Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey folks,
a few days ago I asked if anyone could post pix of their cage set-up's...and only ONE person answered. (Thanks Carl).

Well, here are a few pictures of my newest enclosure for my chameleon, Shoot.

It was designed to look like all my other critters enclosures (a bearded dragon and crested gecko), and as you can see, I think the light fixtures look "ghetto"...so they are concealed.

It has THREE-LAYERS of polyurethane, and was left outside to air-out for three days. The polyurethane will waterproof the wood, hence protecting it from rotting from the constant moisture of the misting.

The front doors are designed to be easily removed (just pull out from the top and slightly lift from the bottom), as this gives me access to clean the entire emclosure. There is also a bottom cabinet who's door is designed to be removed in the same way. (As you'll see in the other photo's).

All that's needed to be done is re-pot the large Ficus into the new pot at the base of the enclosure...and I'll be "Cookin With Crisco".

I'll try to explain a little more in the following pictures.

Enjoy.

In Christ: Raymond

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In Christ: Raymond

looks sweet man
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1.1.1 Bearded Dragons
0.1.0 Ball Python
1.0.0 Honduran Milksnake
2.0.0 Cockatiels "Afro" and "Sunshine"
1.0.0 Bourkes Parakeet "Kerpal"
1.0.0 Mississippi Map Turtle "Atlas"
0.1.1 Painted Turtles "Artist"=the female
0.1.0 Leopard Gecko "Claire"
1.1.0 Veiled Chameleons
Misc. Amphibians
Misc. Fish
Several Russian Dwarf Hamsters

Email

In this picture, you'll see that there is suffecient lighting (for warmth and UVB), as well as getting a good view of the cabinet space.

The entire enclosure is heavily stained and coated with polyurethane, and is designed to look nice in the middle of my living-room. (Where all of my other enclosures are also at).

It is very large (80" tall x 40" wide x 28" deep), and is screened on three sides. I decided to just use regular "door screen" from Home Depoot for two reasons:

1) It would look good with the dark stain
2) I hand feed my chameleon, so I do not have to worry about crickets getting lose and eating holes in the mesh.

Now let's go to the next photo...

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In Christ: Raymond

In this picture you'll see how I ended-up decorating the interior of the enclosure. I used REAL PLANTS as that's the way to go for a couple of reasons:

1) I have a green thumb, and like REAL things. (Not fake, if possible). Plus this emulates his natural environment much better).

2) This will help in keeping-up the humidity of the enclosure, as well as providing more leaves for the water to drip from when the enclosure is misted. (Shoot will have more places to drink from, no matter where he is at in his new home).

3) It also gives me an excuse to go out and buy MORE cool plants to give him that deep-foliage jungle look.

I also tried to design a natural way for the vines to look, as in the wild they "hang down" and are not always horizontal like a board. (I want it to look natural, as that is another reason for me having it set-up in my living-room).

The base is heavily coated with polyurethane, and I used "aquatic silicon seal" all around the edges to completly water-proof the base of the enclosure. And to be on the super-safe side...I placed a few old towels on the base, and then lined it with a large plastic garbage bag.

I have a Mr Moisture misting system in there, and it mists the cage about 6 or 7 times a day. This is sufficient to keep the humidity up, as well as prividing him water to drink from. (The water is filtered).

Now on to the last picture...

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In Christ: Raymond

In this last picture, you can see how the door is completly removed.

I love this design, as it is very easy to do, gives the enclosure a "clean look" from the front, and gives me a whole bunch of room to reach in and clean the cage. (Did I mention that all my other critter's cages are made with the same concept)?

The cage is very nice, looks good in the living-room, and is super clean! (Like all my other cages).

It cost me around $180.00 total, for the wood, the stains, the brackets, the screen, the polyurethane, and the screws. But the best part is that it was custom-made to fit EXACTLY where I wanted it to fit. Not only that, but Shoot (my chameleon), is living VERY COMFORTABLY, as well as me giving the satisfaction of knowing that it was built with my own two hands.

I wish I could have heard from yall out there, asit would have been nice to get other "interiotr design" ideas...but alas, no one responded.

If yall want other pictures, or just some advice, feel free to contact me.

I hope I explained everything sufficiently, and sorry about not showing you a picture of the bottom cabinet when it was opened. I ran-out of space in the KINGSNAKE picture gallery. (Ha ha).

Enjoy folks!!!

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In Christ: Raymond

Hey man, that looks really sweet. What kind of cham are you keeping in there? The only thing that i see taht could be a problem is your cham being able to touch the bulbs. I just thought Id point it out so your cham wont get buned. Here is a pic on the enclosure I built for my panther, and the most recent picture of seppi...


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1.0 Ambanja Panther
1.1 Leopard Gecko's

here is my cage...

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1.0 Ambanja Panther
1.1 Leopard Gecko's

and the most recent pic....
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1.0 Ambanja Panther
1.1 Leopard Gecko's

and the most recent pic....

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1.0 Ambanja Panther
1.1 Leopard Gecko's

Nice cage!

I have always appreciated things that were made with a persons own hands!!!!!!!

One of the things I have learned is that chameleons NEED alot of height! Whatever is made for a chameleon must be made with height as the first consideration.

Just to give you an idea of his enclosure dimensions...it's 1" inch higher, and about 4" inches wider than your front door.

The attached pictures really do "shrink" the actual size of the cage. (I always heard movie-stars say that the camera "adds extra pounds"...but not in this case).

Good job!!!
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In Christ: Raymond

Thanks!!

First off, the flourescent tubes are the only thing that are accessible by Shoot, my chameleon. (And I am not worried about that, as they do not generate too much heat). The two other 100-watt floods are on the other side of a wire mesh, totally inaccessible by Shoot. And as a side note, Shoot used to hang directly below the floods in his other cage, but stopped that habit a while ago. (He would get blanched white, which was a new experience for him and me).

I am also aware that some metal meshed can get hot, and possibly burn their little hands if they hang from below them. But like I said, Shoot has outgrown that habit a while back.

Secondly, I have a blue Nosy Be panther from Jim at "AMAZING BLUE REPTILES".

Thirdly, I couldn't see the picture of your enclosure. (It didn't work).

Thanks again.

In Christ: Raymond
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In Christ: Raymond