anybody know good places to get branches, grapevines, and such?

[trickedoutbiker]

I'm about to upgrade my cham cage in a couple months and I'm starting to get things around for it that I know I'm going to need. This posting is specifically aimed at perches/branches and such. I have seen lots of people with long, twisted, sandblasted grapevines and such... I've seen people with bamboo sticks... Bird ladders.... All sorts of stuff really.

I was very interested in the grapevines. I see them at the pet stores and online a few places, but they are SO expensive. And most of the ones I see are from Flukers and Zoo Med (two overpriced companies) and not even branches like I want, but more like twisted up branches in a tangled mess, like these:

http://www.amazon.com/Zoo-Med-Labor...3206815&sr=8-8&keywords=sandblasted+grapevine

Well that's NOT what I want. I'm looking for like, actual branches and such that my panther can climb around on. Something closer to these:

http://www.amazon.com/Premium-Sandb...3206815&sr=8-6&keywords=sandblasted+grapevine
(says 12-17 inches... so this might be 15 inches IF IM LUCKY, and it looks SUPER FAT too so not the greatest for grasping and climbing)

http://www.amazon.com/Macs-Natural-...206815&sr=8-11&keywords=sandblasted+grapevine
(looks neat and of good diameter, but according to info on the page, it's only 8-13 inches)

But those are not long enough for a 24 x 24 x 48 cage. I saw a post on here a couple weeks ago where I commented on a cage with a bird ladder in it that I thought was neat. Those are easy to find really, so I'm deff going to get one or two to link a plant pot or two together like a jungle gym. But I believe it was that same post (not 100% sure) that someone else commented and posted a pic of some very cool looking twisted naturalistic grapevine branches that just looked so neat. I tried to go back through and re-read the post but I cant seem to find it. If the "Notifications" section here would let me go back further than a few days then I'd find it easily.... :-( ... So I can't find any really long ones anywhere... and the ones that are like, 20 inches, are still like $30+ at least!!!! That's a pretty high price for a piece of wood someone just picked up off the ground and sandblasted. I've managed to find a few pieces of driftwood that were 20 inches, but again, they are over $30 a piece. Not only that, but I personally think the grapevines people use in their cages look a lot neater than driftwood.

Bamboo is another option I considered but I haven't looked into it a whole lot simply because bamboo would probably be one of the last of my choices because it doesn't look as natural to me in my opinion. But I'd still be open to using it if someone had any good links to some affordable, nice long pieces of it.

I've also considered Exo-Terra Jungle Vines and T-Rex Vines..... I like that you can bend them and shape them any way you want, and I actually have a Jungle Vine one in my smaller cage right now. But, my thing with THOSE items is.... I know they soak up water pretty good - because once every 1.5 months I take out my live plant and give my cage a total spray and wipedown with Zoo Med's WIPE OUT spray to disinfect the walls of the cage as well as the few fake plants in the cage (I do this to combat any buildup of bacteria that may or may not be on the walls and fake plants in my cage due to humidity in the cage from multiple, daily misting sessions over a period of time) - then I sit the cage in a super hot shower to rinse everything off for about 20 minutes and make sure the Wipe Out spray is good and gone. When I'm done doing that, those fake Jungle Vines are just DRIPPING wet, well after everything else dries up. With that said, I believe they retain a lot of moisture, and that can't be that good for bacteria and such can it? That's why I'm wanting to get away from using them with the newer cage if possible.

I also have a Zoo Med Naturalistic Flora Flexible Hanging Vine in my current enclosure, and I actually like those - they don't retain water at all. I might have to get another.


But YEA.... sorry for such a long posting here. Just figured that maybe someone here could give me a few links or pointers or a place to shop for branches and such. Or maybe someone sells them here.

I guess I could always go and pull some random branches off some random trees, but the issue with that might be bugs inside the wood or mold inside the wood. I'd have to be careful if going down that route.

Can anyone give me some insight on this? Advice? Pointers? Tips? Thanks in advance to anyone who comments

 

[nick barta]

Ivy is invasive, and it grows all along the roads where it has grown from plantings in yards. The vines are supple and can be woven together. Grape is brittle and hard to work with, and the twisty fake vines do hold water against the bottom of the feet, I have never been a fan of them.
Sometimes JoAnn's of Michael's has vines/branches/vine wreaths.
Bamboo and ladders are too smooth for gripping, and a ladder is not natural IMHO!

If you don't have wild Ivy, I can send you a box full...

CHEERS!

Nick

 

[trickedoutbiker]

a ladder is not natural IMHO

hardy har har ;-) I know. But I thought the ladder idea was kind of neat. Maybe I will forget that idea unless I can find a really small one.

as for the Ivy.... I will let you know in a couple months when I buy all my plants and such, if I need some. We can discuss that in a PM at a later date perhaps.

Sometimes JoAnn's of Michael's has vines/branches/vine wreaths.

What is "JoAnn's of Michael's" ..... is that a store? Never heard of it. or did you mean JoAnn's OR Michael's? Because I've heard of a store called "Michaels" but never been to one. I know there is one here in Indy somewhere....

 

[birdbone]

So I just went through this with the same size cage. I looked all over the place online for something that wasn't totally smooth and sandblasted and wasn't insanely expensive. In addition to paying too much money for a stick, once you find one you will get to pay for shipping too!

I just cut a huge healthy branch off of the mulberry tree in our yard and trimmed it down until I had the pieces I needed. I didn't wash them or bake them. If you don't have a yard, just volunteer to trim your mom's backyard for her or some other relative near by. If you live in the city, go visit some grandparents. If everyone you know lives in the city rent a house in the country for the weekend and bring a little branch saw... But don't steal from the park!

 

[trickedoutbiker]

I didn't wash them or bake them

I would have at least washed them and probably peeled the bark off of all of it. I wonder how long a typical branch would keep in a cage though until the water on it every day eventually starts to rot it. Any idea?

 

[birdbone]

I would have at least washed them and probably peeled the bark off of all of it. I wonder how long a typical branch would keep in a cage though until the water on it every day eventually starts to rot it. Any idea?

In the first cage they were fine after 4 months of wet then dry, but the ends were a little ratty from too many tacks. If the cage can dry out between mists I think they'll do fine. Again, it was a healthy green wooded branch from a healthy tree and I didn't see anything alarming when cutting it up. Bark seems nicer to stand on, more texture. I do use the steam cleaner on them when I deep clean the cage. And I'll probably replace them or some of them in the late summer or fall depending on how they are doing.

 

[trickedoutbiker]

so I figured out there IS A WAY to go back and read through all of your threads and postings and I found the thread I was thinking of with the bird cage ladder things.... and it's not the same thread I thought I saw the nice looking grapevines on it that someone shared. I must not have commented on THAT thread (even though I could of swore I did.... oh well) because it didn't show up in my postings activity. must have just been a thread I viewed. uggh.... oh well.

if anyone does have links or more ideas though feel free to share them.

 

[jajeanpierre]

I would have at least washed them and probably peeled the bark off of all of it. I wonder how long a typical branch would keep in a cage though until the water on it every day eventually starts to rot it. Any idea?

I use a lot of live oak, and I rarely wash it. I leave the bark on and the lichen. They like branches that are small enough for them to grab, twigs almost for most chameleons. They want a variety of sizes.

 

[Blang]

Hobbylobby or Stein's garden and gift stores if you have any where you live!

 

[trickedoutbiker]

Hobbylobby or Stein's garden and gift stores if you have any where you live!

Thanks

 

[nick barta]

hardy har har ;-) I know. But I thought the ladder idea was kind of neat. Maybe I will forget that idea unless I can find a really small one.

as for the Ivy.... I will let you know in a couple months when I buy all my plants and such, if I need some. We can discuss that in a PM at a later date perhaps.



What is "JoAnn's of Michael's" ..... is that a store? Never heard of it. or did you mean JoAnn's OR Michael's? Because I've heard of a store called "Michaels" but never been to one. I know there is one here in Indy somewhere....[/QUOTE



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[nick barta]

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