Hi
Very nice setup Some questions. What is it made of??
and how is it held together?? What are the dim. and are those acrylic windows?? Are the two door the only access??
You're not using lights?? Does it have humidity and vent. controls??
So you're a snake fan ?? I recently saw a Green tree Boa that was bright blue. If a snake can be pretty he was lol
I think when i get my new setup finished I'm leanuing toward Chameleon. No snakes I'm sure lol
gary

It is made of aluminium extrusion
It is held together by T-Nuts
It's 8 feet tall, 5 feet in diameter (octagon)
The windows, top, and bottom are all acrylic
There are 4 doors, 2 on each side. They are the only access
I have a 400 watt MH on top, and 2 25 watt CFL's on the side
It stays 80% humid for days without spraying
There is a 120mm fan circulating air from the tank through the light fixture, to heat the tank, cool the bulb and provide circulation.Ventilation is minimal, it has a small vent on the bottom, and 4mm or so of space around each door. During the summer I replace a door panel with a heavy guage steel screen, otherwise it will get well over 100 degrees in there. The structure is inside my sun room, so there are windows all around as well as 2 sky lights.

If you have any more questions, feel free to ask :)

Also, chameleons can be a real challenge so make sure you understand what you are in for.

-DH

It is truly fabulous! Did you design it, or was it a kit? The critters are beautiful! The rocks rock, the plants are fantastic. Now come and do a whole room in my house.... please?

I designed it myself, and we fabricated it in our machine shop at work. It's a kit now, we held on to the design and will sell them if people want them. Thanks for the comments :)

-DH

Hi
I think for now I'm going to concentrate on the plants.
I want to have at least 7 or 8 grow zones with everything easily accessible and very adaptable to different specie.
As to animals it must be a place to keep a large school of Congo tetras and Clown loaches want to try to breed both.
I'm also hoping this system will add heat,humidity and air current to the whole shadeouse so i can maintain the understory palms It also MUST be a place to keep the sugarbirds. Everything else added will be secondary. This is a last attempt to get everything organized with much easier maintenence.lol
What is the problem with Chameleons?? i want something large enough to not get lost in all that space and help with the insect problem. Of course they can't eat the birds lol
gary

There is nothing wrong with chameleons, they just aren't the simplest of reptiles to keep. They stress out very easily, they usually have specific heat/humidity requirements (which I suppose will be easy if you are in FL) and don't generally drink from pools, so they need to be misted often. I haven't had any in ages, but I used to see a lot of disease and parasite problems with them too. It was only meant as a general warning, since I don't know what your experience level is. Just be sure to do the research :)

-DH

Gorgeous little Amazon do you have a pair now?

Yes, I do. The green one is a female, and the halloween is a male. The breeder I bought the halloween off has a number of solid red phase ATB's too, which he is planning on breeding. I will probably add a red phase female next year, and that will be my last snake.

-DH

Hi
your setup looks expensive lol After giving a lot of consideration to a new setup ,I opted for the shadehouse.I believe i can end up with a 25x25 semi-greenhouse for under 3 grand. I've noticed most "terrariums" are very expensive
not to mention the operating costs. I figured I'd have at least that much if not more in an indoor setup..I've found lighting a difficult issue both from a cost and practicle stanpoint. Another is adequet ventilation.
One of the most difficult choices has been what to use as a wall covering.Nothing works in this climate lol Another thing I've found is that no matter how large I make the "terrarium" it's not big enogh lol
I keep my birds in a separate aviary as most can't be kept with plants. An exception was the sugarbirds they flourished as did the plants and were fantastic to look at.
hate to see birds in cages!!
Have never kept reptiles except indirectly but would certainly do a lot of research before getting anything.
Thought a Chameleon would be a natural choisce for several reasons. It will be a long time before I add any animals to this setup so it doesn't matter much at this point.Thanks for the help lol
gary

In Florida, I would imagine a shadehouse or greenhouse would be the natural choice. Here in Michigan however, it gets a bit colder :) Light is no problem during the summer, but in the winter the 400 watt MH is definitely needed, and maybe a bit underpowered even. Heating a greenhoue here would not be practical, and in the winter it wouldn't get much light anyway.

-DH

DH
You would think a "greenhouse" is a good choice for this climate but in practice it sucks lol They get way too hot and humid even during the winter without exhaust fans or air. Swamp coolers are useless due to the high humidity.
At the same time there is the occasional frost that will wipe everything out.lol
The local zoo is setting up a fantastic "rainforest" but so far I'm not impressed with the climate controls. Lots of polarized glass and refrigeration. Obviously this would be 100 percent protection but the operating costs !!
They were also severely damaged by the hurricanes
I am very impressed with the decor.Can't see a single duct,wire or even wall.Even has beams of light coming from the canopy.
Unbelieveable what they've done with expanding foam lol.
Still don't think it's the "perfect" terrarium.
gary

TOO much heat and humidity? If only I had your problems (except the whole devestating hurricanes thing...) :) That zoo have any pics online? I am always looking for new ideas.

-DH

Hi
Didn't say it was the worst problem lol Just more of a problem than you would think,especially when making an enclosure.
As to the zoo they hired a biological consulting firm. They were about half done when Wilma hit and the exhibit is still closed
There are several habitat builders on line that give you fantastic pix of their work but not much detail of how it was done.
Miami metro rebuilt the "Wings of Asia" after Andrew and the entire thing is enclosed in netting. They rely on heat lamps and are not concerned about the plants.
My main complaint with the local zoo exhibit is that it depends entirely on electricity to function.
Can't think of any of the websites of these companies
but the largest I believe is the Lied center in Nebraska or the Bronx zoo. Both entirely endoors. They are fun to look at but the local zoos budget is 12 million lol.
gary