Large Custom Cage/Viv for Panther Chameleon

[Titan791]

Hi Ladies & Gents. This will be an work in progress and therefor I thought id would be cool to engage with you ladies & gents to finally build myself the ultimate enclosure for my panther chameleon. (which I'll get at the end of the year)

The Enclosure will be rather large. The actual living area for the panther will be 2 meters (wide) by 1.5 meters (high) and 50cm deep (contemplating 60cm, will see how it goes). The front of the enclosure will be glass panels and the sides screen mesh. For lights 2x 75cm 5.0 UVB linear lights(including reflectors) on either side with a 60-70watt incandescent light (including a round reflector) as a basking light. The lights will be separated from the main living area by mesh.

Question:

• I have read that you only need 1 UVB light, but with an enclosure this size, would it be ok to have 2 UVB's and with the basking light in the middle?. If 2 UVB's are ok, should it be 5.0 or 10.0 (again keeping in mind the size of the enclosure)

This is just a very quick render to show my idea for lighting positioning.
View attachment 214256 View attachment 214257

The whole enclosure will be installed in my living room, so its something that I want to look stunning to spice up our very bare living room and to also give visitors a "wow" sensation when they see it. But besides that I want it to be perfect for the chameleon.

I welcome any judgement and ideas. Thanks ladies and gents

 

[timw1]

Keep us updated, we love to see build in progress pics!

 

[cyberlocc]

I would just do 1 UVB, and 1 for plant bulbs.

However with your cage size, I would actually suggest maybe 2 3ft UVBs and 2 grow bulbs. The UVB in the back and the Grows in the front, with a basking light between. Your likely going to one more than one of those BTW with a huge cage like that.

10 is fine for a huge cage like that.

And keep us updated, sounds like a mansion.

 

[Titan791]

Previous attachments didn't display. Just very basic concept at the moment. Before i continue i first want to finalize the lighting.

 

[Remkon]

Id either provide 1 baskingspot in the center together with the UVB or provide two baskingspits with 2 sources for UVB.

Your chameleon 'expects' to receive UVB when basking, so that seems the right thing to do.

My setup is about the same size and I chose to provide 2 spots and also 2x UVB so the enclosure could be divided in 2 smaller enclosures by just simply adding a barrier which was needed because I had 2 chameleons at the time.
After my jax died I removed the barrier for my panther to offer him extra space.
But as it turned out my panther never really used the extra space I ended up splitting the enclosure in two again so I can still have 2 good size enclosures and an extra chameleon in the near future.

So if you ever plan on splitting it in 2 i would go with 2 spots, otherwise 1 centered spot with both a heat and uvb source will probably be ok.

 

[cyberlocc]

Id either provide 1 baskingspot in the center together with the UVB or provide two baskingspits with 2 sources for UVB.

Your chameleon 'expects' to receive UVB when basking, so that seems the right thing to do.

My setup is about the same size and I chose to provide 2 spots and also 2x UVB so the enclosure could be divided in 2 smaller enclosures by just simply adding a barrier which was needed because I had 2 chameleons at the time.
After my jax died I removed the barrier for my panther to offer him extra space.
But as it turned out my panther never really used the extra space I ended up splitting the enclosure in two again so I can still have 2 good size enclosures and an extra chameleon in the near future.

So if you ever plan on splitting it in 2 i would go with 2 spots, otherwise 1 centered spot with both a heat and uvb source will probably be ok.

Good points. And it's funny you did that, I do the complete opposite haha.

I started designing my splittable for 2 Panthers, then ripped that stuff out and decided to use it for 1 Parsons. Ha.

 

[Remkon]

Good points. And it's funny you did that, I do the complete opposite haha.

I started designing my splittable for 2 Panthers, then ripped that stuff out and decided to use it for 1 Parsons. Ha.

I'm keeping in mind that I may want something bigger in the future so building it as 1 big enclosure and splitting it up just made most sense to me.
Probably not a parsons tho.