Water issues?

[Justin Carl]

Justin: What are you referring to with the triangles? I would love to be able to direct the water to the center of the hole. So far it has been the weight of the plant(s) pushing down on the base . . .

Jim

Here is what I'm talking about.

 

[Chameleon Nation]

misters

I use 260 gallon flexariums with liners in the bottoms. The misting intervals are about 3 hours apart so by the time the misters have gone off the second and third times the water for the previous misting has evaporated. I have to refill the 5 gallon reservoir about every four days. I also have an issue with excess amount of fluoride in our water where we live. After the water dries on the leaves there is a whitish residue. Does anyone know of anything that I can put in the water to reduce this issue. Keep in mind that it has to be "chameleon friendly".

By the way nice wheels Justin Carl.

 

[IndyFan]

Royden I too have a great deal of trouble finding a system that works form me.
Hopefully this will be my last attempt.
I am in the middle of building several cages that will use the triangles that go down to a center point with a drainage hole.
I just hope this will be it for me.

cainschams I'm also doing something similar to Chris' design for growing babies.
The cage will be a total of 7 feet tall. The top section will be 32" then an air gap of 8" and another cage of 32". The bottom will be 18' and contain a water catch bucket.
The way it is designed is so that I can house babies or single juvenille growing chameleons.
I'm also using the triangle drainage method on these cages.
Water will drip from the top down to the second cage and end up in the bucket at the bottom.

Did you really mean 18 feet or inches?

 

[IndyFan]

I use 260 gallon flexariums with liners in the bottoms. The misting intervals are about 3 hours apart so by the time the misters have gone off the second and third times the water for the previous misting has evaporated. I have to refill the 5 gallon reservoir about every four days. I also have an issue with excess amount of fluoride in our water where we live. After the water dries on the leaves there is a whitish residue. Does anyone know of anything that I can put in the water to reduce this issue. Keep in mind that it has to be "chameleon friendly".

By the way nice wheels Justin Carl.

So with the flexarium how were you able to create a surface on the top and have something to catch water underneath and still be able to support the weight of plants?nevermind i take it you dont actually drain the water it just evaporates.

 

[Justin Carl]

Did you really mean 18 feet or inches?

inches of course.lol

 

[JimNPHX]

Here is what I'm talking about.

Wow that looks sweet! I bet you have no problems directing the water. How is that holding up with it being wood?

Looks really nice!

 

[Justin Carl]

I'm currently building them right not.
I'm using paint and epoxy to seal the wood.
Yehy sould work fine when I'm done.
The first one will be done by saturday.

 

[IndyFan]

inches of course.lol

No i wasnt sure if you were going to have multiple rows of cages with one bottom because those triangles look tricky but seem like they would be easier on a bigger surface

 

[Justin Carl]

I wish I had enough room for a cage that was 18 feet long!

 

[IndyFan]

yeah i dont think im crafty enough to build that out of wood i am a certified welder but i have no clue when it comes to wood

 

[kylerenz]

Sometimes too much water is a problem. Of larger breeders I talk to they generally use three mists daily with thirty second intervals. I use three mists with minute intervals because my timer does not go down to the second. If too much water gathers you can have bacteria issues in your cage that your chameleons are very susceptible to. I always line the bottom of my cages with paper towel to catch the excess water but generally with three mistings you will not have a lot of excess. Just to note all of my chameleons are very well hydrated. Remember in the wild chameleons get most of their water intake in the mornings from the dew.

 

[Scotty]

Here is what I'm talking about.

That's what I was explaining to the boys making their moulded drip trays, think it would be better to direct the water to the drain..that's awesome mate, well done Justin, nice to see someone with the same ideas!
Only difference is I have the ideas but can't really build em that good!
Cheers
scott.

 

[Justin Carl]

I cant take credit fot the idea.
A member here came up with it, his username is lenny.

 

[Professor Booty]

I have 6 cages on an auto mister system. They each have a small drain in the middle that flows into containers. (2 of the cages are small 15x16x20 and I have a valve that reduces the water to their cages).
The misting is scheduled for 4 times a day at 2 minutes each. This seems to present enough opportunities for drinking so I do not use drippers.
I had 2 drippers set up but they left a lot of water so I stopped. I read in one post that you need to set up a container in the cage (with a screen top) to catch the drip water.

The only challenge I have is with my plants. All the misting really leaves them soaked which is not good! I was thinking of putting some sort of plastic over the base of the plant(s) and see if that keeps the water out.
Look forward to hearing other ideas on this . . .

Jim

I've been looking at ways to prevent root rot, and the general consensus among the greenthumbs seems to be to add a good layer of rocks to the base of the pot below the soil. That'll let excess water drain out of the soil, and keep the soil above any standing water that collects before being drained.