Thoughts on screen enclosures......

[DDReptiles]

Hey,

Ok, so the last few days I have been thinking in my head about changing my current setups from large plastic tubs to all screen. I am currently housing mine in larger sterilite tubs and as much as they seem to work, I am not 100% satisfied with them as they seem to hold the humidty too well, even though they have an all screen top (about 1 foot square). So here is my current idea:

I am thinking I might buy some of those 24x24x48 inch (LXWXH) screen enclosures and breed the lineatus, fimbriatus, and henkeli in those. I know Riverbanks zoo keeps all there Uroplatus in screen and I figure the room I have is quite humid all the time (never below 50% during the day, usually 60-80% at night ambient) and I could just hook up a misting system to the tanks and just let it "rain" for 5-10 minutes daily and it could just drain out the bottom into a larger basin (kinda like a rain chamber, except I wouldn't be recycling the water back through). Just an idea I have been thinking up that seems to work in my head, but didn't know if it would actually work in practice.

I would continue keeping the smaller species I have in glass enclosures (the zoo med type) as I am happy with those, just wish they made larger sizes so one isn't limited to 18x18x24 (45x45x60 cm).

Just interested in hearing if other people have tried doing something similar, and what your experiences are. Or what your take on it is.

Thanks Derek

 

[DDReptiles]

Also, does anyone still make those half screen/half solid sided tanks........thats what I would really prefer.

 

[crestedtimm]

I love keeping my big leaftails outside in screen cages here in Fl.

Havent exactly formulated my plan for winter yet though..Likely that I will just bring them in if the temp is below like 45 or so. I imagine that screen is most likely the best enclosure for the Uroplatus, especcially if you can put them outside for any amount of time. Right now the Lineatus, Sikorae,Pietchmanni, and Henkeli have been outside for like 3 months+, and have only flourished.

I feel as you do about the small species faring well in indoor glass terrariums, though I have a hunch that even phantasticus would be alright outdoors here in Fla, in a screen cage, if the were catered to. I dont think I will moving my guenthers outside anytime soon since their setup works for them, but I may experiment with some young animals come spring.

Im PRO-screen, and PRO-outside, when it comes to Uroplatus. Oh yeah, and PRO-ventilation.

Timm

 

[tokaysunlimited]

Also, does anyone still make those half screen/half solid sided tanks........thats what I would really prefer.

I remember someone making those enclosures on pangea a longggg time ago.
I keep my Linneatus in a screen enclosure and have yet to see any problems.
Breeding is good etc.I have a mister hooked up to run at 2 10 minute intervals a day.

 

[DDReptiles]

I remember someone making those enclosures on pangea a longggg time ago.
I keep my Linneatus in a screen enclosure and have yet to see any problems.
Breeding is good etc.I have a mister hooked up to run at 2 10 minute intervals a day.

Yeah thats where I remember them from as I think they were using them for crested geckos, but like you said that had to have been 4-5 years ago.

 

[miguel camacho!]

Derek, I believe it's doable. To the average newcomer to geckos, I wouldn't suggest that they get into Uroplatus or that they start off with screen cages, but I think you can pull it off. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, I strongly believe that more necessary than around-the-clock high humidity, then animals need a good spraying (and resulting increase in humidity) after dark.

I had my henkeli in a custom sort of cage back when I was an undergrad. The bottom half was a 40 gallon tank, and the top half was a screened add-on with lifting front door. It was built a bit bulky, but it fit on snug. I actually still have it at my parents house, but the tank is currently housing the only herps I'm keeping anymore...a pair of northern pine snakes.

My henkeli thrived in that enclosure. It was nice and tall (I would say roughly 4-4.5 ft tall), and if I would have changed anything, I would have increased the width of the overall enclosure (which would have required a wider tank, of course, which would have also had to be custom built).

I did the same thing for my pietschmanni with slightly different dimensions (a tad bit smaller) and with typical screen-porch materials. It was much easier and also worked very well. Only thing is I never experienced my pietschmanni mating. Some courtship, and one seemingly fertile (but cracked) egg.

pietschmanni enclosure:

henkeli enclosure (please forgive me it was still partially being planted/filled out at the time, but nevertheless still had residents):

 

[Bob]

I think you could keep them in screen cages, since your humidity is pretty high. I keep my Uroplatus in tubs with screen, but my humidity is around 30% most of the time. Also I saw those half screen half PVC cages on Ebay not to long ago. They were made by sand fire dragon ranch.

 

[viktor]

I keep a pair of lineatus in a 18x18x36 screen cage. I taped the sides with clear acrylic tape to keep up the humidity, and half of the top is covered with transparencies. I have an automatic mister that mists once during the day and once at night. The water evaporates rather quickly. They love hanging out on the taped up sides. Rarely do they ever sleep on the actual branches or the cork bark background. I thought about replacing the cork bark background with a bamboo background, but never got around to it. When I had it set up with lots of bamboo branches, they would still hang out on the sides.

I have a basin on the bottom that is filled with cocofiber and plants. The water gets soaked in and then slowly evaporates throughout the day from the soil and from the leaves of the plants.

 

[gollum]

I keep most of my Uroplatus in all-screen cage.
Humidity im my reptile room is 85-95% all the time.

 

[DDReptiles]

Thanks for all the replies and input I think I will give it a go! I'll post some pics up once I get it all completed.

 

[Riverside Reptiles]

Derek, this is what I kept my lineatus in. I made it from a large rubbermaid stock tank (feeding trough). The top and bottom of the front is lexan. But the entire center section is screen. They did quite well in it. It's big enough to really give the big Uro's the space they need too. And best of all, it's light weight and hangs on the wall...so no floor space taken up.

 

[scrletbegonias]

Wow!

 

[DDReptiles]

Yeah Ethan I saw that, I've been reading through old threads here trying to get some better ideas. Though those tubs are upwards of a few hundred dollars from waht I've seen so a screen tank would be cheaper (I got 24x24x48 inch ones for $60).

I am actually keeping mine now in those 44 gallon sterilite tubs, like the ones you built for your cat geckos. They seem to work well enough. I've been rasing one pair of fimbs in them for 10 months now and they are growing really well. But the ventilation thing just isn't great, probably because the room is already really humid so it doesn't really dry out.

So I just ordered a bunch of screen tanks, ended up going with the 24x24x48 inch ones for the fimbriatus and then the 18x18x36 inch ones for the henkeli and lineatus. Also Lowes had all their tropical plants on sale so I picked up all of those Dracena plants they had which I've read work really well in the enclosure.

Should be pretty sweet looking once I get it all complete, I'll make sure to post some pics.

Thanks Derek

 

[luevelvet]

I use screen cages for all but my phantasticus. I've heard from folks in the private sector (read: zoos) that they are starting to move all of their phantasticus into screen cages as well. We house many chameleons as well as the Uroplatus and had all of our screen cages custom made by www.screencages.net. We house trios of fimbriatus and lineatus in 2x2x4 cages and the henkeli are in a 2x2x3. I provide a 2-3 inch bowl of water and the entire enclosure is misted 30 mins after lights out.

I think you'll find them to enjoy the screen cages much more than glass enclosures. They, and their food, can grip the sides which provides increased surface area for hunting.

Good luck and let us know how it goes!

Luis