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4)Automated Mist System. As we are using a screen cage int his example, the nozzles would have to be directed in a way that they do not spray towards the cage walls and moisten the walls or furniture around the cage. T-5 bulbs give off much light in a small package. Chameleons should be kept individually. For the lower level I use horizontal branches and diagonals. The Clearside material is a durable flexible PVC material which is pulled taut much like the screen is. Each of the elements of a chameleon cage could fill a chapter themselves as far as their comparison and selection. Dont worry about the foam. Expanding foam may misshapen the pot making it difficult to slide your plant pot in. Zip ties are good for structural strength while hot glue holds items in place. But for now, simply look at the cage here and consider how each one of these gradients is fulfilled. Give three points of anchor. There are two key elements to keep in mind when setting up a chameleon cage. This give the humidity holding and visual benefits of glasswork without the weight. In 2002 he established the successful Chameleons! If you are foaming around mounting pots with a large amount of foam then consider strengthening the pot from the inside as the foam will place pressure on the pot. This means that you can lay down a thin layer of Great Stuff, but the next day it will be a thick layer. 2) surfaces to drink. It is common for this to be overlooked in cage design because we are only thinking about how we want to see our chameleon. It is designed for fixing ponds, after all. I am going to be using zip ties and Ill use artificial vines to hide the ties that my foam does not. We do not pre-drill holes as the drainage solution is left up to the keeper. In chameleon caging equipment you truly do get what you pay for so I caution against going into your chameleon cage setup with the idea of getting the cheapest possible items. Unfortunately, there are places that will sell a chameleon too young to go to a new home. But, the Medium Atrium set-up is the way I prefer now. We will specifically place our branches and climbing surfaces so the chameleon can comfortably choose any point along that gradient depending on how much heat they desire. There is no problem if you choose to start them in a smaller cage, but if the chameleon is so young that it needs a smaller cage then reconsider buying this chameleon. Once the plant is in place, the black zip ties and Dragon Ledges fade into the background and are not distracting. Now, this doesnt have to be a separate branch, but there must be branch space that performs this function! First, the upper level basking area. In a Breeder series cage you can mist the entire cage and the plants will get watered every day, but in the more controlled environment of a screen cage you will have to supplement your plant watering on a regular basis. The cage shown here is what a chameleon cage should look like. Some people create wood lattices across the side of the cage. For a typical design with Pothos (AKA Devils Ivy), you will want to place the plant around the three quarters height of the cage. This allows the unhygienic combination of moisture, poop, and escaped feeder insects. You will find this problem with most of the chameleon set-ups you see. The one thing you will have to plan for is where excess water will go. These allow a freedom to create much more effective interior environments. In order to get to the important part of this article chameleon cage setup concepts and philosophy I will list the products I am using with a brief reason and leave it to the reader to do whatever research is necessary for the products they are considering. This way I can have as much water going into the system as I feel my chameleon needs. Some keepers that do not have a drainage tray will line the bottom of the cage floor with paper towels, puppy pee pads, or carpet. No matter what plants you use, their functions are 1) to provide a hiding space so your chameleon can feel safe. This requires that branches be placed horizontally in the cage. The three of the most used plants are Pothos (Epipremnum aureum), Umbrella Plant (Schefflera arboricola) and the Ficus tree (Ficus benjamina). Other than that, periodic trimming will ensure your plants do not become too big for the cage. The problem, in the past, has been the weight of the pot and dirt. If you are using a dripper to provide drinking water you will have to consider a weekly drench in the shower to allow body cleaning. Your money savings just went out the window with that. Bio-active set-ups where the soil contains cleaning organisms are a project in themselves. What now? If a juvenile chameleon is old enough to be sold, it is old enough to go into a properly filled adult size cage. Be careful to remove all excess strings of hot glue. Keeping the bottom of the cage clear removes hiding spaces for feeder insects and allows foreasy floor removal and cleaning. Great Stuff expands. This we want to avoid. In this particular build, I relied on the Great Stuff foam to provide structure. Gradients are critical for the chameleon to take care of its own needs within the relatively small confines of a cage. The Great Stuff mounds stay where they are. If you use the dual pot method I described before this is an easy process. This is sufficient for keeping your chameleon. This is just one! This can be done in a surprisingly small space. Thor the Dragon reporting (thats me above). With only one or two anchor points the weight of the dirt will cause pivoting and the weight may rest, at least in part, on the screen. Although the surface of the Great Stuff will start to harden pretty quickly, give your Great Stuff mound a couple days to set before carving out structures. This gives an area above the plant for a basking layer as well as space for the plant to have head room space to grow naturally. But to do this without the foam I need to rely on the vertical branches for the structure. It is all about how much ventilation you need considering your environment. With this additional freedom, more than one branch may be used. Mistingwill cover both drinking and hygiene purposes. I usually put together a sketch to give me a guideline. I have used two methods with success. I have a dedicated appliance timer driving the heat lamp. Whatever the strategy used, the branches should be horizontally orientated and connected by vertical and diagonal branch pathways. This is the cage on its side as the foam is applied around all the pots and mounting hardware. At this point we will discuss a bare floor with drainage underneath as the ideal starting point. Chameleons usually dont need a lot of space themselves. Chameleons lit from the back become silhouettes. The first is imbedding a length of tubing and letting that be my drainage, or else I drill a hole through the pot and foam and let the water trickle out. What you save up front will be paid on the back end in the form of your time, replacement costs, and even vet bills. Levels. We will go over how to carry them out effectively and, in this case, exceptionally. Youll want to provide enough branch structure that the chameleon will be able to reach anywhere they wish using branches. It will go nowhere! It does not help that pet store owners and reptile show vendors continue to sell pairs of chameleons with the instruction that they can be kept together. That said, once you understand the principles of a chameleon cage setup you may transfer them to your particular set of equipment. Jacksonii tend to fall somewhere in the middle. I will review the basic principles that should be applied to any enclosure type whether screen, solid side, glass, or free range. The first is against the vertical branch which gets its strength from being lashed to two side Dragon Ledges. When the plants and dirt go in there will be much more weight. The steps presented can be used with any enclosure scheme. It can overlap with the heat basking bulb, but I suggest not making that the only place the chameleon can get the UVB. Pothos is best as a trailing plant and can be mounted to the sides of the cage with equipment such as the Dragon Strand Dragon Ledges. I have ordered the 24x24x48 clear side so I assume I can silicone cork bark on the back clear panel? This is what makes this all work! When she is done laying I take her cage off and put it back where it spends the year. This way the female is in familiar surroundings and just suddenly has a dirt floor that she can lay eggs in! Live plants give attractive drinking surfaces and can be used to create humidity pockets and hidden glens. The right half shows the same branches with an artificial vine draped over the branch ends. If the branch holes of the Dragon Ledges are used, hot glue can be used to ensure that the branch stays in place and the load stays on the Ledges. You need water dripping down on the plant leaves and these leaves nearby convenient perching branches. The basking branch. This is the branch that is where the chameleon gets its heat and UVB. Once we determine the spot for our plant we must anchor it in. The proper cage, therefore, a judgement based on your environment. Although a Great Stuff mound would be very difficult to disinfect so I suggest doing a simple quarantine cage until the chameleon is clean and then move him/her into a naturally done up cage. This is the branch that is close enough to the leaves that have water dripping down on them for drinking. Rachel, If you are not using foam you just have to be a little neater, but, as you can see in this example done in a smaller 36 tall cage, this is not a problem. I know you used 4 in the medium Atrium set up. Most cages come with a PVC floor that makes cleaning easy, but it also holds some water before it flows into the drainage tray. There is no read more, If you are considering a first chameleon, and you are not doing it as an impulse buy, you are read more, Q: I hear about people using glass aquariums, but I keep reading how they will stress my chameleon by read more, Working with Great Stuff Expandable Foam. Gradients and Levels. This makes it very easy to plop the potted plant in when ready. Since this is a large cage we will use a five pack to maximize our landscape options. If they have a safe place to sleep, a place to bask, and a place to hang out to eat and drink they are happy. When mounting plants consider them as drinking surfaces, climbing objects, aesthetic appeal, and the ability to create an exposure gradient. Droppers will allow the chameleon to drink, but will not give the chameleon the ability to clean out its eyes. But outdoor keeping has so many benefits that it is worth making it happen! Robin. The 30 and 36 high cages that are commonly sold at pet stores and reptile shows are sufficient starter cages for juveniles, but chameleons grow up quickly. Vertical is fine for getting around, but chameleons generally like to rest horizontally. Once the entire cage is together you may have to adjust some placements to ensure maximum use of the water coming down. So now that our major interior elements are installed, lets get to the branching. Bill Strand has been involved in captive breeding of chameleons for almost four decades. In this article we created a very effective cage to house a chameleon. If you are covering the bottoms of your pots with foam you will have to provide a method for drainage. Using two pillars per side give me a great deal of flexibility to mount those horizontal branches and pots at any level. Dragon Strand Investigative Report: Rack Abuse! Just apply the basics to your chosen equipment and remember these two guiding principles. When I use it as a communal laying box it sits with a plant and just enough water to keep the plant healthy. When mounting the pots, remember the rule of threes. So many Jacksons Chameleon have suffered for this. A pot, identical to the one with the plant, is used to drill holes for zip ties and, if necessary, be hot glued into place. With this set-up the chameleon can effectively regulate its own temperature. It would be a good idea for you to get yourself a can of Great Stuff to do a practice runand see how it comes out. Although Dragon Strand has a higher end chameleon cage in the solid/screen side Breeder Series, I will use the screen cage version as that is the most common cage amongst chameleon keepers. This is just part of finding the right combination. Use disposable gloves and old clothes when working with Great Stuff. The highest quality solution is to install Dragon Strand Dragon Ledges as they will allow you to mount both branches and plants. Branches that are of an appropriate diameter may be placed into the holes in the Dragon Ledge. I will use the 4 large vertical branches. Brenda, In this 2448 set up are you using two or four large vertical branches? This same principle is applicable in any size cage as shown below in the 36 cage with a typical photogenic Carpet Chameleon. This can be done for small accent plants. In my plan I am putting the heat lamp in the back right corner and the daylight/UVB along the front. If this happens you will have to just plant the plant directly in the mounted pot. Placement of plants with respect to the watering system is not an accident. Chameleons need perching space and they like to perch horizontally. The vines will actually provide a great deal of climbing surface so, in this level, I mainly have to provide a perching branch hidden behind the vines. If you have not yet purchased your cage, I strongly suggest you verify that your manufacturer has a drainage tray available or else you will be stuck. This really is something where personal experience means a great deal in making sure your first try is successful. Especially when starting out there is no reason to work with a substrate (meaning dirt or wood chips or anything else). Since this is a screen cage and I need to take mist overspray into account, I am going to install two nozzles in the front two corners and point them at the plant groupings once the plants are installed. the second and third are along a vertical branch that is firmly attached to two side Dragon Ledges. Now that we have the outside figured out, lets go to the inside. So you have a breeding ground for bacteria and a delivery mechanism to your chameleon. Most advice is based on screen cage experience. Once again, choices are key to the chameleon regulating their own needs. The key to creating an effective cage is understanding how to create gradients and microclimates so your chameleon and regulate temperature on its own. Once it is ready, get yourself a knife and carve out a hole. Is the back of the cage in the very last picture covered with cork bark? So the cage needs to be big enough that you can create a gradient that allows. I have covered the entire side under the pot so that my hidden glen is enclosed on that side giving it a more hidden feel. This means that the foam can be peeled away from the screen. UVB: Know the effective range of your UVB bulb. The chameleon can regulate their own temperature by the distance they sit from the bulb. Branches may be attached in many ways to the Dragon Ledges. Most of the time you can get some indirect sunlight which still has UVB in it by placing your screen cage out on a covered patio so it gets direct sunlight during the morning, but is shaded once the day temperature starts to rise. Zip Ties provide an easy way to attach branches at most any angle. This is one of the communitys biggest, yet most avoidable problem due to human beings insisting they need to be together or just not understanding chameleon body language. One trick to installing a potted plant is to get two identical pots. Plant cover is critical for the security of your chameleon. Outdoors keeping, during the months where your environmental conditions are within the chameleons desired ranges, gives your chameleon these things in a natural way. If you need more control over the internal environment for greater heat and humidity then a glass cage is what you need. Pots and containers for plants are firmly lashed to structurally strong branches using zip ties, hot glue, and galvanized steel wire. Usually it is 12 inches from the bulb. If you have spent time browsing chameleon care sheets you will probably have run across the statement that chameleons need screen cages or they will get sick and die. If the chameleon does not have a convenient branch within 12 inches then you are running the risk of the chameleon not getting enough UVB even though you have fresh UVB bulbs. A substrate refers to including a soil floor in your husbandry. That choice should not be a 100% on or 100% off so youll want to provide a basking branch that leads away from the basking bulb. The bottom line is simple do not keep chameleons together. And 3) To provide a humidity pocket. eZine (www.chameleonnews.com) with Ken Kalisch and Don Wells. The third point is a strong branch strategically placed in front of the pot to guide it at an angle which will create a pocket of space behind the trailing vines and beneath the pot. The most effective method to solve this problem is a drainage tray that collects the water under the cage with the cage on risers so it is not in the water. What is Expandable Foam and Great Stuff? 2) Dragon Strand Large Keeper Drainage Tray. So screen cages are the type that has the most community experience and support. And we dont want the screen to be bearing the load anyways. There needs to be a drainage solution. Natural Feeders in the Dragon Strand Large Keeper Kit. This is a horizontal branch that allows your chameleon to hide behind leaves. Incredulously, some insist that the pair loves each other and cant be separated! This gives the chameleon drinking surfaces at any level you choose and allows hiding spaces to be created. You will find some plants do great and others get stringy due to not enough light. Chameleons need a good rain to keep their eyes clean. The more solid sides the more control you have over the environment. Looks Great! Thus, the standard cage design today does not incorporate a place for the chameleon to get away from it all. The eating spot: There needs to be a branch within tongue range of whatever feeding method you choose to use. In this cage, I have planned for the heat lamp to be in the back right corner opposite my live plant. Here is where the Dragon Ledges come into play. The lower level towards the bottom of the cage will have the lowest heat and UVB. As drainage is a critical part to a successful system ensure your cage manufacturer offers a drainage solution or you must develop one yourself. Heat: A heat gradient would be the progression from the hottest point under the heat lamp to room temperature somewhere else in the cage. Humidity: In practice, humidity is more of a pocket rather than a progression. Gravid females especially will appreciate easy access to the bottom of the cage. While there are brand name reflector and heat producing bulbs available, the benefits are not substantial enough to warrant mentioning. I will not spend much time on plastic plants. For example, the heat gradient starts at the basking branch under the heat lamp and extends to the farthest corner away from the heat lamp that the chameleon can access with a branch. The simple answer is the bigger the better. The majority of the species of chameleon or other reptiles/amphibians will appreciate a chance to warm up in the morning. They are a retrofit kit for existing screen cages. Chameleons are horizontally perching animals. This works beautifully! They have their uses. Spider plants or Schefflera are other good candidates. The drinking spot. But for you to create areas along the gradients that a chameleon can place their body requires a cage size whose dimensions are larger as the chameleons body gets larger. But with the Dragon Ledges embedded in the foam you have firmly anchored the entire foam structure to the frame. You stick the nozzle in a hole and the foam shoots out and expands to fill the gap. Your regular maintenance will be keeping plants watered and trimmed. We will study deeply on each one of these concepts. One you will use for all the mounting and strapping in and the other will hold the plant. That means enough leaves that you cant see them when they want to hide. Either way has worked very well. Here is where you can best create your exposure gradient. The cage that I siliconed cork bark to was part of the Breeder series so it had two white PVC walls which can be load bearing and will not flex. Foam directly on screen will seep through in some places, but mostly will expand away from the screen. You will have to decide on drainage for your pots. The practical answer is that 2 x 2 x 4 is an adequate cage size for most commonly kept chameleons. I am going to use live vining plants to accomplish this in my design. But as a chameleon keeper grows in their skill they will more and more embrace the naturalistic approach and a soil substrate will be just one component in the keeping of an environment rather than just the keeping of a chameleon. I suggest angling your trailing vine forward to get a better effect from the vines and produce the makings of a pocket for the retreat. I am using a standard reflector and incandescent light bulb from my local home improvement store. Yes, you can spray the Great Stuff directly on the screen. There are two uses for water which you much provide. Thank you! And, youll see how the foam will make this even more effective. Screen cages, hybrid cages, and glass cages are tools that have their place. The more screen the more ventilation and the dispersion of heat and humidity. During a cleaning I will gently rub the cleaning agents on the mound with a very small brush. When a female is ready to lay eggs I just pick her cage up and put it over the laying box. In this example, branching will be done using zip ties and hot glue. A Brief Review of where we have been A drainage tray removes as much of this risk as is possible. Artificial vines are useful to hide mounting hardware. Learn from the mistakes of your predecessors! This is the reason why drippers are not a full solution. They have been tested by hanging bricks in a screen cage so you know they will handle a substantial potted plant.

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