starting my tweeking

[John33871]

well finally done with school for the semester, and now i can start working on my new chameleon i will be getting in july. anyways i started with the temperatures first. ive got the basking at 89 and the rest of the cage ranges from 78 to 83. does this sound good? i will start construction on my mister system next week when i get paid, im so broke right now. im going to try a few things before i invest 100 dollars plus into a good mister. do yall think i should get a humidifier or should i be fine if i mist like 4 times a day for lets say 5 minutes at a time, sound ok? well thanks for any comments or advice thanks alot!

 

[John33871]

here are some quick pics of the cage, more will be added, and im sure i will need to adjust the temps once i add more. i have holes drilled at the bottom on the enclosure and plan to move it and put a large plastic container to collect the excess water

 

[Laragail]

what species are you getting?

I've got one of my cages on top of a storage container with a plastic drawer that slides out (i think it was labeled as a closet organizer) It works pretty well because I can just slide the drawer out to dump the water, without moving the cage.

Have fun Tweaking!

 

[jleahl]

Do you think the sides of the cabinet can withstand a lot of spraying? You might want to line them with plastic of some sort...or paint them with a sealant. What kind of plants are you going to put in there?

 

[Marc10edora]

your going to need way more plants in there. Add some live ones in order to help maintain the humidity. Try hibiscus, pothos, umbrella, or ficus. The more plants that they have to hide behind, means the more secure they will feel. Also Make sure that the highest basking branch is above your eye level. That will give them more security. If you put in a misting system, it would be a good idea to install a drain on the bottom of the cage. Just prop the cage up on 4" wood legs and drill some holes on the bottom. Then cover it with wire mesh. Then you can slide a bowl or something under the cage. Also, I would buy some aquarium sealant and make sure are the sides on the bottom is water tight. I made this mistake and it was a mess to clean up.

 

[John33871]

yes i know i need plants, i want to get the humidifier and mist system set up first and ill get the plants just before i get my new chameleon. i will be getting a male veiled.i am going to line the sides of the book shelf with some type of plastic, or paint, which would yall recommend? laragil where did you get your "closet organizer" at? i like the idea of using the aquarium sealant, i will for sure do that, thanks for all the advice. do the temperatures sound ok for a baby veiled basking 89 and threw out the cage it ranges from 76 to 84? to i need some adjustments? thanks for all the ideas again

 

[Laragail]

i got it at Wal*Mart

 

[John33871]

cool thanks ill get some tomorrow

 

[Marc10edora]

If your going to paint the shelf, I would use any type of laytex paint because it is waterproof. The outside or porch laytex paint works a little better than indoor. You would have to put alot of coats. Maybe 4-5 coats in order to seal it good.

 

[John33871]

i think i may line the cage with some type of plastic you know because all the water would be everywhere. but i dont know. i would have to clean it almost everyday so no germs would grow on it and get him sick. what do you all think of just putting a humidifier to hold the humidity and hand mist 4 times a day for 5 minutes and have a dripper going 24/7, sound better than a mist system?

 

[Marc10edora]

As long as you let everything dry out before night fall, you should be alright. If the cage stays wet all the time, then that's how bacteria develops.

 

[John33871]

oh, alright. i lost one chameleon to some form of bacteria causing an infection i dont want to lose another the same way. so you thing the lights will dry it enough and if i have to hand dry the plastic i should be ok with little bacteria and wash it regularly? well thanks for the advise, i really want a mist system so that he will always have water when im not around. thanks for your help

 

[Marc10edora]

Also make sure you pick up any poop or dead insects right when you see them. If insects get into contact with them, your cham will get sick by eating the contaminated insects.

 

[jasonc488]

Hi, just thought I add a little here with regards to the basking temp. Bear in mind that Velied Chams are intense sunloungers. Even with your ambient temp being 80-90, they will still bask for more heat. Velied loves the sun and you can safely reach 100 at the basking spot without causing thermal stress. Anything over 110+ will induce thermal stress. My basking temp for all my velied is at a constant 98 and I see them basking alot under this. Just thought I'd pass you my experience.

 

[John33871]

oh yea ill pick the poo up, im going to see if i can feed him in a cup and just let 5 or so run around. those tempertaratures sound to high for just a baby veiled, those temperatures are for an adult. ive never heard of 110+ basking before, but if thats what yours likes then go with it

 

[Hempa]

Hi, just thought I add a little here with regards to the basking temp. Bear in mind that Velied Chams are intense sunloungers. Even with your ambient temp being 80-90, they will still bask for more heat. Velied loves the sun and you can safely reach 100 at the basking spot without causing thermal stress. Anything over 110+ will induce thermal stress. My basking temp for all my velied is at a constant 98 and I see them basking alot under this. Just thought I'd pass you my experience.

This temps are for adults. Younger chams should not have that high temps. So the basking temp depends how old the cham is.

 

[Jordan]

I would recommend a misting system over a humidifier. The misting system will take work off of you and can do a good job of maintain humidity. The main thing here will be tweaking the cage. Once you get plants and decorations in there like you want you can work out the details of what your plan of attack will be. I guess I can really only use my veileds and misting schedule for an example. An hour after the lights come on the get a twelve minute misting session. Then every two hours they get a five minute burst. Two more hours and the get another twelve minute misting. The longer misting I have do get on the ground. These should take longer to dry as there is enough water that it gets on the floor. With the folliage covering these areas it takes longer for the cage to dry out. With the short burst they usually only really get on the leaves which takes less time to dry out as most of it is on the top level of the cage. A humidifier is going to be one more thing that you will have to clean on top of you manually misting them along with the rest of your care routine. I have used a humidifier in just the room before and it does yeild some good results or at least in my case. I do use one with my Jackson. I not only do this for humidity but for temperature swings in his cage as this is something that is very common for a jackson to experience. This is another consideration when adding a humidifier to such a small cage. Mistings can drop temperatures too. Mistings only last a couple minutes, humidifiers can run for a couple hours. This is not as big an issue once you get into larger cages.

 

[John33871]

thanks for your insight, i started working on my mist system today and i put the aquarium sealant around the bottom of the cage, just waiting for it to dry ad ill test it out

 

[John33871]

well the tweeking continues with some new plants that i just got and cleaned today, im trying to post a picture but my computer and the site are not working with me, i cant get the picture under 250kb, its starting to make me mad, ill keep trying and post it when i can

 

[John33871]

ha finally got it up, well here it is any comments would be nice, still not 100% done yet, wait on my PM-50 mist system from pro mist. that should be coming in the next week hopefully. anyways any comments good or negative would be nice thanks again