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I was just wondering about how to make a cage for chameleons. I have made several cages for my pet boa and various reptiles throughout the years. My main question is, if there is supposed to be an ambient temperature of 80-90 degrees. It seems that making a cage out of screen would be harder to mantain that temperature than one made of plexiglass, or glass. The same goes for humidity. Wouldn't a screen cage be harder to keep a 50-60% humidity level than a glass enclosure? Also does the whole cage need to be screen? Could it be possible to have 3/4's or so of it plexiglas and the top 1/4 or so be screen so that the air would flow and not become stale or too hot. Are there any designs out there that are better than others? Does anyone have any suggestions on designs? Any input on this would be greatly appreciated.

It depends on which cham you would like to raise. Here in europe, we use (for calyptratus and pardalis) all glas or wood with topscreen, which works very good. Working with wood, i think its a little bit easier to maintain the temp. For mountainspecies like jacksoni, i made a cage myself out of an old closet.The back, the front and top are screen. I have put the cage full with plants to keep humidity high, but the temp at day is not that easy. Im forced to use central heating at the moment, else my roomtemp aint good enough.
greetz
Allen

Some of the biggest problems with using plexi or glass are air exchange, managing reflected images of the "rival", and the fact that chams do not understand why they can't walk through the glass...they can get very frustrated by pawing on it for hours. I know many keepers in Europe have used "solid" sided cages for chams for many years (with vents and small fan systems), but for most keepers in the US who live in houses with central type heating/cooling systems screen works. The reflected image problem may have more to do with the angles of the lights. BUT, even though screen cages can be harder to humidify, they are not necessarily hard to heat. A cham cage needs a gradient of temps...the cham moves to get what it wants by using a warm basking spot. If the room the cage is in is at "room temp" comfortable for humans the basking spot of the right temp works just fine. As for keeping a cage humid, again you don't want a constant high humidity but rather repeating cycles of more and less moist. Get this by really filling the cage with bushy live potted plants, using misters and humidifiers, and hand spraying. You can easily have a hybrid cage of wood back or sides and a screen front that allows airflow. First, look at the climate and humidity conditions in the place you want the cage and how much this changes with the seasons. Measure the humidity carefully. If your house is centrally heated and you use AC in summer you will have to do more to keep your cage humid than someone who lives in a more temperate coastal climate might. As every house is different it's hard to know what will work for you, but there are definitely a lot of cage designs keepers have used.