tupper ware bottom?

[eldarado]

does any one in here use the screen cages with a Tupperware bottom? what I mean is. putting a 3 inch layer of gravel or pellets.. then a plastic mesh, and then a layer of organic soil, then planting your plants inside the soil instead of putting potted plants in the enclosure.. you would be able to put a drain with a plug on the tupper ware container.. and drain the water maybe once a week.. because it will fall into the gravel area.. then you could cover all the soil with the dollar store rocks.. this is the method I used years ago with jacksons,carpet and veiled
chameleons.. I was curious because you dont here of this any more.. but that is the way they always did it before.. it is pretty easy to maintain because the screen frame snaps off the tupper ware container.. you can clean and maintain the rocks and soil with very little difficulty's.. i would love to no if any one on here uses this technique...and to here how it worked for them if they do..

 

[Nicodemayo]

I would just place the plant in the Tupperware, and when you want to drain it, lift up the plant. Adding layers of crap just makes things complicated and cleaning up more of a hassle. Try to keep things as simple as possible. I just have the bottom of my cages line with paper towels and when they poo i just replace the paper towels. The paper towels also soak up the extra water. But if it works for you all the power to ya.

 

[Justin Carl]

you know what i found easiest.... i get a plastic container like a kiitly litter box place it in the cage with the plants inside of it. Then drill a hole for the water to come out. I also put a water catch inside of my large cage with scrren ontop. That way chams and bugs dont fall in.

 

[eldarado]

the tupper ware is what Ive been doing for 8 years.. the pvc bottom is a nightmare to drain.. you need a custom rack with a drain pan under it..and placing a container in the tank is just down right dangerous for the cham..this method allows you you drain when the water fills in the drainage layer... my plants have grown to great beautiful specimens.. they do it in terrariums.. I dont like the paper towel thing because I seen crickets eating the poop after about 1/2 hour of being in there.. because if he dont get them the crickets have nothing else to eat.. but I cup feed most of the time so that aint a problem any way..cleaning the rocks on the top is just as easy as replacing paper towels.. just my opinion..
for the 8 years I been keeping chams, this is the best for drainage purposes.. and all unwanted matter recycles it self through the drainage layer.. my question was, does any one else do this? not, should I do it? I can not change something thats proven successful for me..for so many years.. with three different species.. Im sorry if this seemed harsh.. I didnt mean it to sound like that..

 

[Justin Carl]

Well if it aint broke dont fix it.
I have never heard of anyone ever doing it before.
If it is successful lets see some pictures of it.
I dont think it would be something i would try. Just because soil turns to mud when it is wet. Plus i keep My chameleons inside and dont want the smell of saturated dirt and plants.
I am currently working on an outdoor enclosure to house my chameleons in and i am really excited.

 

[Nicodemayo]

I cup feed all my animals so the eating poop thing ive never considered. Good thing to point out though.

 

[eldarado]

actually the dirt gets fresh water all the time.. it does not get stagnant. it drains into the bottom layer before it hurts the plants or the cham for that matter.. my plants grow so fast its unreal.. its actually a very effective method.. thats why I was curious if any one else does it.. right now I use a 6" glass tank.. 2" layer of gravel on the bottom,plastic screen mesh separating the soil from the gravel.. the top soil layer is about 4" and all of the soil is covered with dollar stor rocks.. and top of the enclosure is made out of the screen kit from home depot.. with a plexi door and a plexi back.. the top is screen and the two sides are screen.. it is atached with magnets to the glass tank..I need to do this because I live in philly and it gets very cold.. my temps are maintained very well.. I have a ficus in the soil and a umbrella plant.. the umbrella plant is growing and forming new leaves at a ridiculous rate.. here is a pic.. the cup on the bottom was just a trial.. I removed it after a week.. I got to worried..

 

[eldarado]

in the pic he was climbing on the side.. that was the first week of the cage.. he was just exploring.. now he loves it.. and the plexi door does not reflect like you would think.. he is almost five months now..and I need to upgrade very shortly.. I might use a 36" wide x 24" deep x 10 inch high tupper ware container for the soil and drainage layer .. and screen mesh casing on the top.. so the total height will be 48" with glass bottom I have now drainage is a little harder because I have to cyphon it out with a tube once a week.. but its not so bad..

 

[Scotty]

I don't have this setup for my Cham, but I do for my Boyd's dragons...
How I do it is like this:
My enclosure is a 36x36" corner aquarium, that has a 3" drain hole drilled into the bottom, which has a vessel to catch the water under it, all enclosed in a cabinet so you can't see it.
Firstly I add some big pebbles to cover the bottom of the enclosure,then i place a layer of screen mesh on top of the pebbles and obviously over the drain hole first.
After that comes a layer of small aquarium type pebbles, the real small ones...
then i add a layer of coir/peat moss about 6" layer.
your plants are washed and the roots are cleaned from all dirt and then they are placed directly into the substrate.
I have different plants in this enclosure that you would normally put in a cham cage, but it's the same principal and it works a treat.
I have honestly thought about having this same substrate in my cham cage, but because this is my first cham, I wanted to set up my enclosure with the tried and tested methods first up!
I may still do this after I feel more comfortable with my Chameleon husbandry skills in the future.
But in closing this method is clean as you are constantly flushing out the substrate, although YOU MUST HAVE GOOD DRAINAGE, it keeps the humidity up and the plants thrive....All good in my books.
Cheers
scott.
PS. I'll post pics when I get home from work.

 

[eldarado]

i dont recommend this for first timers or beginners.. and most dont recommend this at all..but yes the plant soil is as cleaner like this.. its always flushing out the moisture.. and the humidity in my enclosure is at around 60 at all times.. and if crickets do hide and die.. they decompose in the soil very quick .. i have not found one dead cricket in this cage yet.. but I do cup feed.. and I clean his poop every mourning of the rocks or plant leaves.. if you have exp. with chams..
this is a very successful method...

 

[Nicodemayo]

Do you ever have issues with fungus gnats with the soil thats constantly wet?

 

[eldarado]

no.. the soil never stays wet for that long.. its always flushed out.. I see them every now and then.. maybe one every couple of weeks.. but it is very rare..

 

[eldarado]

and I think the ones I see are just plant nats.. I only seen one since I have built this enclosure.. and that was a month ago..

 

[Scotty]

That's the beauty of coir, it has no critters in it originally, so if your plants are fully cleaned there is no way for an introduction of pests you don't want...
Well that's the theory anyway!
Cheers
scott.