Reasons why real chams need real plants!

It was just the camera. I focused on the darker spot so as to dim the reflection of the light off the leaves. It was one of those Exo Terra Sunray all in one things... I know change it, but I was trying to make due as I had already spent the ridiculous amount of money and LLL is a hefty 5hr trip from where I am. Regardless, it broke this morning so now I have the 18" reptisun 5.0 bulb and a separate heat lamp so thats taken care of.
 
This is how I have it set up.

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Is it far enough from the focus of the light you think?

In looking at these pictures, it appears the baby tears are not in any soil, and just tied to the bark, is that correct?

Patrick, I just bought 2 4 inch pots of Baby Tears, would you suggest the bark or leave them in the pots? If I leave them in the pots, and under my dripping system, they will never dry out, would it be better to place them in a dry area and hand water them?

Nick
 
In looking at these pictures, it appears the baby tears are not in any soil, and just tied to the bark, is that correct?

Patrick, I just bought 2 4 inch pots of Baby Tears, would you suggest the bark or leave them in the pots? If I leave them in the pots, and under my dripping system, they will never dry out, would it be better to place them in a dry area and hand water them?

Nick

If you leave them in their pots, just hand watering 2- 3 times per week is plenty.They will need to dry out a little between waterings. If you hang them on bark , Baby tears will require considerably high humidity and frequent misting.
I just left mine in the pot.
 
Awesome setup mate! What do you do for drainage?
You have the tank I want for my cham but the glass bottom worries me and a pain to keep clean, was told to smash it out and replace it with plastic for easy drainage?
I want a glass one because it keeps temps more and humidity which is a real pain in the *** in UK
 
Just picked up some of these, is this these baby tears?
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question about the plants

Hi, new owner here. I see all these live plants in the homes that you all have made. Do you all know of a web site that we can order these plants from? Some of these plants I can't seem to find in my local area here in Kentucky.
thanks for any feedback.

Teejay
 
Patrick,
Your wonderful post has convinced me to take the plunge to live plants for my Jackson's and I'll be hitting my local nurseries and Lowes this weekend. My question is, I'm assuming most store bought plants will have been fed fertilizers which I understand is not recommended for chammies. I'll be re-potting everything in all organic soil, but should I do any sort of flush for a few days to clean the plants out before going into the enclosure? Thanks much.
 
Patrick,
Your wonderful post has convinced me to take the plunge to live plants for my Jackson's and I'll be hitting my local nurseries and Lowes this weekend. My question is, I'm assuming most store bought plants will have been fed fertilizers which I understand is not recommended for chammies. I'll be re-potting everything in all organic soil, but should I do any sort of flush for a few days to clean the plants out before going into the enclosure? Thanks much.

Plants need food just like chameleons. I feed my plants twice a month with just a little 20-20-20 fertilizer. Plants really don't need to be repotted in organic soil. If you buy a plant in a store for your chameleon habitat then, just rinse the leaves off really well to reduce the possibility of pesticide exposure. Hope that helps.
 
Hi, new owner here. I see all these live plants in the homes that you all have made. Do you all know of a web site that we can order these plants from? Some of these plants I can't seem to find in my local area here in Kentucky.
thanks for any feedback.

Teejay

Abita orchids is where I order my orchids online. Great service, and reasonable prices.
 
Hello I am new to Chameleons I am presently setting up an outdoor habitat and the esthetics of the habitat are possible just as important as maintaining healthy Cham. I want to thank Raphael knowledge of natural lighting

I was originally going with veil but now have chosen to go with a panther, I want to share the progression as my habitat comes to life with the forum. Live plants to me are essential. After I read your article regardless which species I get baby tears sounded logical being that they come from Madagascar So off I went to my favorite nursery Living Color in N Hollywood Fl ,
.I plan to have 4 sets of plants which i will be rotating, I am new to the forum and posted a few yesterday but my quota is full. so here a link to see how I am training the plants



Hibiscus ,bird nest Fern , Crocus, Bromeliads, babies tears , spanish moss, air plants, and an array of orchids . The homes in my neighborhood ( Morningside ) Have homes and landscaping starting in1910 there are Pathos vines as thick as my wrist,I went and got a handful and they were ready with roots today . Im weary of using Pathos as I had birds in the past and if they ate it ,it burned there tongues and they will stop eating . I guess its what ever works for you, Dept of Heath warns Young expecting couples about pathos and the dangers of toddlers eating it. Panthers are not known to be big plant eaters I think it helped me choose a species ,
Here is a link to see the progression and suggestions are welcome

https://www.icloud.com/photostream/#A4GgZLKuGZcEry

for the past 3 weeks I have been attaching sticks to the larger plants in order to train the direction .
This being the first day I started potting and wiring.
A old-timer once told me Try never to handle bromeliads the don't like to be touched" Well it may look like these were raped hopefully they will shoot out pups really soon
 
cool ideas!

I have noticed in a lot of the pics posted the cages are plastic/glass sided. How do you recommed hanging live plants in a screen enclosure? Open to all suggestions...newbie cham owner.
Heidi
 
I love your set-ups! I already use live plants, but never air-plants. I am definitely going to give this a go. Thanks for the wonderful ideas...going to be guild a custom soon and this really helped :)
 
what a great thread! Im getting a panther chameleon soon and i want to build him a palace. i got some great ideas now! thanks!
 
I love your set-ups! I already use live plants, but never air-plants. I am definitely going to give this a go. Thanks for the wonderful ideas...going to be guild a custom soon and this really helped :)

The air plants, Tillandsia, are really liked by small chameleons to crawl on and hide in. Mine is just starting to bloom again. Great plants.
 
Hey just wanted to come back and say I picked up a small baby's tears from the Reptile Super Show in Pomona, Ca. It's pretty cool actually they sold it on a piece of bark with a hook on the back so I could just hang it at the top of a side and ideally it will cover a wall in the enclosure. Thanks for the tip!

Are you talking a mesh enclosure? Can you please post a pic? I have a mesh enclosure and this sounds awesome, but I'm afraid if I hooked something this, eventually the weight would become too heavy and would tear the mesh.


Thanks!
 
I have noticed in a lot of the pics posted the cages are plastic/glass sided. How do you recommed hanging live plants in a screen enclosure? Open to all suggestions...newbie cham owner.
Heidi

I am also interested in this.. Beautiful setup in the OP, but how do us with the mesh enclosures utilize these beautiful air plants?!
 
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