Canes/Ties/Breeders......

[herriotfan]

Is it ok to use normal garden canes in chameleon enclosures?
Also do people use string or those plastic tie things, or what, to join vines, wood, branches etc together?
Can anyone recommend a good breeder of panthers in the UK?
Cheers guys

 

[rcutchens]

I'm not sure what "garden canes" are so I can't comment on those.

However, for tying branches, vines and hanging things in Rico's cage I used some very thin mm plastic plant tie that I purchased at home depot. It is a very thin wire coated in green plastic like a bread tie and it came in a spool. I’ve also heard of others using string, fishing line and zip ties so I’m sure there’s all kinds of options available.

I found it very easy to use the plant tie because it was thin enough to fit through the screen so I was able to create little "loops" to hang vines from and run the twisted and tied end outside of the cage so as not to accidently expose Rico to any wires. Being able to twist the wires helped with easily tightening the tie which I imagine would be more challenging with string or fishing line. Another benefit is that being a single spool I was able to cut different lengths as needed for whatever I was trying to tie, hang or join.

For any ties that I made inside the cage, such as tying branches together, I was very cognizant of the twists to ensure that I placed them on the underside of branches whenever possible and I also made sure the wire was not protruding from the plastic sheathgin in any way. The plastic sheathing can actually be "stretched" so that it exceeds the length of the internal wire if even only an 1/8" thus making it easier to keep the wire from being exposed in any way.

I think the main thing I'd be cautious of if using any type of wire tie is making sure there are not any sharp wires sticking out that your chameleon may get scrapped or cut by. In the end this particular plant tie worked great for me and I'm confident that the way I've used it is safe for Rico.