Anyone else planting in the bottom of the enclosures?

Ceycham

Established Member
I've been experimenting with my setup, and although I know many say not to have any substrate on the bottom, I was having difficulties with drainage (mostly because I'm unwilling so far to cut a drain into the bottom of my current set up, and also issues with smell when the wet meets cham poop.

I have the mister spraying on two sides of the enclosure for good coverage, so I get a wide area of water mess at the bottom. My current solution is to allow that water to become useful by letting plants suck it up, so I've filled a relatively shallow bin with dirt that's wide enough to cover the majority of the bottom and catch all the "rainfall" into the dirt, and planted pothos vine on one side (having his fake ficus tree stick in the dirt on the other). I am now cup feeding crickets and worms, which he has taken to like a champ, and I move the cup around daily to encourage him travel different paths to get his food and exercise.

So far a week in and the smell and drainage problem is gone, but I'm also having some difficulty finding cham poop to observe or remove, and I'm wondering if that's going to bite me in the tush eventually. What other pitfalls might I run into?
 
If you want to prevent mold/fungus/smells, you have to go bioactive. Lots of resources out there to learn how. I've had an enclosure running for about 1.5 years, doing great, and I love the fresh jungle smell it has when I stick my head in.
 
If you want to prevent mold/fungus/smells, you have to go bioactive. Lots of resources out there to learn how. I've had an enclosure running for about 1.5 years, doing great, and I love the fresh jungle smell it has when I stick my head in.

What causes mold/fungus smells? Just wondering because my houseplants don't get smelly...what's different here?
 
Post a picture? I plant directly into the bottoms of all my enclosures.

It was hard as all the greenery is in the way, but the best shot of the setup is from the side:
 

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If you want to prevent mold/fungus/smells, you have to go bioactive. Lots of resources out there to learn how. I've had an enclosure running for about 1.5 years, doing great, and I love the fresh jungle smell it has when I stick my head in.

How deep does bioactive have to be? I stopped looking into that because I was seeing people were commenting theirs were like 1 -2 feet deep. No can do
 
@Goose502 hah I love that smell too! It's a sweet earthy smell, that's how ya know you're doing it right.

The depth can be a few inches or several feet. My largest will be 2 feet, but that's only necessary for my huge enclosures and root systems.

Mold and fungus grow from wet, humid conditions. Mold especially likes poor ventilation too. Your house plants aren't(or shouldn't be) overwatered and humid like a Cham cage.

The poop will be broken down in established substrates, but in the meantime I'd pick out what you can. Read up on bioactivity, you're trying to establish beneficial bacteria throughout the soil along with a large population of detrivores(springtails, isopods are the main ones). It's like setting up a SW aquarium on land.
 
@Goose502 hah I love that smell too! It's a sweet earthy smell, that's how ya know you're doing it right.

The depth can be a few inches or several feet. My largest will be 2 feet, but that's only necessary for my huge enclosures and root systems.

Mold and fungus grow from wet, humid conditions. Mold especially likes poor ventilation too. Your house plants aren't(or shouldn't be) overwatered and humid like a Cham cage.

The poop will be broken down in established substrates, but in the meantime I'd pick out what you can. Read up on bioactivity, you're trying to establish beneficial bacteria throughout the soil along with a large population of detrivores(springtails, isopods are the main ones). It's like setting up a SW aquarium on land.
Great answer, I couldn't agree more.
 
@Goose502 hah I love that smell too! It's a sweet earthy smell, that's how ya know you're doing it right.

The depth can be a few inches or several feet. My largest will be 2 feet, but that's only necessary for my huge enclosures and root systems.

Mold and fungus grow from wet, humid conditions. Mold especially likes poor ventilation too. Your house plants aren't(or shouldn't be) overwatered and humid like a Cham cage.

The poop will be broken down in established substrates, but in the meantime I'd pick out what you can. Read up on bioactivity, you're trying to establish beneficial bacteria throughout the soil along with a large population of detrivores(springtails, isopods are the main ones). It's like setting up a SW aquarium on land.

Thank you. If I can manage it in a few inches, I'll certainly look into that. Theres about 5 inches in there now
 
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