My Chameleon’s custom built bioactive enclosure 1 year later! What a difference!

I have learned so much this past year about chameleons & chameleon husbandry!! I look back at my enclosure when Kahuna (my Nosy Faly Panther Chameleon) arrived in his new home & think wow!! I can’t believe that enclosure is so wrong!! I’m a little embarrassed in my lack of knowledge back then (despite what I thought at that time was extensive research, only to learn I was way wrong!! There was definitely a lot more I had to teach myself)!! Luckily all major important changes where made within the first day or two to him arriving!! Mainly that I did not have nearly enough foliage, vines & branches!! Chameleons need this, especially when young, to feel safe & secure! I also upgraded my T8 (all though this is completely fine to use) to the better T5 HO. Since I wanted such a full canopy the T5 HO or High Output penetrates deeper into the enclosure & ultimately better then the T8, making it more likely to help my cham absorb the Vitamin D3 he needs. So I made the switch. And through the next few months I made even more tweaks & adjustments. I went fully bioactive & got a Mistking & a fogger! But I was still struggling with keeping plants alive! All my plants are real with the exception of some pink & blue flowers & couple fern leaves. So a few months ago I finally had it with buying new plants & bought a Jungle Dawn plant light. I also added a couple skinny long led plant lights that I installed right under my handmade rock planters that I built along the top of the back wall. These lights were so important because the main plants that kept dying were on the bottom. The canopy just stole all the light & by the time you get to the bottom, it’s dark. So this really helped! My micro fauna are doing well too!! I still see my powdered orange isopods & dwarf whites every once in awhile & the Springtails are definitely loving their home in there as well! I put 2 zebra isopods in there but haven’t seen them since. Lastly, you may have also noticed the forest extended outside the enclosure! This is because I’m just obsessed with plants but also Kahuna loves to free roam! So I made him his own jungle gym area. He can walk from his enclosure to a big hibiscus tree or take the vine highway to the open window on the other side of the room & get some natural UVB. I try to do this with him for a few hours in the afternoon. Then when it’s close to bedtime, I put him back in his enclosure & he goes to bed. He is a wonderful chameleon & I really hope he loves his home, inside & out! Well, I hope anyone who sees this, enjoys it & gets inspired to build their own rainforest in their dining room!!

Видео My Chameleon’s custom built bioactive enclosure 1 year later! What a difference! канала Kekepania Payne