Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey Guys,

This is my year old Veiled`s (Loui) new home.
The Overall dimensions of the cage are 2.5foot x 2.5foot x 6foot tall
It is heated at the top by 2x100w bulbs, the U.V is supplied through 2 compact 7.0 Bulbs on reflectors on top of the cage also.
I have put two Arboreal Lagoons on either side of the cage for drinking water as he is not interested in moving water!!!!!
I have used several 3foot grapvines in the cage attatched by permanent tie wraps for safe wandering around and a selection of plastic plants around the sides. There are more plastic plants to be draped around the vines and the bottom half of the cage.
For the substrate I have used a Coconut based bark which i have found to be great and cost effective!

looks cool. :0

Your cham does not take water after a misting? of accept from a dripper?

Misting and humidity. How do you take care of this? Also how often will you clean out the substrate? The amount of water to properly maintian humidity the fecal droppings will cause mold rather quickly.

Also when you spray - how are you going to keep the wallpaper from forming mildew or rotting away?

Is that a heater next to his cage? under the window? That will dry up the air right around there.

I would put in a large plant at the bottom. It seems really bare below the top 2/3s. The room had a sofa which I assume means people will be in there from time to time. Might want to think about giving him a few more places to not be seen.

Over all - it looks great though. Just some things to think about.

Thanks for the reply.

What you dont see in the pic is there is a clear polythene cover surrounding the bottom of the cage with a heat mat underneath the bark. The bark is HEAVILY sprayed every day to try to keep up the humidity.
When i spray him I put my spray gun on the finest mist setting and gently spray upwards obviously being careful not to get any cool water on the hot bulbs and also avoiding my wallpaper, not that it matters coz i`ll need to redecor anyway after I ripped my border whilst moving the cage

I agree with you about the heater, I am trying to think of somewhere to move him to! The bottom 2/3rds of the cage will be sorted out by the middle of next week as i need to wait for them to be delivered!
If I cannot move the cage does anyone have any ideas for keeping the hunidity up?
Any other suggestions/pointers are welcome

Thanks

I have a rainmaker Jr. - it makes all the difference in the world! Reptile depot sells the Mr Moisture for 100 or so. it is worth it. If you need to leave the house for a day or two you know your cham will get watered on time.

Now if I could find a pump that would go more than 4 minutes (and not cost an arm and a leg)..and a humidistat..something to read the humidity lvls and then spray to get up to 80.

That would be a great cage for a large hibiscus.

The more plants you have in there ( or plant matter rather) will keep the humidity up.

One thing I am trying right now is I have a tupperware container filled with moss. The container is covered in black window screen. I place it where my main water drips are and it collect it and waters the moss. the cham cant get to it at all, but the heat evaporates the water and I have about 2-5% more in the cage at all time because of it. If I got a larger one and put heat rope in it I could really bring up the humidity.

when the moss gets old (after aabout 5 days) I can throw it out and replace it for cheap. I used to do the bedding too, but it became a hassle. this way I have a blank bottom to watch for any feces or crickets (they will hide in your bark). It stays clean and the moss makes a great sponge for water overflow.

ramble ramble ramble

-adam

i used to use the reptariums like what you have there, and i found a pretty good way to keep the humidity up and to give your cham a place to hide. humidity will always be very high in that cage in the bottom, so the only thing that you really have to worry abotu is the top 2/3rds of it. if you take a large bath towel, and drape it over, with about 1/3rd of it on top of the cage for weight to keep it there. when you do your mistings, spray the towel down until it is pretty damp, it will create a while lot of humidity in there. i used to keep a melleri like that, with upwards of 80-90% humidity.
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groups.msn.com/JEChameleons
2.1 Chameleo Calyptratus
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Its good to see im not the only lucky one. My chams also prefer still water.Theyll drink some when i mist them but i always catch them goign to their shallow bowl in the morning for a sip.

My uncle had a jackson that would only drink out of a water dish. Just shows each chameleon is different and that there are no set "rules" for how to best care for them, you just have to learn what your chameleons preferences are!