# 24" x 24" x 48" Vivarium



## TheCoop (Oct 24, 2012)

Ok not a vivarium . As well as dart frogs i have been working with Chameleons particularly for over 20 years. I have bred many species.. So we all have a "Unicorn" species or special locale of animal on that wish list correct? I was lucky enough to get a pair at the top of my list yesterday! 

They have not been legally exported from Madagascar in over 20 years, CITES released a very limited Quota of 300 total animals for export. I will be posting some photo's of the enclosures i built as well as the animals. 

Please remember wild caught Chameleons are not for the faint of heart, it takes great care to acclimate them properly. Look up Calumma O' Shaughnessy, so proud to be lucky enough to own a pair of these amazing creatures! Stay tuned!


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## Nismo95 (Jul 30, 2011)

congrats brotha. cant wait to see your progress with these.. Wanna go mandals shopping this weekend?


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## JonRich (Oct 19, 2012)

Will you be housing the pair together ?


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## TheCoop (Oct 24, 2012)

Mandles for life!


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## TheCoop (Oct 24, 2012)

Hey John, they key with fresh wild caught's is acclimating them alone.. In the wild they are very solitary animals they only come together to mate. They have only been in country for two weeks. My habit is monitor food/water intake every day, treat the animals with Panacur/Flagyl after a solid week or two of acclimating then another coarse of meds in 21 days. I have always enjoyed the larger enclosures @ 24x24x48.


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## JonRich (Oct 19, 2012)

TheCoop said:


> Hey John, they key with fresh wild caught's is acclimating them alone.. In the wild they are very solitary animals they only come together to mate. They have only been in country for two weeks. My habit is monitor food/water intake every day, treat the animals with Panacur/Flagyl after a solid week or two of acclimating then another coarse of meds in 21 days. I have always enjoyed the larger enclosures @ 24x24x48.


Understood, but will you be housing them together. Your title sounded like you have one viv and a pair of C.O' Shaughnessy. Just curious.


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## TheCoop (Oct 24, 2012)

2-24"x24"x48" enclosures, one for each.. Might be a few days before pics go up, table saw accident last night.


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## mongo77 (Apr 28, 2008)

TheCoop said:


> 2-24"x24"x48" enclosures, one for each.. Might be a few days before pics go up, table saw accident last night.


Hope you're not seriously hurt.


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## TheCoop (Oct 24, 2012)

30 stitches in two fingers say, yes sir i am.


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## pdfCrazy (Feb 28, 2012)

ouch!! Hope you heal well and didnt cut any tendons. Did these guys come from chameleon international? If so, I saw the pics of them and they are nice. I had a friend years ago that had a pair of Parsons, very impressive animals.


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## Peter Keane (Jun 11, 2005)

TheCoop said:


> 30 stitches in two fingers say, yes sir i am.


Wow, that's scary, I guess it's a good thing you are speaking of fingers still attached, it could have been worse. Best of luck on your new acquisitions..
Peter Keane


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## TheCoop (Oct 24, 2012)

Sure did PDF, Yellow lip Parsonii are next .


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## TheCoop (Oct 24, 2012)

Pics of finished enclosure..


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## TheCoop (Oct 24, 2012)

Few more..


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## TheCoop (Oct 24, 2012)

My Male, female is still acclimating.


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## Rushthezeppelin (Oct 6, 2015)

Schefflera sure does make a great plant for chams


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## TheCoop (Oct 24, 2012)

Agreed, very stable and hardy! Pothos is #2 in the Cham world .


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## gope (Jun 26, 2014)

TheCoop said:


> 30 stitches in two fingers say, yes sir i am.


Damn! I did similar 20 yrs ago with a dado blade. Never felt pain like that before or since! Hope they gave you some good pain meds.


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## Rushthezeppelin (Oct 6, 2015)

TheCoop said:


> Agreed, very stable and hardy! Pothos is #2 in the Cham world .


Ya Pothos is such a great plant, freaking immortal. I've even seen it stand up to Brazilian Rainbow Boa abuse in some people's bioactive vivs lol. Also useful cleaning water feature water in a riparium sump setup.



gope said:


> Damn! I did similar 20 yrs ago with a dado blade. Never felt pain like that before or since! Hope they gave you some good pain meds.


Try having your sciatic nerve pinched for a month in your left leg. That is pure unadulterated torture. I had that happen to me from a skateboarding accident on my 14th birthday.


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## TheCoop (Oct 24, 2012)

I got no pain meds guys lol.. True plainer on order ..


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## TheCoop (Oct 24, 2012)

Small update, both have stopped eating which is a great time to start the supplimental dosing schedule.. Both will be on a oral hydration/nutrition regimen for the next 14 days, after this point treatment for parasites will begin.. Both have been responding very well to Electrolytes-oral B Complex as well as Pro-Biotics..


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## Rushthezeppelin (Oct 6, 2015)

Do they make herp probiotics or are you just using ones made for human consumption? I've often wondered if herps have the same probiotics as us and what role they play in immune response and hormone production like they do in mammals. I've tried searching for studies on this but have come up empty handed so far.


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## TheCoop (Oct 24, 2012)

Rush, back in the mid 90's i worked with 95% wc animals and probiotics were still rather new. We started to use them along with a bit of an electrolyte concoction and it worked amazingly! To answer your question directly though, they sure do make a reptile blend now.. I keep the dosage just a hair over the rate of meds like Panacur and Flagyl..


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## TheCoop (Oct 24, 2012)

Almost forgot, pm me and ill send you the info on it..


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## TheCoop (Oct 24, 2012)

Update to come today. Went out and collected some amazing branches from a few older Madrona trees that the city felled "like manzanita" anyone interested in testing some out in a Viv let me know, very good rot proof wood that looks amazing.


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## TheCoop (Oct 24, 2012)

One complete with additions.


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## Rushthezeppelin (Oct 6, 2015)

What is that PVC bar at the top for?


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## TheCoop (Oct 24, 2012)

Since this species comes from very humid forests in its habitat I.E 80%-90% humidity i plumbed 1" PVC to an Ultrasonic humidifier at base level. 3/16" holes are drilled every inch to give a nice mist in the morning, afternoon as well as early evening @40min cycles. Humidity requirements as well as minimal info "actually zero info" on Calumma O'shaughnessy make this a study on natural range to make an attempt to replicate it.


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## TheCoop (Oct 24, 2012)

So an update on overall health, switched to an old recipe for an "all in one" booster. Started this last Sunday, female came in @ 42G and the male @ 114G. After 7 days of treatment @0.85cc "daily" female and 1.7ml "daily"male some amazing news, female came in @50G and the male @129G. Pretty amazing gains from a 20 year old recipe. Super excited.


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## FroggyKnight (Mar 14, 2013)

Wow, you are doing great with these guys! I'll have to PM you about some of the specifics on your regimens. I don't work with chameleons, but I do purchase other WC reptiles occasionally (mostly Uromastyx spp.). I know you realize how special this species is and I really hope they continue to acclimate well for you. Please keep us posted on your progress with them. Also, I hope your fingers recover just as well as your chams have!  

On another note, for some reason I thought Madrona wood was toxic. Am I wrong in thinking that?

Good luck!
John


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## TheCoop (Oct 24, 2012)

I dont believe so, i have used it in my Cham enclosures for 17-18 years with zero issue.. Also the Madrona bark make the best springtail substrate!


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## Encyclia (Aug 23, 2013)

TheCoop said:


> Small update, both have stopped eating which is a great time to start the supplimental dosing schedule.. Both will be on a oral hydration/nutrition regimen for the next 14 days, after this point treatment for parasites will begin.. Both have been responding very well to Electrolytes-oral B Complex as well as Pro-Biotics..


Hope your fingers are better! I didn't understand the reference to them stopping eating. Is it a good or at least predictable thing that this will happen? In my experience, it isn't usually a good sign an animal stops eating after it had been doing so. FYI, I know NOTHING about chameleons - just curious.

Mark


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## TheCoop (Oct 24, 2012)

In my experience you get a honeymoon period of a few weeks once imported, in the wild who knows how often the come upon prey items. We get them and they will eat all day when food is put in their face, then boom the normal stress/parasite loads start to take over. The not eating point is the opportunity to start the oral nutrition load, few weeks of this then left for a week or so. Then start the fecal floats for parasites and treat as needed


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## TheCoop (Oct 24, 2012)

Frilled enclosure Finished


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## TheCoop (Oct 24, 2012)

And done. Last pic is of the lucky little fella..


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## TheCoop (Oct 24, 2012)

Wasn't fond of my initial interior design, so i Dendro'd it .


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## TheCoop (Oct 24, 2012)

A bit more work done, lighting in..


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## FroggyKnight (Mar 14, 2013)

Lookin' awesome.

Sent from my LGL34C using Tapatalk


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## TheCoop (Oct 24, 2012)

Thanks bud, gonna try and mounth the digital temp controller front center between the vents.. Has a heat and cool setting, i want to run a 120mm fan for air circulation.. 12 cans of foam btw lol.. Tell ya what the 48" dual T5 HO i wired in is crazy bright! 6500k grow and 6% Arcadia UVB.


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