Photo of Miltons new home

[Savage]

the mesh area is 6' x 3' x 1.5'
Temp range from 90-100 depending on room temp @ basking
ambient temp 75-80 daytime
Humidity Stays 70-80 %

5 sides mesh with a removable front. - (might need to hinge this at some point )

there is a cricket proof mesh between the upper area and water area
the drip system drains into the lower tank (the filter should be able to handle most of Miltons dropping - so even though I clean regularly what I miss will not foul the tank)

The brown rock area hides the filter system
The black area hides the Auto Drip reservoir

the plant in the bottom climbs into the top area and will eventually hide the pots. but the pots will be lower since as soon as the plants acclimate to the light I will Bonsai them.

will slowly add "Air Plants" to the back wall of the lower and upper areas. and cover the top of the filter system with them - easy to remove for filter maintenance.

Bottom area will have Crabs/Fish

I'm poor right now so much of the progress will be slow.
Upper Mesh area cost (with plants) about $75 so far
Had everything for bottom area

If anyone has suggestions / comments / or criticisms I would love the feedback.

 

[CHAMaDdIcT]

im not too sure about the bottom of the cage, sometimes chams are a little clumsy, and fall (well mine has done it once) and he falls into the water......hes done and you probably want to change it from a glass cage, to a screen cage also, if your buying a veiled, then the humidity is too high, i think it should be about 40-50 RH. and the temp is WAY too high for a baby/juvenile.

 

[CleaTheChameleon]

I looks fine but like Jono said in the 3rd page its something we can experiment if it works out for you. Bets of luck


-Stefan

 

[Smokey]

Never seen anything like that very interesting

 

[hallenhe]

im not too sure about the bottom of the cage, sometimes chams are a little clumsy, and fall (well mine has done it once) and he falls into the water......hes done and you probably want to change it from a glass cage, to a screen cage

If I'm reading the original post right, there's mesh between the upper part and the water, so the cham won't fall in, and the top (dry) part is mesh, not glass.
People tend to be hesitant about mixed-use, mixed-animal enclosures, but I've never seen one quite like this, with the mesh separating the top from the bottom; would be interested to see what others think. As long as the bottom mesh will support the chameleon's weight, and he won't catch his claws/toes in it...

 

[Savage]

The barrier between the top and bottom is "egg crate" that stuff used for flourecent light fixtures. Covered with the same mesh that encloses the upper area. it supports the weight of the plants.

and yes the top is Mesh and the bottom is Plex. He is a panther chameleon and has no access to the bottom water area.

 

[CHAMaDdIcT]

If I'm reading the original post right, there's mesh between the upper part and the water, so the cham won't fall in, and the top (dry) part is mesh, not glass.
People tend to be hesitant about mixed-use, mixed-animal enclosures, but I've never seen one quite like this, with the mesh separating the top from the bottom; would be interested to see what others think. As long as the bottom mesh will support the chameleon's weight, and he won't catch his claws/toes in it...

ooops didnt read that but im also interested in a fish/chameleon/crab tank

 

[Sang]

although the viv looks nice, id still be hesitant to house a panther chameleon inside. To many variables involved, while a constant humidity is nice, you are still going to want to see that dip into the 50's and 60's to help some dry out times.

thats just me, if this works well for you then congrats, Seems like alot of maintance when you could simplfy his enclosure to be far more simple and easier to clean.

also, with the egg crate seperating the water and him, its still going to become a toilet for him.

 

[pssh]

I'm no expert on panther chameleons so I can't give the exact temperature it should be, but that basking temperature is way too high.

 

[Sang]

pssh is correct, Basking temps for panthers, at least my panthers have been best at around 82F. they will tolerate up to 86 as adults, but leave their basking area quickly.

so heat + super high humidity, no dry out times, honestly this seems like a bacteria growth house, and id be fearful of uri's

 

[lizardboy119796]

You will want to take that pool of water in the bottom out of their asap.

 

[Julirs]

I agree-not the healthiest environment.

 

[Sepioteuthis]

I don't think the water has to be a problem, healthwise. The crabs will probably eat the fecal matter and the filtration system will take care of the rest.
I also don't know how high the humidity in the top part would really be if all sides are screen.

I do think that your cham will need more vertical space than that. You're not going to have much of a temperature gradient, I would think.

Can you remove the top half without having to take apart all the 'furniture' and disrupting the cham's habitat?

Overall I'm sceptical about the long term success of this enclosure, at least I don't think it's something that would work well for me.

 

[Sancho]

Looks nice but not for a cham. It's not tall at all chams need the height I understand there is a barrier between the water and the cham area but still not a good idea and what's up with the 5 spot lights?

 

[nick barta]

Pretty interesting enclosure. I would guess you won't be having a misting system or drip system, as the water would eventually overflow?

Nick

 

[Savage]

First let me say THANK YOU to everyone who replied (I am very greatful that you guys are willing to take the time to read this and write back). please forgive me if my writing is dry. I am offen accused of comming off argumentative in writing and I dont mean to be.

I have no concerns about the waters ability to filter any waste that may end up down there. nor do I have any concern about him falling in. consider it a resivour that you can see. I do have a drip misting system and while Milton is outside I can clean his cage and drain about 10 gal of water a week from it.

His cage is 3 feet tall for a total of 7.5 feet off the ground. I think many chams are housed in 3 feet tall encosures and though I would like it to be a bit taller he doesnt seem to use much of the verticle space. mostly he travels lenght wise.

The breeder I got him from says says the basking spot for panthers should be 90-95 for babies and 95-100 for adults. also that the temp at night should not drop below 60. I do have a 15 degree difference from basking to "useable" space durrning the day and a 10-15 degree difference between day and night ambient temps. The 4 spot lights are of differing wattages and so create a gradiet not only from left to right but also from top to bottom. As well as a UV gradiet. While still lighting the length. this seems to be consistent with http://www.iexplore.com/img2/climate/mdg_02.gif . assuming that a basking spot should represent direct sunlight temps.

the humidity does drop at night to the 45-55% range.

PLEASE SET ME STREIGHT if I am being hard headed and my numbers are wrong.

 

[KrewElement394]

LOVE IT! :] i wanted to do someting like this but i did not know where to start so i just kept it simple (i wanted to add frogs, or river crabs)

 

[veiledchameleonyoshi]

Do you have a linear UVB light?

 

[sandrachameleon]

His cage is 3 feet tall for a total of 7.5 feet off the ground. I think many chams are housed in 3 feet tall encosures and though I would like it to be a bit taller he doesnt seem to use much of the verticle space. mostly he travels lenght wise.

more height would be better

The breeder I got him from says says the basking spot for panthers should be 90-95 for babies and 95-100 for adults.

that's too hot You'd cook them. 80F36C for babies, 85F/30C for adults
night should not drop below 65F and 67F/19C would be better.

the humidity does drop at night to the 45-55% range.

That's fine. What is it daytime?
edit: I see you said 80% daytime - thats too humid

 

[Savage]

its amazing to me that something that seems as simple to understand at temp can be in such disagreement but I do notice that milton prefers the cooler side of his enclosure and so will lift his lights a bit to cool it off some.

The UV light is a spot light - evidently Chams can regulate uv independantly of heat and so I didnt choose a long tube so that he could get away from it. also I give him time outside. I hear that 20 of sun is better than 10 hours of indoor uv light.

Sandra is 80 to 85 your recomended Basking temp or ambient temp? i will figure out the humidity thing and get back to you. I think I can bring it down about 10-15% with a bit more air flow in the room.