my cham enclosure, i think it needs a little work

L30girl

New Member
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The top right corner is a little bare, but thats where their basking light is so I was wondering if I should place more branches there? I don't want them to be able to get too close to the light. Their UVB light is behind the heat lamp and showers the back of their enclosure. I don't have a thermometer in their now, but the room temp is kept at 28 C and my geckos that have a thermometer, don't drop below 75F at night.

Right now, this tank is housing two veilds, which I know I have to seperate, they came together in the same enclosure which is a no no. We're currently working on building a DIY cage that I found on this site and hopefully the two will be seperated within the next two weeks. They haven't been fighting but I know its just a matter of time so we're going to seperate them now. Their about 4 - 5 months old and both have grown significantly in the 3 weeks or so that they've been in our care.

I have a question in regards to misting/drippers. Seeing as there isn't enough space ontop of the enclosure to fit my "little big dripper" I was wondering if misting during the day and having the dripper on at night would give them adequate water?

Also, any feedback on how I can turn this little space into a cham paradise would be greatly appreciated.
 
You need the dripper running during the day so they can have a constant supply of moving water to drink from. You will need to mist 2 or 3 times a day to keep humidity at the right levels. Chams sleep at night - they need it cooler and dark.

Although you haven't seen them fight, one or both will still be stressed by the other's presence. They really don't tolerate company of their own kind (or any other kind for that matter)! At least you are aware of this and are putting plans in place to separate them. This will be better for both of them sooner rather than later.
 
Definitely need more basking branches at different levels so that they can warm up comfortably.

Ditto to the above stuff.
 
Maybe you could figure out a way to get that bigger stick in the back to hang from the top so it can fill up the upper part of the cage.

The part near the bottom seems like it would be un-used and is jsut taking up bottom space.
 
Sounds good guys! Thanks for the advice. I'm going to try to use some tie wraps to get a stick hanging at the top. Will they not burn themselves if its too close though? That was my main concern. In all honesty, I HATE this enclosure, it is so difficult to work with. The top IMO should be metal mesh so that I could place the dripper and the heat lamp on it correctly. I would worry though that they would burn their little claws on the metal mesh? In the very least, there should be elevated sides on the enclosure so I could put a clamp light on it. There should be a water proof back on it to so that the water doesn't get onto my walls when misting. If anyone knows what kind of enclosure this is, I really don't reccommend it. Its way too small anyway, its good for a baby but we would have to upgrade whether we wanted to or not.

The enclosures I'm looking to build are the DIY PVC piping ones. I found them in this thread: https://www.chameleonforums.com/budget-no-skill-diy-cage-inspired-silverdusk-pic-heavy-26260/
They look simple enough for me to be able to do them myself, and customizable.

I do have an exo terra tank that is going to become available as I have to euthanize one of my beardies (it was sold to me by someone who failed to mention that it had a severe neurological disorder and that his legs only function opposite to normal). It has a screen top, will this provide enough air exchange for temporary use?

Again, thanks guys, I really appreciate the advice and so do Ceasar and Cleopatra ;)
 
If you have your temperature at basking spot around 30-31 C (probably around 10cm away from light/roof) then they shouldn't be able to realistic burn themselves.

You can get artificial bendable jungle vines which have a few of. I attached them using cable ties and leaning them off things. Real vines/branches are also an option.
 
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