Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi All,

I am trying to decide how to make some screen cages for chameleons. I am fairly decent at woodworking. My main question is for the screening, is there heavier duty screening then window screening to use....something rigid? I do not like working with window screening and was thinking that if there was something like the screening used for iguana cages that would be perfect.

Also how do you finish the wood...any special vanish that is non toxic?

Any pictures of home made chameleon cages out here?

Scott

The product you are looking for is 1/2" hardware cloth. It's about a 14-16 gauge wire welded or molded...im really not sure how its connected... with 1/2" square holes. for finishing use a polycrylic...waterbased polyurethane. However, I really dont know if it is okay to use the hardware cloth on lizard cages...i know its a big nono for snakes though. Someone else will know for sure though, im sure
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-Chris

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If it's available near you get vinyl coated hardware cloth. Also there's the "igauna" screening you mentioned, if you mean the green vinyl type screen that looks like chicken mesh this works very well for larger chams.

For baby cham cages I've taken regular 1/4" hardware cloth, cut my pieces to size and dipped them in PlastiCoat, for dipping tool handles and such, I just poured it into a shallow cake pan and dipped my screens and hung them to dry.

Any good urethane finish should be fine, PolyUrethane, VaraThane, PolyAcrylic to name a few.

BigT
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Hope this helps.

BigT
There is a difference between ignorance and stupidity. The ignorant can be taught, stupidity is beyond our control.

>>My main question is for the screening, is there heavier duty screening then window screening to use....something rigid?

One thing I've seen used is that plastic, egg-crate stuff made for covering 4' fluorescent light fixtures. Very easy and safe for a chameleon to climb on.

Not the cheapest stuff and it's easy to crack, but it's what I'd try if I decided to keep chameleons again.

Another option I've seen is to go ahead and use screen but then build up an interior lattice made from thin bamboo dowls. Also a very nice effect.

Neither of these examples is insect proof without an exterior layer of screen.

>>Also how do you finish the wood...any special vanish that is non toxic?

I'm skeptical of the recommendation for Polycrylic or other water based finishes. It's likely you chameleon will drink formed water droplets off of these surfaces on a regular basis. A water based product will partially dissolve into the water meaning your lizard will be drinking a dilute solution of polyurethane much of the time. It also means frequent refinishing of the wooden portions of the cage.

I'm not sure what I'd use. I imagine I'd probably skip wood and try to work with square aluminum tubing. If I really wanted wood I'd probably use a two part epoxy. So little would be needed on a simple frame that the cost would not matter.

Good luck.
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