Please check my enclosure!

[Fretfreak13]

I swear, this is the last thread I'm starting today. I feel like I'm spamming with so many questions! Basically, I'm a very poor college student and was kind of sticker shocked at the "complete setups" offered on some websites. I kind of wanted a little more customization, plus I already had some of the things that came with them so I went shopping through all of our sponsors and believe I've come up with a decent set up to order. It wound up costing about the same regardless, but at least it looks the way I want, and I think I got a bit more bang for the buck. This is for a male Veiled Chameleon. First, my list (rounded up to nearest dollar):

• SC-4 Cage 24X24X48 from DIY Cages - 105.00 (free ship)
• Mist King Deluxe -200.00
• Exo Terra Thermometer/Hygrometer Combo - 16.00
• Rep-cal plain calcium - 8.00
• Rep-cal calcium + D3 - 7.00
• Herptivite - 13.00
  
• FH-4 24" Light Canopy - 37.00 (free ship)
• LH-4 24" Light Canopy - 50.00 (free ship)
• x2 Reptiglow 24" 5.0 bulbs - 40.00
• **x2 42w 6500k Bulbs - 22.00

Total: ~488.00 + 50 give/take shipping = $550 ish

I'll bold my questions, cause I know I type a lot.

Are those the correct supplements and do I need any others? He probably wont be going outside except on special occasions. Cleveland, OH is pretty cold.

As you can see, there will be two light fixtures. One is for the long, flourescent bulbs and will have two reptiglow 5.0 bulbs. The other is for the screw-in household kind of bulbs and I was hoping to use the 6500k bulbs for both plant growth and basking. If you stick your head in the cage and look up, it should look like this. I really don't like the look of the "clamp" lights and would prefer to have something that really looks like a whole hood. Is this sufficient lighting? Will both the 42w 6500k bulbs be too hot? Should I replace one with something else, and if so what?

Did I miss anything? For coverage and perches I have quite a few household plants that will go in. Hibiscus, umbrella, ficus...already have 'em!

 

[RAFASTAR23]

Hello there,
Your set up looks good
I'm assuming you will have live plants to 'furnish' the cage since you decided on the 65k bulbs in your lighting. As far as how hot it will get, you need to try the bulbs for a day or so to see what happens. then you can adjust (removing a bulb, etc).

Good choice going for the Mist king in your initial set up.

 

[SMCNARY]

Hey there, your set up sounds good! I use the same supplements but also suggest vitamin A 1 time per month. I use a (for human consumption ) liquid gel cap. Poke a hole in it and put a drop on 1 feeder and hand feed it to your Cham. You can also use a rapshy vitamin a supplement. Live plants a must and with a veiled look up the non toxic plants as it may eat them!!! By the way I grew up in Chula Vista and have many friends out there still . Chams are addictive, I think you are hooked.

 

[DavidBuchan]

Hello, welcome to the forum
I'm assuming that you have seen all the great caresheets and other resources we have here, so as a fellow fret freak I'll just add this - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbB-mICjkQM
Hope you enjoy

 

[Fretfreak13]

Thanks for the replies, guys! I'll use the rapshy one, just because I'm a newb and its intended for reptiles.

And I love Mist King! I have future plans for a green house (nosy faly freerange) and will be using the huge MK system for that.

I'm normally not a skimper on equipment anymore. Working with saltwater reef aquariums for many years has taught me to save up for the right equipment first rather than buying whats cheap, hating it, and then buying the expensive one too. However, its also taught me a bit about DIY and I'll be making my own circulating automated drip system with an Aqualifter pump.May also make some DIY vines I saw on dendroboard lol

Edit: yes, I've read them all more than once. What do you play, David? I got a beautiful Les Paul last Christmas! Muse was just in town here last week and I wasn't able to go..a ton of my friends did and are all rubbing it in hardcore.

 

[DavidBuchan]

Edit: yes, I've read them all more than once. What do you play, David? I got a beautiful Les Paul last Christmas! Muse was just in town here last week and I wasn't able to go..a ton of my friends did and are all rubbing it in hardcore.

I pretend to play bass sometimes....
I've not played for more than 2 hours since I started my College course last year. I can't really play anyway....I just never manage to stay in key.... lol.....if I had Paul McCartneys sense of melody I would be a very dangerous kind of chap......
My bass is a cheap second hand out-of-tune thing. I never even bothered to learn how to tune it by ear.
I used to have a Fender Precision Bass.....about 8 years ago.....it sort of got pawned to pay off I guy I owed money to.....funny story.....not suitable for a public forum...

 

[Fretfreak13]

Oh dear...lol I live such a boring life. I don't have any crazy stories haha

My best friend is one of the best basists I've ever seen. He dropped out of high school his freshmen year and got his GED. Since then he has done nothing but play. He can play Flea solos behind his back, its ridicules...lol

 

[Hakai]

Completed pics would be fabulous.

 

[Fretfreak13]

Oh, I'll get there. lol I'm ordering this stuff in three different "sets", allowing me time to save up inbetween. One from amazon, one from DIY cages, one from mist king. My paychecks bi-weekly are only about 100 bucks, so I need some time. The mist king order can even wait until after he's here and settled in.

Good news though! I know where my cham is coming from! The infamous and wonderful Jessica (camimom) will be holding back some of her clutch from Kink, her high turquoise veiled. I get one of those guys, since I'm not quite ready for one at the moment!

 

[Hakai]

Cool! I'm exited to see how your guy/gal turns out! I'll keep checkin for pics. Good luck!

 

[Fretfreak13]

Thanks Hakai! I think way super far ahead and am brainstorming plant color schemes. I want dark foliage so that by blue-tone baby stands out, as well as if anything flowers it should be complimentary to his colors. Yellow, pink, and white. I've learned from aquascaping/coralscaping all about the need for positive/negative space and for colors to help eachother out. I've found a few safe plant lists for chams on the web and I have looked at our database here, but it seems like its lacking... I've narrowed down my potential plants to these, and I will continue to do research on them:

-Dracnea
-Hibiscus rosasinensis
-Coleus blumei
-Sinningia speciosa hybrids
-Hoya carnosa (Wax plant)
-Chamaedorea elegans bella (Bella Palm)
-Maranta leuconeura kerchoveana (Prayer Plant)
-Zebrina pendula (Wandering Jew)
-Aphelandra squarrosa (Zebra Plant)

I know you guys are gonna say pothos and ficus, but I don't like the leaf color shade on the pothos and I'm not a fan of the color of the bare branches on the ficus for what I'm trying to accomplish. I will also have a ton of hanging vines in there for the cham, as well as a few darker colored (baked/bleached) horizontal branches.

I would LOVE to do a DIY background for him with planters like you see in some of the exo terra terrariums, but I don't even know where to start. This fella's enclosures where he hung the plant pots strategically with strong fishing line has really inspired me, but I don't think the top of the enclosure could support all the plants I want in there, especially the large ones like the Zebra and the Dracanea. Having nothing on the bottom would make cleaning sooo much easier! Anyone with any ideas on building a pot-holding background that looks natural? This is done on dendroboard all the time and I snoop there, but I've never had dart frogs. For the cham I want to do it larger scale..

 

[crocky]

Looks good so far. I was going to say you can save yourself $100 and get the starter mist king. I think it is expandable to up to 10 nozzles
Also a suggestion, have a look at these lights. They are also a sponsor here and Todd has some of the best customer service. Great T5 HO lighting and if you are familiar with saltwater aquariums you know T5 HO bulbs rock. I got this exact set up and comes with the bulbs
http://www.lightyourreptiles.com/24hot5dobufi.html

Then you can just use a household bulb for basking in a dome

 

[Fretfreak13]

I thought that was the price for the starter mist king? I also added in the cost for the screen strip corner attachy things (excuse me..lol), which I think was an extra 20.

I sure am experienced with T5s, but only with salt. =) However, buying that fixture rather than the two I was gonna get from DIY will be more expensive. Both of the two I was planning on are a total of 87 with free shipping.

Do T5s provide UVB?

 

[crocky]

The starter mister is $99 and I think $5 each for the corner bracket.

Yes that light fixture comes with bulbs, HO UVB and HO plant 6500k. These lights are awesome and replace yearly instead of every 6 months which is a plus

 

[Fretfreak13]

I think I will go for that light with the basking dome, thank you for the recommendation! I will also go for the starter mister, I don't know why I was aiming for the bigger one.

Maybe you can help me though. I would like to run three nozzles: one back corner, the opposite front corner, and one somewhere towards the middle depending on plant placement. What EXACTLY do I need to add to my order that isn't included in the starter kit? I think its this (please correct me!):

-Mist King Starter Kit (comes with one L nozzle, that will be the middle cage one)
-x2 Screen top wedges
-x2 Value T Misting Nozzles (top corners)


Do I need these? Also, since its not going in the corner, what do I need to attach the middle one?

 

[Video Master]

Welcome to the forum!

I just got my starter Mist King system today. I will be hooking it up tomorrow night after work. I have a 24" x 24" x 48" cage as well and am only going to run 1 nozzle. From everything that I have seen, 1 is enough per enclosure this size, but I will be running a test tomorrow once it is all hooked up just to make sure. I can let you know to save you some $$ if it is not needed. If 1 is not enough, I know that 2 will be for sure. I also added the zip drip to my system as I liked it and for $22 it was no big deal.

 

[Fretfreak13]

Thanks Video Master, I'll hold ya to that!

What's the use for the zip drip? Why is it a big deal if a nozzle drips a little bit when they turn off or not?

This was my original nozzle placement plan. Waitin to update it from your reccomendation. =)

 

[crocky]

I think you will find one or two to be plenty. I have one right now and it gets things pretty moist. I did however buy another nozzle in case I wanted to add another mid way down in the back. But have not felt the need yet. My guy also does not care for it so i like to give him enough space to get away from it if he wants. Although I do hand mist as well a time or two a day just because I like to and Waldo seems to prefer it. I use warm water in the bottle. I think I am going to add my heater back in my misting bucket.
I don't have the zip drip and i dont think my nozzle really leaks and if it does it is really no big deal to me anyway.
Maybe some others that have had the mist king longer than I, will also chime in on their thoughts on the numbers and placement

 

[Venutus1]

I thought that was the price for the starter mist king? I also added in the cost for the screen strip corner attachy things (excuse me..lol), which I think was an extra 20.

I sure am experienced with T5s, but only with salt. =) However, buying that fixture rather than the two I was gonna get from DIY will be more expensive. Both of the two I was planning on are a total of 87 with free shipping.

Do T5s provide UVB?

Looks good so far. I was going to say you can save yourself $100 and get the starter mist king. I think it is expandable to up to 10 nozzles
Also a suggestion, have a look at these lights. They are also a sponsor here and Todd has some of the best customer service. Great T5 HO lighting and if you are familiar with saltwater aquariums you know T5 HO bulbs rock. I got this exact set up and comes with the bulbs
http://www.lightyourreptiles.com/24hot5dobufi.html

Then you can just use a household bulb for basking in a dome

Do you have any of the salt water t5 HO fixtures kicking around un-used that are the right size?

If so...
just scrape the salt of 'em
-- LOL --
and pop in a 6% Arcadia HO t5 in it and maybe a 6.5k daylight bulb if they are double bulb and rock it out!

Note:
They must be HO t5 units though.....
and not the t5 NO (nominal out-put) or HE (high efficiency) ones.
They no work with UV t5 Bulbs.

That would save you quite a bit and they would work just fine!

If the salt water has made them look cruddy-
a 4.00 can of satin black spray paint will make an old saltwater tank HO t5 light fixture look great.

Just make sure paint is dry (and out-gassed!) before getting near your animals.

And be sure to remove any plastic or glass lens or splash guard that may be covering the bulb(s) because most splash guards will filter out UV B.
Not to mention making the fixture run hotter and shortening the life of the HO t5 bulbs and fixture ballast.


Best of luck with your set up!



Cheers,
Todd



Plus, i know where you can get ho t5 fixtures WITH Arcadia bulbs for less than 80.00.

 

[Fretfreak13]

Well I don't have any laying around that are the right size. Both my fixtures are either too small or too big, but they are T5HOs for sure. And thanks for mentioning the splash lenses!!!!!! I was NOT even thinking about that! You just saved me from a dumb, life threatening mistake!

About the spraypaint though, I have a question. Have you ever painted an enclosure with it? I'm getting an aluminum cage and want the screen to stay the way it is, but I don't like the shiney frame. If it were black it would match my room better..