New forum member, New cham owner. Drainage systems?

[Jesspete]

Good morning!

Been reading threads for weeks now, decided to finally post. New cham owner. We also have some crested geckos and a bearded dragon. Our system is still evolving as we discover new info. Unfortunately, we made an impulse decision to purchase a chameleon at a trade show, and the seller wasn't entirely forthcoming with his answers to our husbandry questions. So as we have learned (quickly, I hope) we have adjusted our own husbandry.

My next "project" is to get a good drainage system set up, so we can mist for longer periods. I have been looking online and at dragonstrand, but I just thought there had to be some DIY setups that weren't ungodly unattractive. Does anyone have input about their drainage systems and misting cycles?

Bonus pic of our first shed attached.


Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - Veiled, male, unsure of age, but surely only 3 - 4 months old, his body (not including tail is about 3.5 inches long), owned for about 3 weeks
• Handling - Very little, only for cage cleaning
• Feeding - Medium sized dubias and crickets. 6-7 (up to 10 if they are smaller), gutloading with butternut squash, carrots, and greens (lots of leftovers from bearded dragon), he has shown no interest in shredded collards
• Supplements - Daily calcium dusted, there are several brands as they come in every "kit" we've ever bought. Also herpivite, once weekly instead of calcium.
• Watering - Distilled water, through Monsoon mister. 1 minute, every two hours, and additional hand misting as needed. Plastic green reptile fountain in bottom, he ignores it.
• Fecal Description - Droppings look well formed and frequent, Urea is white

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - Medium screen enclosure, believe it's 16x16x36. Yes, we will get a larger one as he matures. No substrate
• Lighting - Currently using the two bulb zoomed fixture, uvb 5.0 compact fluorescent, and 75 watt basking bulb. LIghts on at 6:30 am and off at 8pm
• Temperature - ambient room temp is 73 - 75, highest basking spot is 84-86, using temperature probes and laser thermometer
• Humidity - Using both probe and gauge hygrometer, levels dip to 45-50 at night (no misting after lights out, ranges during daytime 50-70 depending on last misting cycle. Using monsoon mister, currently only misting 1 or 2 minutes every 2 hours, plus hand misting. Need to devise drainage system before dumping too much unattended water. Also have that plastic green reptile fountain.
• Plants - No, bought a coleus but need to clean and repot
• Placement - Cage is in master bedroom, door is mostly shut, bottom of the cage is approximately three feet from the floor, there is a ceiling fan, but I have kept it off since bringing cham home.
• Location - Atlanta, Ga

 

[Mchartier]

I have two Dragonstrand setups using their drainage tray. I have a small bulkhead I installed in the tray that empties into a bucket in each enclosure's stand. On average I dump the bucket every 5 days or so. I mist 6 times a day for 5 minutes each session, Mist King system. One cage has a drip setup that is run off the misting system so this one fills the bucket quicker.

One recommendation on your setup is to switch the compact fluorescent to a linear T5, and give him a 12 hour light cycle. Another is to dump the fountain, he will not drink from it and it can harbor bacteria that can be harmful to him unless you are extremely vigorous with cleaning it

 

[JacksJill]

It depends on how handy you are. I built a box that matches my living room furniture and contains the drainage system. I only have these pictures before the plants went in, but the box contains a dishpan sized container and the top is a sheet of PVC that I used hot sand to mold an inner bowl with a center hole to drain. I pull out the plastic container and empty it weekly. I have a screened drain in the center of my cage floor that keeps the cham and bugs in the cage and out of the drainage water.
.
My favorite build that I've seen other people do is where they use a utility sink and cabinet for a drain and collection system.

 

[Jesspete]

I have two Dragonstrand setups using their drainage tray. I have a small bulkhead I installed in the tray that empties into a bucket in each enclosure's stand. On average I dump the bucket every 5 days or so. I mist 6 times a day for 5 minutes each session, Mist King system. One cage has a drip setup that is run off the misting system so this one fills the bucket quicker.

One recommendation on your setup is to switch the compact fluorescent to a linear T5, and give him a 12 hour light cycle. Another is to dump the fountain, he will not drink from it and it can harbor bacteria that can be harmful to him unless you are extremely vigorous with cleaning it

10-4. I bought the fountain prior to mister, so it felt more important at that time. We do plan to switch over to the tube lights.

Re: the light cycle. I feed him in the morning, but we also liked to see if he would eat when we got home, which is around 5:30. I had the lights on longer, because of the evening feeding. Should I cut out the evening feeding, or let the lights turn off and not worry about digestion of the evening meal?

 

[Jesspete]

It depends on how handy you are. I built a box that matches my living room furniture and contains the drainage system. I only have these pictures before the plants went in, but the box contains a dishpan sized container and the top is a sheet of PVC that I used hot sand to mold an inner bowl with a center hole to drain. I pull out the plastic container and empty it weekly. I have a screened drain in the center of my cage floor that keeps the cham and bugs in the cage and out of the drainage water.
.

Now this is up my alley. We have it on a pretty cute piece of furniture, so I didn't want to ruin that look. Luckily ours is a painted wood, so should be even easier to do. Never heard of the hot sand, but I'm off to google. Thanks!

 

[JacksJill]

I heated the sand in foil containers on the BBQ on high for 20 minutes poured it on the PVC sheet and it bowed almost instantly.

 

[Jesspete]

Ah, I thought heated sand might literally be some type of moldable product that cures with heat. You just used it to shape the pvc itself. I get it now.

 

[alan marz]

If your cage is 2 ft x 2 ft or smaller and want to go cheap get washing machine tray at hardware store. I just put a hole in it and drain to bucket
or you could put bulk head on it.

 

[Jesspete]

If your cage is 2 ft x 2 ft or smaller and want to go cheap get washing machine tray at hardware store. I just put a hole in it and drain to bucket
or you could put bulk head on it.

Wanted to go cheaper for now, because I will very quickly have to upgrade his cage and lighting. Lighting first, this weekend, and then the cage in the next couple of months. Once we get his adult enclosure, we can go dragonstrand or something more significant. Great tip on the washer pan. Thanks

 

[JacksJill]

I've been experimenting with PVC a lot lately. If you heat a metal skewer and lay it against the PVC and bend you can make right angle bends.

 

[Jesspete]

I've been experimenting with PVC a lot lately. If you heat a metal skewer and lay it against the PVC and bend you can make right angle bends.

Oh, you need a youtube channel... I would subscribe.

 

[JacksJill]

Be carful what you wish for