Reptile & Amphibian Forums

victor gomez already gave me some of the drawbacks for reptariums, are there any more? also, whats up with the zipper door? and what about visibility? i want my chameleon to be happy, and i cant spend a lot. any tips? thanks.
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its all about DFL. no questions asked.

I consider Reptariums a simple way to house a cham temporarily. Over a longer time the zipper just gets worn and the fabric facing frays if you are using it several times a day every day. I've never had a crix chew through it, but I don't leave loose crix in my cages. A superworm would probably chew through the mesh sooner. The visibility thing doesn't bother me as I know most chams prefer NOT to be very exposed to view. If I had a juvenile cham who will grow into a larger cage within 4-6 months I would feel fine about using one. You will find opening the whole cage by zipper annoying, the mesh on the bottom is harder to clean if it stays wet most of the time, and heat spots may bleach the mesh on top. No burn throughs unless you are using a really hot infrared bulb. They are fine for temp use but a bit fussy for a permanent home IMO. A rigid wood or metal frame cage can be built to your own dimensions and have built in features you choose.

Hi-

I am not a big fan of the reptariums, I currently do not own a single one!

Disadvantages-

1. The screen blocks your view
2. Crickets can and will chew through the screen
3. The screen blocks allot of light (UV)
4. The zipper is trouble
5. The top where the heat source is will discolor the screen

Advantages-
1.Cheep

You get what you pay for! I have all aluminum screen cages and PVC coated hardware cloth screen cages. EBay is your best bet for the lowest price cages. I think you will be much happier with an aluminum all screen cage. Yes the reptariums are cheaper, but the aluminum screen cage will last longer. Think of it like this a $60 reptarium may work for a year or so until you get tired of the zipper or it breaks. So now you have to buy another one at $60 or upgrade to the aluminum screen cage at $100. So by this time you will have spent either $120 on reptariums or $160 on a reptarium and an aluminum screen cage, when you could have just started off with the aluminum screen cage at $100.

Another choice is to build your own cage with the shade cloth or aluminum screen and 2x2. This way you have a door and not a zipper and the cost to build is about 1/2 of the reptarium cost. Either cage set up you go with it will be 100 times better then the tank you have now. Hope this helps!
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John @ Chameleon Paradise
1.1 Ambilobe Panthers
1.1 Nosy Be Panthers
1.1 Sambava Panthers
1.2 Rhampholeon uluguruensis

i have had my reptarium for over 2 years now, and i have not one BAD thing to say about it ... no cricket holes, no zipper problems, and the visiblity is good enough that you can see you cham clearly, but not TOO much that your cham feels 'violated'

i know there is a HUGE debate on them, and i find that whatever YOU choose is the best ... dont worry about what people say about if you make one or buy one, just make sure he has a proper house set-up
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Jason, Ichiro, Mika & Toki
1.0 veiled chameleon
0.2 dwarf panther chameleons
jsinger_jimt@hotmail.com

i would not reccomend you getting the reptarium for the many disadvantages already mentioned so you should either one of the aluminum screen cages that you can find all over the internet but if that is too much money check out the chameleon paradise website, it has a great step by step design to build a cage with helpful pictures and it is easy to change the dimensions to your own preference. i just made one that was 2'x2'x3 feeet and it only cost me 35 dollars and i could have saved alot of money if bought window screen instead of 1/4 inch hardware cloth

Personally , i am FOR the reptariums. I use reptariums as well, and about the only problem i have with it is the zipper. It doesn't really rip off, it just gets stuck sometimes. If it breaks of, or if you somehow manage to rip your reptarium( i don't know how), you can replace the screens for about 20 bucks( depending on size).
I let my circkets loose in the reptariums, but i have never ever had them chew through the mesh. It is also very a light-weighted cage, so it is definately a plus if you want to move it around.

Reptariums also use reeinforced nylons that is stronger than alluminium. Reinforce nylons is non-abarsive and is less likely to cause nose rub damage to your reptiles. personnaly, i find the mesh to be very hardy. and also, like it was aforemention by some users, it does provide more privacy for you reptiles. Definately a plus for your chams.