One on the way!!!
- Thread starter rgibs590
- Start date
rgibs590
New Member
This is going to be my first reptile and all hints/suggestions would be greatly appreciated!! It seems after misting there is alot of stagnant water at the bottom, I heard this is bad. What can I do to change this? Will my ficus get too much water from misting every 3 hours for 30 seconds??
cricketkilla
Member
Drill some holes in the center of the bottom of your cage and put something on the lower shelf to catch the water. You should get a dripper to go along with your mister, my mist king mists for a total of 30 minutes a day and I still use a dripper. You can check out one I made, just search for "the hobo raindome" on here. Looks pretty good other then that, keep in mind you'll need a bigger cage in a few months for him.
rgibs590
New Member
I also have a little dripper, so you are thinking that I should just run the dripper the whole time the lights are on as well? Do I need to condition my water with anything? And as a rule of thumb at what age would he need a bigger cage? (I'm sure this is very dependent on size)
cricketkilla
Member
It really depends on the Cham. My guy is 6 months and spends half of the day free ranging and seems extremely restless in his 18x18x36. I plan on building a 4ft x 6ft cage with a removable divider since I'm getting a him a female soon. That way when it's bang bang time they will have 4ft x 6ft of room to get away from each other if need be. I would just watch how he acts, and when he starts getting restless move him up. Remember though, that when you get him he will be restless and roam the cage constantly to check everything out. I do my dripper 3-4 times a day for about 30 minutes at a time. I'm very finicky when it comes to hydration.
AlecWade
New Member
You're set up looks very nice so far! Basking spot looks good and it seems dense enough in there. Make a feeding cup and place it towards the bottom right maybe!? Like other members said drill holes for drainage and collect the water underneath with a pan if you can elevate the cage. Otherwise maybe put a dripped collection cup on the left cool side of the cage? If you do this make sure to put some mesh over the top of the cup so your new Cham has no risk of drowning! Lookin good
rgibs590
New Member
Thanks man! I could definitely put a pan to catch drips where my shoes are in the picture, Also what kind of feeding cup do you think would work best? I saw the "Sunny-D Death Cup" I also saw that it looked like some people just had bowls for feeding? would the crickets get out? Is there a better way to feed juveniles vs feeding adult chams?
cricketkilla
Member
Free ranging them in the cage is what I do. It gets them more exercise and gives them something to do, in my experience it seems like they like to hunt for their food.
rgibs590
New Member
So you just dust the crickets and then dump them in the cage?
AlecWade
New Member
A decent sized cup like a white cool whip tub works pretty well. You could dust crickets and dump them in. Worms such as mealworms or butterworms wouldn't be able to get out at all but a few crickets might escape. I think the best route is to throw a good portion of your chams food into the cup and free range the rest! I've always thought letting a predatory animal hunt can be beneficial even if it had to be done in a small viv!
I've never personally made any nice feeding contraptions like many members here have but maybe I'll get around to it soon! People have made some really nice ones. Cup feeding has many benefits as does free ranging. I say if you can do both!
cricketkilla
Member
Yup! I do worms in a cup though. Sometimes I'll just let the superworms climb the screen, it usually catches his attention pretty quick!
