NEw enclosure With no water !!!!

[Rstuart]

we got our cameal a new enclosure...... we got her the 175 gallon flexarium

we useto have an all glass terrarium wich was definetly not suitable for her
but it had a way to have a water fountain setup inside witch this new flexarium does not

i notice a bunch of you have the same type of enclosure and wondering how to get a fountain inside ..... does she really need a moving water system inside her enclosure ..... or could i just mist her cage more and get another dripping system?

 

[blackbetty]

I dont know that Ive ever seen someone with a fountain in it?
I just mist and use a dripper up top. I have the same cage just a tad bigger. I just set the dripper on top so that the pvc on the corner against the wall supports the weight since putting it on the mesh will sag it..and then I have the tubing on top of the cage over a plant so when it drips through a cage, it hits the plants. I also mist 3-4 times a day for about 3-4 min each with warm wate r(hot outta tap). I like that you used a lamp to clip your heat lamp onto. Can you move it up though? Not sure its exactly the best to have it shine in their face rather than overhead or at an angle? I also use a screen lid on top, the corner of the screen lid ont he corner of my cage to give support for the tube light UVB.
Ben's cage (i use the juice container as a self made dripper)

Top of Leos cage (and my heat lamp is inside the hood, its a 3 in one for those who were gonna pounce about no heat lamp visible)

[/IMG]

 

[lbesok]

It is NOT recommended to get the fountain that you speak of, due to increased bacterial growth. A drip system and misting a few times of day should suffice! Also I would recommend, if you haven't already (it's hard to tell in the pic), elevating the cage off of the floor to allow for better drainage possibilities, and a more content cham.

 

[blackbetty]

It is NOT recommended to get the fountain that you speak of, due to increased bacterial growth. A drip system and misting a few times of day should suffice! Also I would recommend, if you haven't already (it's hard to tell in the pic), elevating the cage off of the floor to allow for better drainage possibilities, and a more content cham.

The cage looks to be on a table.

 

[dodolah]

no fountain, please.
Also more foliage on the bottom part.
If possible, lift the cage a little bit more so the highest vine in the cage is higher than your eye level.

Is the living room high traffic?
I would suggest moving him to area where there is not a lot of people going in and out.

 

[Rstuart]

thnx yea i got a taller pole to clamp my light 2.... its above the cage now ....im on the way to the pet store to see if they can get me a 2 in one light ......and im getting a table for the cage build right now it will elevate it about 2 more feet .... and when the girl that is living with me moves out i will be moving her into her own room and out of the living room lol .....

 

[blackbetty]

Sounds like you take advice well. Good luck!

 

[Rstuart]

haha yea ..... no luck with that 2 in 1 light but i got one that holds 4 uvb bulbs... will be better than the smaller one i had .....

 

[blackbetty]

What do you mean 4? All you need is a single 5.0 UVB linear. No spiral. And a heat light (even just aplain incandescent bulb, i use 2 40 watts since mine is a uvb linear and 2 bulb spot).

 

[Rstuart]

y not the spiral bulbs .... are they not the same as the long ones??....

this is what i got



thats what we have been using just the one with 2 bulbs tho when she had a smaller terrarium


and i got a 150 watt heat lamp bulb.... is that too much??

 

[Syreptyon]

PLEASE get rid of the spiral UVB bulbs. They are known to cause eye problems and should be avoided. Use a linear UVB like Repti-sun 5.0.

The 150W heat bulb may or may not be too much. What is the temperature in your cham's basking spot?

 

[summoner12]

The coil lamps are very bad for chams.

You should read up on the UV Guide website about them.

 

[Brad Ramsey]

Here is some reading on why those bulbs need to go:

http://www.uvguide.co.uk/phototherapyphosphor.htm

and no, they are not the same as the linear tubes.

Read here too:

http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/

-Brad

 

[millionsofchameleons]

lets not forget those spiral bulbs that are shown may not even be uvb bulbs. are those regular energy saver bulbs just to light up the cage or are they made for reptiles? i wouldnt think energy saver bulbs would be bad. right?

 

[Brad Ramsey]

lets not forget those spiral bulbs that are shown may not even be uvb bulbs. are those regular energy saver bulbs just to light up the cage or are they made for reptiles? i wouldnt think energy saver bulbs would be bad. right?

How much UVB would they be providing?

-Brad

 

[millionsofchameleons]

now i feel like im in trouble. but i dont think regular energy saver bulbs for households have much if any uvb output and should be ok to light up the cage. i could be wrong though.

 

[summoner12]

now i feel like im in trouble. but i dont think regular energy saver bulbs for households have much if any uvb output and should be ok to light up the cage. i could be wrong though.

or your right... but if your right than why isn't he using a UVB lamp?

 

[millionsofchameleons]

why was he using a fountain? but id wouldnt want them to throw out a semi expensive light hood that was used for light safely cause they took advise off here. you just never know. but they prolly are uvb anyway so im shutting up. goodnight everyone.

 

[chequepoint]

The biggest reason that this problem occurs again and again is that companies like exoterra market their waterfalls directly for chameleons. They put chameleons on the box, photoshop chameleons onto the waterfall, etc.

The pet stores talk to their exoterra or zoomed reps and are told "This is a great way to provide water for chameleons. Chameleons only drink moving water" Which is a half truth, so the pet stores pass that information onto their customers. They're more than willing to do that because they make more profit on a waterfall than a little dripper or spray bottle.

The customers love it because lets face it, this is a geek hobby, and geeks love gadgets.

The pro-active solution here would be to get several well respected chameleon vets and experts to write letters detailing that a recirculating waterfall is not an appropriate source of water for a chameleon, and in fact is detrimental to their captive husbandry. We would have to then attach to that a signed petition from the members of this community asking them to change their packaging to no longer reference chameleons on the box, for the health of the animals.

The letters and petition would need to be both mailed to the companies in question, and published online, with copies sent to prominent reptile magazines and such.

Then you'd have to sit and wait for a response. Its a lot of work, but if someone decided to take up the cause they could probably get things changed.

 

[addicted]

That's a good idea, it's very wrong of them to suggest that waterfalls are good for chams. Especially to an unsuspecting buyer, most people assume that the petstore will give you the correct advice, when what they're really giving you is the most 'cost effective' advice!