My Free Roam Setup

[edub2017]

I decided to scrap the ideas for building a new cage, and went instead with a free roaming setup. Here are the pictures.

Here is a view of the entire enviornment. If you look closely at the tree on the left you can see a green feeder cup in the foliage.

Another Angle. Thats a humidifier on the top right of the desk. I also use a 100w Power sun bulb for basking. You can also see the thermometer on the side of the wall, next to the basking light.

Here is another therm. for temps at the other end of the enviornment.

So far so good. Alfie has not left the trees yet-- which is the idea. The frame you see in the photos is taken from his old cage, so it easy to see how much of a difference this kind of setup makes. Overall, he seems much happier, and so do I!

 

[Kalibr03]

very cool

That is awsome. You have everything he needs in the trees, maybe I should do this instead of building a new cage when my guy gets bigger. Very cool, just wondering what trees those are. I have been looking to find indoor types of trees but the big greenhouse up here didn't have anything in the way of ficus and I didn't know what else there was. Anyways congrats and nice job on the new "cage" hope he enjoys it.

 

[The_Chameleon_Dude]

Looks nice.Good job.

 

[emersonc]

That is pretty cool man, i do the same thing, i have a "umbrella" plant and a five foot tall plant like the one in your pictures. Shisha loves to transfer back and forth. I dont keep her there overnight though because everyonce in a while i have seen her go to the floor and make a run for it, so i put her back at the end of the day.

 

[edub2017]

Trees?

They are ficus trees... for whomever asked. Also, the florescent hood you see in the background of one of the pics and it's respective bulb are for sale $20. Check my post in the classifieds.

 

[Eric Adrignola]

Be careful with this setup - always make sure the room this setup is in is
sealed off, and no dangers are present in the room - cats, dogs, bucket
of water, roombas.... Your chameleon, in time, will leave this setup.
He'll be content and fine and happy for a while, but eventually, they
always wander.

I've had my melleri sit in her ficus for days (she gets to get out on
weekends), but one weekend, she decided to wander. They gain your
trust, and then take off.

Just make sure it will be ok fo rthe chameleon to get down and crawl
around, because it will, eventually.

 

[edub2017]

Thank you for the concern.

I do expect with time that he will end up wandering the room, but this does not worry me. I am the only one reguarly in my room (locked when i am away), i have no other pets and the area is always clean and anything hazordous put away. You see, i use to let him wander my room, then put him back in his cage to sleep. I just thought it was a sort of pointless routine. I understand the dangers, but in my room the worse case scenario is he gets into his entire box of silikes-- well worse case for me anyway.

 

[edub2017]

dangers of the free roam

Be careful with this setup

You do bring up some good points actually, and I would like to clarify a few things if I could. Perhaps, from the beginning I made it seem as if I chose a free range on a complete whim. While I did have plans to build a cage at first, I knew if I could, realistically, provide a free roam it would be much better. Better, because I have experience with free-roaming setups. I had Iguanas in the past that had similar environments. I know the dangers: I have pulled iguanas out of tangles of cords before, chased them around for thirty minutes at a time, and waited anxiously to see if the dime one swallowed would “pass” (which it did, nine days later) . It is important to know that if you have other pets or small children it is wise to avoid the free roam method all together, I would have. A free roam is more tedious and dangerous than a cage because your entire room becomes a potential area for problems and you must keep up with cleaning and arranging accordingly. Luckily for me, I am sort of O.C.D anyway and can’t stand a messy room, so cleanliness is never really an issue– like it could be for others. It’s really a labor of love, while giving your animals a vast area to explore provides good exercise among other benefits, It is MUCH more work. Frankly, there a lot of instances where the disadvantages of free-roaming will outweigh the advantages, so you should realistically assess your quarters before making a decision, and remember your chameleon’s well being should ALWAYS be your main priority.

 

[Jerm]

You could concider adding something around the base to keep them from leaving the area like this one that I made.

Jerm

 

[Brad]

What about water collection? Misting alone will not be enough to keep a chameleon hydrated. I see carpet below the ficus trees

What about the insects that escape and infest your house?

Are you using a vapor bulb? If not, what is the uvb source?

I would love to do an indoor free roam setup, but the above reasons make me very hesitant.

 

[edub2017]

What about water collection? Misting alone will not be enough to keep a chameleon hydrated. I see carpet below the ficus trees

What about the insects that escape and infest your house?

Are you using a vapor bulb? If not, what is the uvb source?

I would love to do an indoor free roam setup, but the above reasons make me very hesitant.

I have a dripper that drips into the waterfall you see between the two trees. the waterfall does not function as a source of drinking water, but what i like about it is that the water seeps below the collection plate and is then inacessable to the chameleon.

Insects are kept in a deep--about 6" deep-- cup that is attached to the trees. Otherwise, i hand feed him, or i will let a few silkies loose on the leaves, but these are gobbled up in a matter of minutes. For crickets i pinch a leg off so they can't jump from the cup, but i don't use crickets as a staple.

I use the powersun bulb from zoo med that serves as both a heat and UVB/UVA source. the one pictured is just a regular heat bulb, as i had to wait three days for shipping, so for those few days i just took him outside in his virarium for an hour and a half so he could soak up the rich FL sun. Also, i have a clamp guard over the fixture.

 

[Brad]

It sounds like you had already thought of my concerns. Good luck with the setup. Let us know how it works out