My Upgraded Chameleon Enclosure, how did I Do? Anything I need to fix?

[VeiledPanthers]

• Your Chameleon - Veiled Chameleon, sex male , About unknown age Looks fairly young though. Has been in my care for 4 months.
• Handling - NEVER he is feisty.
• Feeding - he has been fed crickets, dubia roaches , and horn worms but I don’t feed him horn worms daily, and the occasional super worms.
• Supplements - I use Repashy Calcium LoD every 1st and the 15th of every months and at every other feeding I use Repashy Calcium NoD I will give the crickets and dubias a light sprinkle of NoD daily
• Watering - Mist king comes on at 1am, goes for 5 minutes, goes on at 6am goes for 5 minutes, then goes on for a final time at 9pm and goes for 5 minutes, dropper turns on at 5:00PM and the fogger turns on at 2pm and stays on until 6pm
• Fecal Description - his feces look normal for a chameleon and he’s been pooping normally.
• History - he has been a really good chameleon since I bought him but he has a attitude and he’s been doing very good!
  
  
  
• Cage Info
• Cage Type - screen cage 24”L X 24”W X 48”H
• Lighting - 75 Watt Exo-Terra Basking light (With Dimmer) and ReptiSun 5.0 T5 high output, they go on at 7pm and off about 7pm. (And I have a Nicrew Plant LeD to help the plants grow.
• Temperature - usually 68-72 in the day time and night time is usually 60-45
• Humidity - humidity is the day is usually around 38-41% at night probably ranging around 70/80%
• Plants - Dracaena Massangeana, Birds Nest Fern, Pothos
• Placement - This cage is in my room it is on my floor BUT it’s has very low traffic, and my veiled seems fine with it. I’m 17 so it’s hard to convince my parents to allow me to put it up on a table.
• Location - Prefer to not say, but it isn’t an outdoor cage.
• I forgot to mention I do have a mist king fogger and dripping system if that matters.

 

[Beman]

Hey there I do not have time to go through everything tonight. Most of it looks spot on for general husbandry. I will check back in tomorrow.

fogger turns on at 2pm and stays on until 6pm

This though... Foggers should never be run during the heat of the day. Only at night when lights are off and only if temps are below 67 degrees. Otherwise the risk of the cham developing an RI is higher.

Little man looks to be roughly 4-5 months based on your 2x2x4 cage size.

You want more branches for him to climb on.

Per the table.... It really is needed but also how are you managing with the water run off with it on the floor? Might be a good way to talk your parents into putting it up on a table. Which will make him feel safer because he is arboreal the higher he is the less stressed he will be.

 

[VeiledPanthers]

Hey there I do not have time to go through everything tonight. Most of it looks spot on for general husbandry. I will check back in tomorrow.


This though... Foggers should never be run during the heat of the day. Only at night when lights are off and only if temps are below 67 degrees. Otherwise the risk of the cham developing an RI is higher.

Little man looks to be roughly 4-5 months based on your 2x2x4 cage size.

You want more branches for him to climb on.

Per the table.... It really is needed but also how are you managing with the water run off with it on the floor? Might be a good way to talk your parents into putting it up on a table. Which will make him feel safer because he is arboreal the higher he is the less stressed he will be.

Well as for the water, my parents bought me a tray to slip under it so water doesn’t run into the wood floors, and as for the fogger that will do, what time would you recommend to run it at? And I’ll be sure to get more branches from outside there a pain to come by in my area though and it takes forever to scrape off the bark, I get it all in my finger nails but it will do if it makes my chameleon happy lol, I remember seeing you from my previous forum four months ago, good to see you again mate you helped me a ton. (PS I don’t know how I would convince my parents to put it on the table he acts fine, I’ve tried convincing them many times but it always fails they say it will look stupid on a table apparently wish I could put it on one, but not sure how I could get them convinced.

 

[kinyonga]

You couldn't put it on an end table that's 24" X 24"?

Why would you scrape the bark off the branches? It helps them grip.

 

[VeiledPanthers]

You couldn't put it on an end table that's 24" X 24"?

Why would you scrape the bark off the branches? It helps them grip.

Well I only scrape lose bark, if it’s stiff it stays on there, And I asked them if I could put it on mine, but still nope. For some reason they really don’t want me putting it on a table.

 

[kinyonga]

I was thinking something like this...
https://www.houzz.com/products/arti...stand-table-in-russet-brown-prvw-vr~146942736

 

[Mountain Dragon]

Well I only scrape lose bark, if it’s stiff it stays on there, And I asked them if I could put it on mine, but still nope. For some reason they really don’t want me putting it on a table.

Do they know it would look better on a table as well as function better?

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

I was thinking something like this...
https://www.houzz.com/products/arti...stand-table-in-russet-brown-prvw-vr~146942736

Did you notice that that table is only 15" deep?
(Yes, I noticed you said, "something like." )

24" x 24" x 29/30" tables seem hard to find right now (even Ikea); I came across a few (various), but all are OOS.

24 x 24 kitchen base cabinets may be an option. I've found that they come in (at least) 2 heights nowadays—~29" and ~34". For a chameleon enclosure, 29" or 30" would be ideal for a 48"H enclosure.

For some reason [my parents] really don’t want me putting it on a table.

Any table, or some particular table?

 

[MissSkittles]

Reptibreeze makes a stand for their enclosures. https://www.chewy.com/zoo-med-repti...MIzd6h3Pn-8wIVDI2GCh1UmQfBEAQYAyABEgJXxvD_BwE
I can vouch for how sturdy they are. They don’t look that bad, depending what you put on the bottom shelf. I had drilled some small holes in the center of the bottom panel of my enclosure and had a drainage bucket on the shelf, hidden by plants.
Not my image…stolen off Google.

 

[MissSkittles]

I forgot to add about branches. I use natural branches that I’ve scavenged. All I do is give them a good wash with gentle dish soap, blast with the hose and let dry in the sun. I leave all the bark and lichen. The main reason to wash them is to remove any loose dirt and wild animal waste.

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

Reptibreeze makes a stand for their enclosures. https://www.chewy.com/zoo-med-reptibreeze-stand-shelf/dp/344875?utm_source=google-product&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=hg&utm_content=Zoo Med&utm_term=&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIzd6h3Pn-8wIVDI2GCh1UmQfBEAQYAyABEgJXxvD_BwE

+1. I completely forgot about that! Thanks!

When I click on it, the small version (& price) came up. I think for a 24 x 24 enclosure, the XL size will be needed.

Item Number: NT-13S​

Size: Extra Large (Fits NT-13, NT-17)​

Dimension: 25.75” x 24.5” x 27.75”​

 

[Lindasjackson]

I like that stand!! I might have to get one. What I have now is an old end table I found at goodwill for 6 bucks. It works but doesn’t really go with my furniture.

 

[kinyonga]

@Klyde O'Scope said..."Did you notice that that table is only 15" deep?
(Yes, I noticed you said, "something like." )"...yup...I did notice that...I just didn't want to spend too much time looking for one the exact size...just wanted to put the idea out there.

 

[Mrjamwin]

Hi there! I see you got a lot of good responses. One more thing I would recommend which will help maintain humidity and minimize water splash etc. Is to get some corrugated plastic sheeting which you can buy at Lowes or Home Depot. Cut the sheets to size to fit both sides and rear of the enclosure and attach them. You can also use a shower curtain and cut it to fit. If you need an example on what it looks like I can get it for you or one of our other members might have a picture handy. Again, it would help maintain the moisture in the enclosure.

 

[MissSkittles]

Hi there! I see you got a lot of good responses. One more thing I would recommend which will help maintain humidity and minimize water splash etc. Is to get some corrugated plastic sheeting which you can buy at Lowes or Home Depot. Cut the sheets to size to fit both sides and rear of the enclosure and attach them. You can also use a shower curtain and cut it to fit. If you need an example on what it looks like I can get it for you or one of our other members might have a picture handy. Again, it would help maintain the moisture in the enclosure.

The window insulation kit I hear works very well.

 

[VeiledPanthers]

Thanks for all the help, ill talk to my parents and see if they agree with the table idea, also I forgot to mention the sides are already blacked out, so moisture stays in. And doesn’t spray my walls. EDIT: Also does anybody know how long I should keep the fogger on for or when to turn it on? Thanks!

 

[Lindasjackson]

I have mine connected on a timer. I set mine to start at 1am and to turn off at 5 am. My temperatures are in the mid to low 60s when I run it. If my temps are over 67 I don’t run it at all.

 

[MissSkittles]

Thanks for all the help, ill talk to my parents and see if they agree with the table idea, also I forgot to mention the sides are already blacked out, so moisture stays in. And doesn’t spray my walls. EDIT: Also does anybody know how long I should keep the fogger on for or when to turn it on? Thanks!

Foggers should be run only at night when your temps are below at least 70f. You really need only to run it for about 2-3 hours or so, depending on how dry your house is. As @Lindasjackson does sounds perfect.

 

[Lindasjackson]

It needs to be run during the coolest hours of the night like in the wild when the fog rolls in.

 

[Beman]

Thanks for all the help, ill talk to my parents and see if they agree with the table idea, also I forgot to mention the sides are already blacked out, so moisture stays in. And doesn’t spray my walls. EDIT: Also does anybody know how long I should keep the fogger on for or when to turn it on? Thanks!

Ok so this is going to be at night only when temps are below 67. If you can get temps down to at least 65 then that is even better. Temps have to be cold when this runs. Also they really need the cool down at night. They then breathe in the cold fog and it becomes a piece in hydration. Only a piece though. You still need to mist. If you can not get your temps below that range then you should not use a fogger at all.

Really read through all the modules in this link, it will help you a lot. https://chameleonacademy.com/chameleon-husbandry-program-getting-started-with-chameleons/