chameleon enclosure - Page 2

Collide · 05-16-04, 02:20 PM

Here are some pics of my enclosures but everyone has slightly different needs

manville · 05-16-04, 08:27 PM

thats a nice enclosure, I dont know how to build one but i need one..lol

huhet · 05-17-04, 03:23 AM

i recently posted a thread on my enclosure. use the search feature, and you can find pics of mine and probably many others.

blazinreps · 05-18-04, 07:51 PM

Hey i found how to build this cool table top cage doesent look like it would cost to much heres the link http://www.chameleonnews.com/year200..._vivarium.html

and check out the rest of this site for soem great info.

manville · 05-18-04, 08:16 PM

woah, that is really helpful! THANKS!

panther_dude · 05-20-04, 11:49 AM

First of all I myself was planning to use the big parrot cages you described erleir but that fact that they are not made of rust proof materials broke me away from that idea. Secondly fiberglass screen will splinter if its bent and moved around alot, being motionless on the sides of the cage should not cause them to splinter. But i could be wrong. Any thoughts? One last thing what size are the holes in the aluminum screen? are they small? do you have any probllemes with toes being caught in the screen?
thank you all
wade Shaw

panther_dude · 05-20-04, 11:54 AM

anouther thing that I have just learned from Chris Anderson dealling with the pics posted aboveis that using an all soil bottom especially with all the little white foam things I can see on the bottom is not good for your chameleon. They can ingest those little foam balls and even the soil. This can cause to impactation in the stomach making it very difficult and nearly impossible for your chameleon to pass on waist. This can very undoubtibly lead to death. I would sudjest using a combination of compact mosses and largish river stones to cover the soil.

panther_dude · 05-20-04, 11:55 AM

anouther thing with the pics Collide posted above i just found out that using an all soil bottom especially with all the little white foam things I can see on the bottom is not good for your chameleon. They can ingest those little foam balls and even the soil. This can cause to impactation in the stomach making it very difficult and nearly impossible for your chameleon to pass on waist. This can very undoubtibly lead to death. I would sudjest using a combination of compact mosses and largish river stones to cover the soil.

huhet · 05-20-04, 02:41 PM

a lot of stores sell "top soil" in the summer months that doesn't have the perlite (white foam things). that's what i'm using in combination with sphagnum peat for my big girl. i'm using the coconut fiber substrate for my little guys. i've never had any problems with my any of chams eating dirt though.

on fiberglass screen, it won't deteriorate just sitting there, but chameleons like to climb on anything and everything, and that's what causes the trouble. also, crickets can chew through the stuff. i speak from experience.

i'd use petscreen over aluminum. more durable than fiberglass, and you don't have to worry about lost toenails.

panther_dude · 05-20-04, 08:03 PM

crickets cant chew through the pet screen?

huhet · 05-20-04, 08:10 PM

i have no experience with crickets and pet screen, so i can't say. all i know is they tore through the fiberglass

kidchameleon · 05-20-04, 08:31 PM

really? your crickets have eaten through the fiberglass screening?

huhet · 05-21-04, 03:24 AM

not on my cage, but i was trying that screen method for breeding crickets (laying it across the substrate so they can't dig it up and eat the eggs as they tend to do when there's a thousand of them running around), and they demolished the screen. it didn't believe it either until i saw it. they'd probably have to be pretty purpose driven (ie eating a delicious meal of freshly layed eggs) for them to actually get the gumption to gnaw through it, but the ability is definately there.

panther_dude · 05-21-04, 07:13 AM

Just wondering what the experience s that you speak of, because Chris Anderson is probably one of the most experienced persons I've talked to in my time. It was he who told me about the soil, but hey you never know. ONe guy cannot know everything, its nearly impossible. Unless your 50 years old orsomething and have decades of experience.

panther_dude · 05-21-04, 07:15 AM

Just wondering what the experience is that you speak of, because Chris Anderson is probably one of the most experienced persons I've talked to in my time. It was he who told me about the soil, but hey you never know. One guy cannot know everything, its nearly impossible. Unless they're over 50 years old and have decades of experience.