Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi All,

I am fairly talented at cabinetry and have made aquarium stands and canopies in the past. I am looking to get into chameleons and want to make a nice pair of cages to each house a veiled chameleon. I have done some searching on the internet for ideas and pictures but have not been able to come up with very many ideas.

Any suggestions for size, plans etc would be appreciated.

What sort of things do you wish your cages had? What things do you like about your cages?

I would like to see pictures if possible. Want the cages to look nice and be functional not just something thrown together.

Thanks,
Scott

There are some pics of "member setups" on www.adcham.com you could look at. Also check pics attached to articles on www.chameleonnews.com and www.chameleonjournals.com to get ideas. Some breeders show their setups too, so check the sponsors of this forum too.

I have a homemade wooden and screen cage. It looks very nice but wasn't cheap to build. The enclosure (2x2x4 ft) sits on top of a cabinet base. The lights are held in a top unit. The best part about it is it's made so that it can be easily taken apart to carry or fit in your car to move. This is probably unnecessary for most people, but because I'm just now graduating college and a permenant home isn't in sight, it's very nice.

It's made out of 1 inch thick (really more like 3/4 in) pine boards. For the enclosure area we used 1x2s, for the base and top we used wider boards.

Originaly the lights were to be hidden by the top, but because I use a Powersun (which has to be a foot from the enclosure) we had to elevate the lights above the cage. One thing I'd like to add is a plastic tray in the bottom to collect water. Preferably one with drainage holes so the water could drip into a bucket.

Here's a bad picture of it. I now use shelf liner on the bottom, not newspaper. This pic was taken before it was completely set up inside and before there was a cham in it. When I move in a couple weeks I'll take pictures of it all broken down. And a better one of it put together.

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~Melissa
1.0 Ambanja Panther (Diesel)
0.1 African Hegdehog (Kaimah)

Hi,

Great looking cage. Is the screening just stapled on the inside of the wood frames?

Also did you varnish it at all and what did you use?

Thanks,
Scott

Yes, the screen is just stapled to the inside.

Used a stain and polyurethane all-in-one. You put on one coat and it looks like crap. Then you sand it down and put on another coat. Then it looks okay. It's thick and runs easily so you get a lot of drips. The old fashioned way of stain first polyurethane second would be better.

Is polyurthane the right word here? I'm not a carpenter. Boyfriend did most of the work. I sanded and stained.
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~Melissa
1.0 Ambanja Panther (Diesel)
0.1 African Hegdehog (Kaimah)

Whats your e-mail address? I'll e-mail you some pic's of some of the set-ups I've built..

Hi

My email is yonkerss@student.gvsu.edu

Thank you and I really appreciate you sending the pics.

Scott

Hi,

Still thinking about the cage design and was wondering I know veileds need a screen cage.

I was wondering what if I made a cage that was screen on the sides and top with the front being glass or plexiglass/lexan?

These cages are going to be considered pieces of furniture so I am really looking for them to look nice and I want the viewing of the chameleons to be non obstructed.

Thanks,
Scott

All screen is usually recommended. If you use black it disappeers pretty nicely and is really easy to see thru.

GVSU? Do you go to Grand Valley?
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~Melissa
1.0 Ambanja Panther (Diesel)
0.1 African Hegdehog (Kaimah)

Hey

Thanks for the opinion I will use black screening.

And yes I do go to GVSU. I am a senior - Biology Prevet Major

Scott

Hey I just sent you some pics of some cages, I use both glass, and screen with no problem.. I use this track designed for sliding closet doors that you can buy at like home deopt, then if I'm using plexi-glass, glass doors, I just figure the size I need, if screen I use stuff that you make screen windows from, and basically build 2 screen windows, only they are lizrad cage doors, I can send pics of those just let me know..