Remote monitoring system

[broody]

Hi,

Are there anyone interested in a remote monitoring system for their reptile pets?

I'm a recent chameleon owner. Just a week ago I took vacation out of town. However, I did not have any idea how I was going to care for my pet while away. And as some of you might know, chameleons requires a lot of attention, tank temperature, watering, etc.

Anyway, long story short, I couldn't find an existing product to do this, so I devised a system using a micro controller, a few relays (for water and UVB light), and a webcam that captures timelapse. You can checkout a live feed here: http://www.nocknock.io

I'm wondering if there are other pet owners who might be interested if there was something like this available in the market. I'm considering a kickstarter campaign.

Thanks

 

[TreyLcham]

Just curios, why do you have substrate and minimal branches? Other than that, thats a nice idea, but im not that worried about problems that can happen and feel very good about my setup and my chams health when im out of town. That would be fun to add to a youtube channel so that anyone could see your chams live feed at any time though =)

 

[broody]

Thanks. So you can probably tell I'm a newbie at this. The store that I purchased this from did say to have branches in the tank since these guys like to be in high places but I didn't know how many.

Could you please tell me what are some methods you use when you're away for say about a week? Other than having someone else take care of it of course

 

[Blink]

I don't mean to be a pest, but you really need to revamp your entire setup. First off, chameleons do much better in vertically oriented screen cages, rather than tanks. This allows for air flow and ventilation and more climbing space. Second, substrate is a big no no. It can easily cause impaction. Most chameleon keepers keep nothing on the bottom, since chameleons rarely touch the ground. If your cham is a female, the bottom is an entirely different story, as you would need a properly set up laying bin. You cage also needs a lot more foliage to provide hiding places and security for your chameleon, along with more horizontal perches as mentioned above by TreyLcham. Misting will have to be done more often that every six hours, as that is their only source of water. I also noticed... Do you have a light on at night? He won't need one. Any light at night, event the "night" lights will keep your chameleon awake. They need 12 hours of total darkness to sleep. Once again, I don't want to nit pick, just trying to help!
When going away, the key really is automating everything from lights to mister. Feeding, you would need an available person for that.

 

[Rufi0]

I use a Motorola Scout 83 pet camera. Works off of Wifi. Can access it via the web or with a free app. It measures the room's ambient temperature and can warn you at set "too hot" or "too cold" values. Has motion and audio detections (doesn't really apply for my chameleon as he doesn't move fast enough or make noise, I suppose if he dropped and made a noise it would notify me). Has an IR camera so can see in the dark (again what is there to see of a motionless sleeping cham). You can move the camera remotely so i can try and find him at the top of the cage or the bottom and I can see if his automated dripper or his humidifier is working.

Basically any IP camera would do to bring a little peace of mind when i'm at work. I have come home from work once because I noticed his automated dripper wasn't working via the camera at a certain time when it should have been working.

I suppose I could move his humidity display and basking temperature closer to the camera so i can see the actual reader but I know the humidity is pretty constant at 60% when the humidifier is on and his basking temperature is pretty stable in relation to the ambient room temp.

The other good thing about the Scout is its easy to get his night time temperature down without checking temperatures all the time. I've set the minimum temp to 18 degrees so I leave the window open when he's gone to sleep and wait for my phone to buzz when it's low enough and then close the window so it doesn't drop further.

 

[broody]

I don't mean to be a pest, but you really need to revamp your entire setup. First off, chameleons do much better in vertically oriented screen cages, rather than tanks. This allows for air flow and ventilation and more climbing space. Second, substrate is a big no no. It can easily cause impaction. Most chameleon keepers keep nothing on the bottom, since chameleons rarely touch the ground. If your cham is a female, the bottom is an entirely different story, as you would need a properly set up laying bin. You cage also needs a lot more foliage to provide hiding places and security for your chameleon, along with more horizontal perches as mentioned above by TreyLcham. Misting will have to be done more often that every six hours, as that is their only source of water. I also noticed... Do you have a light on at night? He won't need one. Any light at night, event the "night" lights will keep your chameleon awake. They need 12 hours of total darkness to sleep. Once again, I don't want to nit pick, just trying to help!
When going away, the key really is automating everything from lights to mister. Feeding, you would need an available person for that.

Thanks for the info! I really appreciate it. I'll make some changes very soon here.

 

[broody]

I use a Motorola Scout 83 pet camera. Works off of Wifi. Can access it via the web or with a free app. It measures the room's ambient temperature and can warn you at set "too hot" or "too cold" values. Has motion and audio detections (doesn't really apply for my chameleon as he doesn't move fast enough or make noise, I suppose if he dropped and made a noise it would notify me). Has an IR camera so can see in the dark (again what is there to see of a motionless sleeping cham). You can move the camera remotely so i can try and find him at the top of the cage or the bottom and I can see if his automated dripper or his humidifier is working.

Basically any IP camera would do to bring a little peace of mind when i'm at work. I have come home from work once because I noticed his automated dripper wasn't working via the camera at a certain time when it should have been working.

I suppose I could move his humidity display and basking temperature closer to the camera so i can see the actual reader but I know the humidity is pretty constant at 60% when the humidifier is on and his basking temperature is pretty stable in relation to the ambient room temp.

The other good thing about the Scout is its easy to get his night time temperature down without checking temperatures all the time. I've set the minimum temp to 18 degrees so I leave the window open when he's gone to sleep and wait for my phone to buzz when it's low enough and then close the window so it doesn't drop further.

Okay, this is pretty cool and pretty cheap too!