My set up for my Jackson's

[BrianD]

I was hoping you guys could give me any constructive criticism you may have regarding the set up I just finished for my Jackson's chameleon. It is an 18x18x36 all screen cage with aluminum frame. I built a pvc stand it is sitting on. I have a Mistking with a single mister that I covered with a deli cup so I get a combination of some mist but mostly large rain drops. There is a water tray under the cage. I drilled multiple holes in the bottom of the cage floor and have 4 large holes in the center of the water tray and I siliconed a funnel to the bottom so it would drain into a bucket underneath. The basking spot is a 60w standard incandescent bulb in a clamp lamp clamped to the top of the pvc stand. I have yet to see it go over 82 degrees. I have an 18" strip light with no cover that has a Reptisun 10.0 UV bulb. The plant is a ficus and I added some bamboo sticks for him to have better access to both the basking area and the UV light. I also have a Reptifogger that I run to keep the humidity up. Let me know what everyone thinks and of coarse any suggestions that could help me improve his home. This is my first attempt at a proper chameleon set up so I really want to make sure I do everything possible to make things comfortable for the little guy.

The stand...


The top with the lighting and plumbing...


The cage...


The drainage...


And my little buddy!

 

[junglefries]

you asked for it

Did you happen to watch the rawdawg??? videos on youtube? I don't know the ending numbers but he covers cage building in four parts very well. anyways here it comes: you need more bramches, lots more at various heights. bamboo is fine, what i use. Get rid of the 10.0 & get a 5.0. The ficus can produce a wax that is bad for your cham's eyes. try umbrella, pothos, and hibiscus. With umbrella and pothos being better, and what mine enjoy. Reptifogger is an EXCELLENT idea especially for jacksons. seriously look up the rawdawg guy and you'll see what i'm talking about. That redneck (no offense) knows his stuff. P.s. make sure none of the other animals lights are on at night. no blue or red even. your jax can see them and cause light and disrupted sleep patterns. for a newbie, your effortis umatched. excellent attempt. i can't count how many mistakes i made at the beginning..

 

[Slug]

I love the stand! I would not mind having plans to make my own. Currently, my Jackson's cage is sitting on a modified glass top end table. (The mod is that the glass is gone and I angled the cage using some PVC pipes to help the water tray drain.)

Also, any chance you could post a pic of the top of the cage to show how you have the Reptifogger set up? It looks like you have it going into something black, but I cant tell what it is. I also really like the shelf you built on the side. I had to modify the fogger with some PVC pipe, so I could keep it nearby, but make it reach. I think the efficiency of the fogger has lessened because of this, but the humidity stays in the range I need still due to misting.

More pics are always welcome!

 

[BrianD]

I did see a few minutes of the video from Rawdawg, which is where I got the idea for the stand. I was unaware about the ficus being an issue. I thought it was a common plant kept in chameleon enclosures. It does feel a little bare to me. I like the idea of adding an umbrella plant and some pothos. I will try and get some new plants soon to add. I will also try and get a photo of the mister. I have the hose modified at the end so that it can go through the screen. I noticed that the water built up on the outside of the screen and stopped the fog from going in so I plumbed it to a plastic fitting and made a small hole. Now it works great. I placed the cham in there on Sunday night. I saw him eat last night. The room he is in is my frog room, which is temp controlled at 74 degrees and has a 12 on 12 off light cycle. It is nice and dark in there during the dark cycle.
Thank you for the responses.
Any other suggestions?

 

[CLP]

Ficus can cause irritation to some chams, but not always. It is a plant commonly used though. I have one in one of my chams enclosures that he takes bites of on a regular basis with no issues, so I wouldn't necessarily replace it, but you need to watch to make sure it doesn't bother yours.

I would recommend more plants. Not only to give your guy more coverage but also to help hold in more humidity.

Love the stand!

 

[lancaster0861]

I think it looks great for a setup! Some people have had issues with the ficus sap, but honestly their are so many people who choose to use these trees as the center piece of free ranges or cage foliage. I personally would not get rid of it but i would add another live plant. Maybe a pothos hanging and a few more brances or vines would be perfect. As i said some people have issues with the ficus but i believe more people use them than not and do just fine with them. Of course some chams can just be irritated by them but of course some may not. People and chams love them because the amount of coverage they offer and the easiness of keeping them as an indoor plant. Also, some chams love to munch on the leaves. Some rotating of the plant is neccessary though so you may have to look into that. I would just try it and monitor your cham to see if it is causing any eye irritation but if its not than i say keep it. I think most people encounter problems when their chams start to rub their eyes on the branches and get the sap in them. I think if you are misting, hydrating, and providing proper supplements than the chameleon will not have any eye problems that will cause him to rub on the branches. Proper care should keep eye rubbing to a very minimum. I think a lot of folks may get into trouble when they aren't misting properly and the cham develops retained shed or can't flush out their eyes properly. This leaves the chameleon no way to clean his eyes and is forced to try and rub the debris out wich leads to sap in the eye. My advice is just do the right things and your chameleon should be fine. If you do decide to pull it out, I would juts use it as a nice center piece to a fun free range for your guy.

 

[Solid Snake]

Jdog1027, also known as rawg277201 on youtube, is a great dude, and does have excellent videos. Especially this one:



You should watch it often.

Yes, it is a bit bare, but youve done some neat things, and have a good base to work from.

Especially with all the other stuff going on in the room you have the enclosure in, your chameleon will feel alot better with more cover.

Here is a link to a jacksons cage build I did:
http://s618.photobucket.com/user/davidfishman/library/Cage Build?sort=2&page=1
...and a few video examples I hope will help give you a better idea of what to shoot for:







I dont recommend bamboo, as it can be slippery, and the chameleon can fall, especially if it is wet.

Fresh branches and vines from outside is best.

 

[BrianD]

I will definitely get some more plants in there ASAP. I'm also looking forward to watching the videos you linked Solid Snake, which I will have to do tonight since my work internet is restricted and they get blocked.
You recommend branches from outside instead of bamboo. Do you treat them in any way? Do you let them dry out or bake them or anything? Also, I was trying to come up with a good way to anchor them. The bamboo is secure, but it is just wedged in there so it limit's how much more I can add. Every time I add a new one, one that is already secured falls How are you guys all mounting branches to your screen enclosures?

 

[jackschamnewbie]

I did see a few minutes of the video from Rawdawg, which is where I got the idea for the stand. I was unaware about the ficus being an issue. I thought it was a common plant kept in chameleon enclosures. It does feel a little bare to me. I like the idea of adding an umbrella plant and some pothos. I will try and get some new plants soon to add. I will also try and get a photo of the mister. I have the hose modified at the end so that it can go through the screen. I noticed that the water built up on the outside of the screen and stopped the fog from going in so I plumbed it to a plastic fitting and made a small hole. Now it works great. I placed the cham in there on Sunday night. I saw him eat last night. The room he is in is my frog room, which is temp controlled at 74 degrees and has a 12 on 12 off light cycle. It is nice and dark in there during the dark cycle.
Thank you for the responses.
Any other suggestions?

it is a very common plant, I have a small one at the bottom of the cage and my juvenile jackson sleeps on it every night without issue. The problem would be whether or not your chameleon tries to eat the plant or is heavy enough to break branches, which would cause the sap to excrete. Having a hibiscus will provide good texture of branch for them to itch/clean their eyes on even though I typicially see her cleaning her eyes on the grape vine perches or the screen. Deffinitly want to add a lot more branches and a couple more plants.

Hobby stores like hobby lobby or michaels carry grapevine wreaths that work great for connecting plants. I always soak mine for 24 hours before placing them in the oven to kill any potential bacteria and cook out or wash away any type of preservatives that may be present on them. Typically the "natural" name bearing brands will not spend the extra money on preserving their products as it lets them claim to be natural, which is really popular this day and age.

The cup around the mistking seems like rain overkill. The mister should fire for a couple minutes every time the cage is completetely dry and re soak 3/4 of the plants. Always leave a quarter of the cage that is always dry. Jacksons need a cool dry bottom and a warm and dry top

The fogger having its hose placed on top and sealed as tightly to the screen as you can (I used polly tape) should apply enough pressure for the condensation to drip through without blocking the mist from entering as well. I use this to keep the back left corner wet, which is the farthest point away from the basking light)

The ammount of constant moisture that will be sitting at the bottom below this dripper like fogger will put you at risk for bacterial growth and over watering of whatever plant the drops are dripping down into the roots of. I had this problem and ended up replacing the pvc bottom with all screen. You also have the issue of keeping your fogger in ship shape and free of any bacteria that likes to grow in these units. The bacteria also become atomized and will cause respiratory problems.

That redkneck guy is great, he just did not adress the fact that if the conditions are not sanitary and very well kept, the ammount of moisture he suggest you provide is very conducive to upper respiratory infections(URI's). Make sure that your enclosure has time to dry before the next misting cycle begins. This will help keep humidity up and temps down, which is what jacksons thrive in.

Look for a dwarf schefflerra, the schefflerra aboricola and some type of well pruned dracaenia. Pothos are good too but I removed mine after learning about the calcium oxalates that make them toxic if eaten. My young jackson kept bitting at the leaves and it made me nervous.
Braided habiscus seem to be the preferred plant by all of my young chams. Not sure why but I think it might be the edibility and good texture on the stems.

 

[jackschamnewbie]

some people use tacks or screws to anchor perches, I anchor mine with mild tension between plant stems and nodes. I figure that this will not work once when they start to gain mass but for now it is working perfectly well.

I have seen a lot of twisted willow branches simply cut to a perfect size to provide tension on both sides of the screen to hold it in place. However when I attempted this it resulted in having to re screen the sides of my exoterra

 

[BrianD]

OK, so I have added some more foliage and moved the perches to spots better suited for basking or getting UV exposure. I have not replaced the bamboo yet, but I will be getting some nice manzanita branches soon to add to the cage to increase climbing highways and chill spots and to replace the bamboo. I also removed the deli cup and am letting the mister work normally. Still using the fogger. I also added a pic of the tip I put on the mister per Slug's request. I have a couple really nice pothos with some good runners that I was going to add in there but I am going to wait until I get the new wood in there first so I don't take any chances breaking the plant taking it in and out. Here are some new pics. Please, more suggestions/recommendations would be appreciated!

 

[BrianD]

I also was wondering if anyone knows if branches from my cherry tree were safe. I'm going to be trimming it soon and some of the smaller branches may make nice perches. It would also add color and texture variety from just manzanita.

 

[BrianD]

I also just recently added a 6500k CF to help keep the plants growing. It is slightly raised up above the cage top, so it doesn't change the temps inside at all. I don't think the UV bulb and the incandescent basking bulb were going to keep the plants alive for long. Good idea?