Jackson's enclosure advice

[USSTrioceros]

Good morning & hi! New member here with new critters. I was ready to roll with an enclosure and ended up coming home with a male/female pair of Jacksons. (Xanth, I'm assuming, from Florida? Wild caught.) I confess the female was a sympathy buy because she was getting pissy at the boy chams touching her. I'm a bleeding-heart dingus.

Anyway, two chameleons has changed things with my enclosure so I am starting with this question since I have a chance to adapt that quickly.

Has anyone used something like this? It would fit my space. I like the potential, height and width-wise. I could divide it so they're not together. I'm assuming the girl is preggers, being wild caught, so there'd be room for babies if they come before I've finished researching that conundrum. With strategic placement of plastic film, I can wrangle temp/humidity since I'm in Montana, USA, and it can be dry and kinda chilly.

Thoughts? I've just joined so if there's any threads you think I should look at, link away!

Temp enclosure: girl's dorm

Temp enclosure: boy's dorm

I promise I have a better situation for them once we're home. Just glad they seem to be drinking from the bowls.

Thanks in advance!

 

[elizaann2]

Hello and warmest welcomes to you and your two beautiful xanth babies

I absolutely love Xanths they are such a special species.

The link doesn’t work for me, can you try again?

 

[USSTrioceros]

Thanks for the heads up. Here's a screenshot.

28"Wx27"Dx71"H. Obviously it's a rolling aviary.

 

[USSTrioceros]

A second option I was looking at. 27.5" square and 67" high. Both aviaries not only look nice (bonus) but have good accessibility and potential to be divided either horizontally or vertically.

 

[elizaann2]

OH interesting. So you will have a LOT of humidity and water going through your enclosure. I worry that a wooden bird enclosure would not hold up well and for long. How are you planning on attaching the lights and did you have a plan for drainage?

 

[USSTrioceros]

I was planning on having a proper tray in the bottom that can catch water and plants in their pots can sit in. I also have a living wall setup that I think would work well. Drip system for plant watering and extra drinking locations. If I do any plastic sheeting, it'll be on the back for now until I see how it manages humidity.

I have a great humidifier to facilitate some humidity and fogging. That, and several smart plugs, work through the Govee app and can be scheduled. I have the supplies to put in a misting system. The rest of the plants in that room would be slap happy.

I picked up Reptisun LED/UVB hoods to help with the original enclosure and a cloud forest terrarium I'm working on. It looks like I can just screw them in or hang them with screen for shielding from tiny paws. There are fans I can attach to the outsides. Most of this stuff will be simply diverted from the original enclosure.

Drainage I'm hoping will be slurped up by the large plants in the tub. I have siphon equipment for excess water. I'm honestly a little more worried about keeping daytime temps and humidity at a good level with so much screen. We're considered high desert. The natural temp will set itself up for good nighttime temp.

 

[elizaann2]

Sounds like you’ve put some thought into this for sure. . I also live in a very dry place. I currently have my Jackson’s in a hybrid dragon strand enclosure and I still occasionally struggle with my humidity levels being a touch too low. You could possibly cover the majority of the enclosure with clear pvc plastic sheets or corrugated plastic. That would help with humidity. Just make sure you have some open screen on the bottom and top of that enclosure for airflow.

I’m going to tag an expert diy buddy who can maybe give better advice than myself.

@crosscutts this member is looking at turning one of the above enclosures into an enclosure for a Jackson’s. Any advice on what they can do?

 

[USSTrioceros]

Sounds like you’ve put some thought into this for sure. . I also live in a very dry place. I currently have my Jackson’s in a hybrid dragon strand enclosure and I still occasionally struggle with my humidity levels being a touch too low. You could possibly cover the majority of the enclosure with clear pvc plastic sheets or corrugated plastic. That would help with humidity. Just make sure you have some open screen on the bottom and top of that enclosure for airflow.

I’m going to tag an expert diy buddy who can maybe give better advice than myself.

@crosscutts this member is looking at turning one of the above enclosures into an enclosure for a Jackson’s. Any advice on what they can do?

Thank you!

 

[crosscutts]

Thank you!

One thing you can do is put three sides with fluted polystyrene sign board will keep the water in and directed to the bottom ..