on good authority they are safe. They are flowering plants so your chameleon is likely to eat them.

I had the idea of combining Pothos and Flaming Katies into a hanging basket with a Fog Machine/Humidifer sending fog over the sides of the hanging basket. Thought it would look pretty cool.

Also, that's a really amazing cage. I wish I had room for something so big but if I ever build one I may ask you for some advice or check out what you've already written.

Problem is in the UK, they just name every plant "foliage plant" so you have to try and identify it yourself! Proper garden centres have them, but the last one I went to was sold out! Homebase used to do them, but instead of it being a hanging plant, it was supported and grew vertical. It looked great, but it wasn't there when I last looked, so it didn't get to go in! Hibiscus is a great flowering plant! I might try and squeeze one of those in eventually! My last one had beautiful red flowers! Needless to say, my chameleon ate the bloody lot! Even the leaves! He just demolished that plant!