Live Plants

[Clarke221]

My first chameleon will be on his way here soon, I'm hoping next week if I can get the cage all set up in time.

I'm having a little bit of an argument with myself over his cage though. I've never had any problems with reptiles and keeping them alive, that's always been a strong point for me, but plants is a whole other story. I currently have one plant in my house, a fern, that I've kept alive for 6 months, and that's a record by far! I would like to put a live plant in his cage, as I know it will help with humidity, and just the look of the cage as well, but I highly doubt my plant husbandry skills, and feel that I'll kill it within a month.

Should I just give it a go and if it dies buy the fake crud?

What are some of the plants you all keep in with your chams, and which are the easiest to work with? Do you have drippers set up over them to water them, and just rely on that for the plants themselves?

Maybe I'm putting too much emphasis on the plant, but I'd rather do this right the first time than have to change it a month later.

Thanks!

 

[warpdrive]

Hi Clark,

Having a chameleon and not having live plants is almost cruel in my eyes.
With that said, here are a few plants and tips to help you out.

buy a large ficus tree from LLLreptile.com and a pothos from your local hardware store.
Both will need to be replanted with unfertalised soil.
Both plants are hard to kill, but you may lose a lot of leaves from the ficus.
Don,t worry, the top of the ficus will have plenty of leaves still for you cham to drink from.
Adding a 5600K bulb will help with less leaf loss and aid with plant growth but isn't need.

Water them lightly once a week and you should be fine.

Learn the warning signs...leaves drooping, add more water. Leaves look great, don't.

You're gona be fine. Get the plants. We are hear to help...even if it's a plant related question.

Harry

 

[VolcomStned]

Pothos and umbrella are pretty easy to keep alive. I rely mostly on dripper and mistings to water my plants, but I still have to water when I notice my pothos leaves drooping.

 

[Clarke221]

Warpdrive, thanks! I'll give those a try and see how it goes. As I said, I want to give my chameleon the best possible habitat, but have a feeling I'll be going through quite a few plants.

 

[warpdrive]

Yep, you're going to be buying lots of plants.
Even if you have a green thumb, your cham may destroy them or eat the leaves.
I've heard of veileds eating a whole ficus in hours...what a nice $20 treat.

I remember when my male panther used to sleep on the stems of two plants in his baby cage.
Once he was too big for that cage, he and the plants were transferred to his adult cage.
In time he got so big that he broke every branch/stem and left me with destroyed nothingness.
One of the plants was an umbrella...great plants, but can't hold up if an adult panther desids he's gona try to use it for support.

But yeah, we all go through lots of plants.
Just wait, there are plenty of things "they" never tell us before buying your first chameleon.
Like how you'll have more plants in your house then your girlfriend, or how males will leave you presents on his vines or your couch.
Oh, and they never tell you that chameleons can become so addictive...I'm already waiting on my 3rd and 4th one as soon as they are ready to ship.

Harry

 

[tkilgour]

I agree with warpdrive. Ficus works great and it almost seems cruel not to give the chameleons live plants. Umbrellas, Ficus, pothos and Hibiscus are my 4 favorites.

 

[backwood fred]

i deleted it