You're given an opportunity for a dream enclose for you're chameleon. How would you spec it out?

[BryanP]

OK everyone, looking for some insite and some new ideas.

I've attached a picture of my enclosure and despite the half alive plants and branch setup... since that will all Probably change, what would be part of you're ideal enclosure?

my chameleon passed today and I'm not sure why so to combat this amd prepare for the next one I want to get this enclosure looking and working perfectly!

Here are some ideas on what I'm already going to improve on.

1. System to water each plant individually (and be expandable) I plan on either tying it into my mist king or a separate system controlled by my kasa smart power strip.

2. Individual light control for basking, UVB, and plant light. I would love the ability to have the heat lamp on a dimming temp controller but that seems either not possible or very expensive.
I would also like the ability to individually turn on and off the lights slowly to more closely mimic the sunrise/sunset. They already do this in the saltwater community so it should be doable here.

3. I would love some automation into the gutload, feeding, and supplementation of bugs but I think that has to be on me.

4. Humidity controller for the mist king. That would awesome.


But I would love to hear or even see what you guys think is a MUST HAVE for an ideal enclosure

 

[yoteango]

Definitely not a must have, but for a dream enclosure, a small AC unit that would allow for year-long, safe nighttime fogging.

 

[elizaann2]

Definitely not a must have, but for a dream enclosure, a small AC unit that would allow for year-long, safe nighttime fogging.

I second that.

 

[BryanP]

I second that.

Explain this more to me. I thought that this big temp drop at night was mostly for Jackson's?

 

[yoteango]

Others could explain better, but research is pointing towards nighttime fog banks as being the primary hydration method for some chameleons. Rather than drinking drops of water from rain or mist, they just breathe it in while they sleep. But this requires cooler temps than a lot of houses get at night or there's a strong risk of respiratory disease.

 

[elizaann2]

Here are two YouTube videos that helped me understand more

 

[dinomom]

Explain this more to me. I thought that this big temp drop at night was mostly for Jackson's?

All chams need a night drop how much varies by where they are native to. They can give their metabolism a rest thus prolonging their longevity. Example here in inland Socal it will be 89 today and 63 overnight so that is what our native lizards are used to. Near coastal areas daytime AND nighttime are more consistent so less of a swing.

 

[BryanP]

So for panthers is there a night drop? I too live inland socal and just lost my panther who was 2 and need to figure out where I went wrong

 

[Flick boy]

Hi sorry for your loss

 

[dinomom]

So for panthers is there a night drop? I too live inland socal and just lost my panther who was 2 and need to figure out where I went wrong

Yes! Cham Academy recommends 72-78 day and 60-70 at night; so 8-12 degrees although I just use 10. For many households this automatically happens when basking, UVA lights etc. all turn off. But where we live if you don't run AC at night the house is going to stay 78-80 or even higher in summer/fall.

Misting just after lights out will help drop a couple of degrees, but possibly not enough.

Someone here will correct me if I am wrong but I think a veiled has a slightly higher tolerance on the warm end.

 

[dinomom]

By the way I love what you are doing. Once you have compiled this I think it would be awesome to have a thread on "if time, money and amount of work was not an obstacle what would be the perfect setup" and create a handout. That way people could pick and choose and do the best with what they have. Possibly save $ in the end also; for example I went through 2 lousy Hagen Monsoons before going to a Mist King and would have been cheaper to go with the best at the start!

 

[Flick boy]

Hi so most of what you are mentioning is already possible all lights on individual timers ie my uvb goes on then a while later my jungle dawn, ) ok they dk not get gradually brighter but the enclosure does) basking is on mirco climate evo pro connected thermostat which has a ramp feature ( so unlike some thermostat that will quickly reach the set temperature) with the ramp feature a time period can be set mine is set at 30 minutes so the stat will gradually take 30 minutes to get to desired temperature and it will also start lowering the set temp 30 minutes before the set time that the basking goes off. The evo pro connected can control pretty much any device ,heat uvb, fans , mister,fogger , but would take a lot of work, trial and error as the main issue would be to get the probe in a perfect spot to make sure things worked properly ( and with plants growing could be hit or miss) even though my thermostat has these capabilities I have not tried it as I personally think it would be best to trial it in an empty environment, with the feeders like unless someone designs a robot to cut fresh food and clean out tubs ( which I like doing ) except crickets kinda beat on that ,for the plants a garden drip system could be installed but with a mister going off a couple of times , we want to allow things to dry out ,but again not undo able a look into hydroponic. A moisture meter probe could be inserted into a pot which would trigger a drip system to kick in , the thing is how much and to what level do we want technology to do everything for us? Lol I think that might be long enough

 

[Flick boy]

I think I got carried away with tech which is great but the biggest thing in my dream enclosure would be space ( and the technology, )

 

[nightanole]

Walk into chameleon cage. Sit on bench. Hand feed cham on branch next to bench.

 

[FredBenneton]

Definitely not a must have, but for a dream enclosure, a small AC unit that would allow for year-long, safe nighttime fogging.

Question re: small AC unit. My cham seemed to be getting an eye 'infraction' a few months ago and per vet instructions I was giving him eye drops for weeks to no resolve until I realized the underlying problem which explained why his eye wasn't getting better fast enough. I had begun using multiple space heaters for months when I had to move into very cold living spaces in a ski town in CO (due to a housing crisis shortage beyond my control). I read that space heaters dry out the air more than the already dry climate up here. To resolve this, I bought him an air purifier and switched back to heat lamps - which will forever scare me to death for fear of him burning his feet, although all of them are covered so he cannot get close enough to them. My concern is that an A/C unit could cause a similar problem. The studio we recently moved into has a built in A/C unit near his DIY enclosure and I have yet to see any unfavorable consequences though.

I would love to chat with you more regarding the enclosure you are making or already made when time permits because I have many ideas for you on top of what you have already planned which sounds great. Being a zoologist, vet-tech and life-long animal rights activist, I don't believe in keeping animals in cages. I can send you a photo of his current open enclosure. I build my own rainforest in every residence I have had since I became Fred's guardian and all of his needs are met, including his extreme curiosity. Let me know if you'd like me to share all the things I've learned from (successful) experience. There are many ways to save money using DIY techniques in their incredibly expensive world.

 

[FredBenneton]

Hi so most of what you are mentioning is already possible all lights on individual timers ie my uvb goes on then a while later my jungle dawn, ) ok they dk not get gradually brighter but the enclosure does) basking is on mirco climate evo pro connected thermostat which has a ramp feature ( so unlike some thermostat that will quickly reach the set temperature) with the ramp feature a time period can be set mine is set at 30 minutes so the stat will gradually take 30 minutes to get to desired temperature and it will also start lowering the set temp 30 minutes before the set time that the basking goes off. The evo pro connected can control pretty much any device ,heat uvb, fans , mister,fogger , but would take a lot of work, trial and error as the main issue would be to get the probe in a perfect spot to make sure things worked properly ( and with plants growing could be hit or miss) even though my thermostat has these capabilities I have not tried it as I personally think it would be best to trial it in an empty environment, with the feeders like unless someone designs a robot to cut fresh food and clean out tubs ( which I like doing ) except crickets kinda beat on that ,for the plants a garden drip system could be installed but with a mister going off a couple of times , we want to allow things to dry out ,but again not undo able a look into hydroponic. A moisture meter probe could be inserted into a pot which would trigger a drip system to kick in , the thing is how much and to what level do we want technology to do everything for us? Lol I think that might be long enough

I agree. I have spent thousands of dollars on 'elite' technological products and not the cheap stuff you would find in pet stores. I do copious research before everything I purchase and the the drip system seems to be the most challenging. I was lucky to have been working from home when I got Fred and could self mist his enclosure. I'm even luckier that he got used to one of those "drinking fountains" from Amazon and he goes to it to drink everytime and have never had an issue with dehydration.

Timers are a fabulous idea. The only problem I have run into is using the bluetooth outlets you can control from your phone. What is not explained in the instructions is that they only work within a certain radius and I couldn't control them for the couple months when forced to move 45 minutes away from where I work (due to a local housing crisis shortage). I always keep a nanny cam (nanny cham) on him so I can check on him when I am not there. Just another thing to spend money on (LOL) that I think is incredibly helpful, fun and gives me piece of mind when I am not home.


That's my 2 cents. Hope it helps.