Chams interesting new plant

H

Handikapped

New Member
Howdy there, new here but not to the animal world. So after doing some browsing thru the zoomed site and saw that they have a fake cannabis decoration. So I put a real one inside my chameleons cage. I am a licensed medical patient and grower in the state of oregon. I had a long long talk with a zooligist from the hattiesburg zoo that I know to get some information on how "safe" it would be. Unfortunately there isn't much info on arboreal animals residing in a cannabis plant. So based on my years of experience with this plant and my friends recommendation my chameleon now has a new plant!

Here are some of the precautions I took to ensure my chameleons safety.
1. I used a clone that has never been sprayed with anything but water.
2. I use a 2 gallon smart pot with coco medium and no perlite. (Smart pots are a canvas planter that is soft enough to fall on and 100% climbable)
3. The strain is a short, slow growing, thick branched indica species. Not a a thin stretchy sativa.
4. The light cycle is @ 16 on 8 off to ensure vegatative growth and not flowering. (I do not want trichomes irritating his feet or eyes)
5. If any odd behavior starts it will be removed immediately.
6. I am well aware of what a nonglandular trichome is.

I'm gonna try to post pics my trusty old nikon died and I'm left with blackberry cam. This is not bullshit nor an attempt to start trolling. If u have ever tried lemme know how it worked. If all goes well we can add another plant to the safe list...just doubt many people can do it legally like me.

The bubba kush clone has been in his cage for a week, he is still an active hunter and is usually exploring. But he does favor to climb on the cannabis plant over the scheffelera.

Thanks guys I'm gonna take some pics in a moment
 
I'm all for legalizing marijuana (even George Washington had a cannabis farm), for both medicinal and recreational use, and not to mention the infinite benefits of HEMP and the seeds.


Buuut...

http://library.thinkquest.org/C007974/1_2can.htm

Looks like the leaves secrete hashish. I don't know what affects this would have on a chameleon, how they process it in their bodies, or if it would cause skin or eye irritation, if it is absorbed in their skin, what implications it has if ingested, etc.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHzdsFiBbFc
 
I don't know much on this subject, but I do know that thc comes mostly from the crystals of the cannabis plant, and they are all over the leaves and buds. If your cham makes contact and gets this "pollen" in his eye it can't be good imo, but then again, what do I know?

Personally, I would ask myself if this plant is mostly benefiting the chameleon, or you and your guests' viewing pleasure.
 
Althoouuggghhh.

There have been no deaths in the history of mankind from any amount of marijuana, it's simply not toxic enough.

Here is a bit of info from Health Canada about pets and cannabis

http://www.scib.gc.ca/pls/pp/ppack.info?p_psn=222&p_type=all&p_sci=sci&p_x=px

I highly doubt you would let buds form inside the cage, you'll probably just keep replacing the plant as your others grow?

If he is eating a lot of the leaves, I'd switch it out for something else.

If not, then I'd keep it in there.
 
Not allowing it to flower is good and all, but would an 16-8 light cycle done 365 days a year have an affect on your chameleon?

This all seems quite irrelevent when so many other options are available.
You can buy a 4+ foot sheff for like 5-10 bucks.
 
About the 16/8 light cycle. If u check the weather channel, during the summer months we receive more daylight than darkness, this in turn triggers vegetative growth in all forms of fauna. During the fall the light hours dwindle down to 12 and 12 which triggers crops to "fruit" trees to drop seeds etc. In the wild chameleons are exposed to various light cycles not just daily 12/12. The 16/8 ensures a vegatative growth as well as the feeling of "summer" for the chameleon

Pollen comes from male plants in flowering cycle, and yes male plants do produce small amounts of thc during flowering. This is a small female clone that I have grown for years and know she will not produce any preflowering symptoms aka thc, during a 16/8 cycle, she will only switch at 13/11 or 12/12.

As far as leaves producing "hashish.". There is no pollen nor glandular trichomes during vegetative growth. As per #6, non glandular trichomes. A ngt is a trichime that is undeveloped aka not psychoactive. It is merely a defensive measure that makes the leaves less desirable to eat bc they are slightly abrasive. Without them the surface would b glossy and waxy like the surface of a ficas leaf. While the cannabis plant may look glossy, if u rub the leaves u will feel it is slightly coarse. Think about this, without sand then sand paper is just paper.

This is not as u would say, for my viewing pleasure entirely. Due to insufficient data on this exact subject, and the fact that I'm probably the only person who can LEGALLY try this, I decided to. The number one goal is the chameleons long term health, period. If he seems to not like it or is noticablu different it will be removed and I we will all be able have further knowledge. As of now he sleeps in that plant over his scheff or that fake plant that starts with an "A" that looks like a cannabis leaf.
 
I think that this is a bad idea for two main reasons.

First, a light cycle like that will hurt your cham in the long run. They suffer from lack of adequate sleep like any other animal and they definitely will benefit from a switch in time schedule in the winter. They will even go into a light brumation of sorts and it is my personal belief that this is really good for them...a sort of rejuvenation period and cleansing. I know it is anecdotal evidence, but my chameleons really seem to thrive more in the spring and summer following a set brumation routine (lights on less, cooler temps, a bit less food) in the prior winter. This also seems to gear them up for the breeding season, the same way you get a plant to come to bud with a sustained light cycle that mimics summer. This being said, could you switch the timer to have more darkness? Maybe with 9 hours dark at least if you want to keep doing this...it would be better for your cham to have a longer dark cycle to sleep in.

The second problem...is that I personally would not want to smoke a plant that had chameleon (or any reptile or animal) all over it. Also, there is the chance that a chameleon's strong grip could harm the plant, puncture the stalk, etc, or damage the budding area (leading to the plant not budding as well as it could have) even if you are using a bushy and stout strain.

Basically, I think both the chameleon and cannabis plant would do much better if they had their own enclosures. ;)
 
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kenya said:
Basically, I think both the chameleon and cannabis plant would do much better if they had their own enclosures. ;)
Click to expand...

I agree.

The only thing that I use cannabis wise for my chams are the leaves, as a part of a gutload here and there. My roaches (no pun intended) and crickets really enjoy the leaves.


See ya,

Todd

Oh PS... You would be supprised who can LEGALLY do this... I know at least 5 other keepers on this forum that are legal 215 patients including myself. More than one of them has posted on this thread too LOL!!!!
 
toddmkeller said:
I agree.

The only thing that I use cannabis wise for my chams are the leaves, as a part of a gutload here and there. My roaches (no pun intended) and crickets really enjoy the leaves.


See ya,

Todd

Oh PS... You would be supprised who can LEGALLY do this... I know at least 5 other keepers on this forum that are legal 215 patients including myself. More than one of them has posted on this thread too LOL!!!!
Click to expand...

I like the gutloading idea! I'm not planning on flowering the clone for personal use, I'm turning it into a "bonsai mom" and will be replacing it as it gets older.

I will bump it back to 15 and 9 as per ur suggestion.

As far as him breaking it, he's a we little baby, hatched 7-1-09, and has nowhere near the weight to snap a branch. When he gets older I can totally see him snapping most any small tender new shoot under his weight...glad to see other medical patients here as well that's awesome.

Good info about how ur chams start getting amped up in spring with the return of a slightly longer light cycle. I keep all my fish tanks, snake and dart frogs on a light schedule that mimics the particular season, so during the upcoming fall the chameleons light cycle will be reduced by an hour every few weeks to achieve a natural homeostasis.

Yes I agree the both would do better in their own environment, first plant I tried was a bit too large and got the tips burned from the heat lamps ( tried to have it near the basking spot but the residual 90 degree heat fried the tips lol)

Good to see people using their brains to give me info rather than bash fest.
 
About every few months someone new to this forum is always trying to get a marijuana plant in their cham enclosure .Why bother with it theres a hundred other more eye pleasing plants that you don't have to worry about . You always get the stoner douche who feels the need to push this plant on his animals because it would be cool dude. Please grow up already go by a ficus like everybody else !
 
ciafardo 4 said:
About every few months someone new to this forum is always trying to get a marijuana plant in their cham enclosure .Why bother with it theres a hundred other more eye pleasing plants that you don't have to worry about . You always get the stoner douche who feels the need to push this plant on his animals because it would be cool dude. Please grow up already go by a ficus like everybody else !
Click to expand...

If you read his post you would know he's not doing it because he thinks it's cool... There's simply a lack of information about this plant with chams, and while this does seem to pose a threat to his cham, he did state that his cham's health is his priority.

I'm all for the new research.
 
thealissa said:
If you read his post you would know he's not doing it because he thinks it's cool... There's simply a lack of information about this plant with chams, and while this does seem to pose a threat to his cham, he did state that his cham's health is his priority.

I'm all for the new research.
Click to expand...

That kind of research just seems pointless and wacky to me. Please point out the benefits of this working out besides it saving a tiny bit of electricity or space.
 
Julirs said:
That kind of research just seems pointless and wacky to me. Please point out the benefits of this working out besides it saving a tiny bit of electricity or space.
Click to expand...

In my opinion, it is good to simply know and be enlightened by conducting research, whether it has benefits that can be directly seen or not, or it even benefits at all. In other words, I don't think that we should only learn new ideas and things simply because we see a point to them.
 
In my opinion, it is good to simply know and be enlightened by conducting research, whether it has benefits that can be directly seen or not, or it even benefits at all. In other words, I don't think that we should only learn new ideas and things simply because we see a point to them.
Click to expand...

Lol, Can we guess at your day job, if its not something like this ,your in the wrong buisness! :)

http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/...intless-research'-gene-discovered-2007041363/


Unfortunately there isn't much info on arboreal animals residing in a cannabis plant.
Click to expand...

Well Duh!

Would there not be some amount of Tetra Hydra Cannibinol, no matter how small? Otherwise why grow it? Im not unfamiliar with the plant, but just because it wont flower due to control climate dosent change its genetics.
Has the lizard eaten any at all that you noticed? Any effect? Did it giggle? crave hornworms? get paranoid?
I think 'research' is a little rich, point or not, its really just to satisfy your curiosity, using your lizard as a test subject. It may do no harm at all, but why risk it, especially if the lizard is big on munching plants.
Theres nothing to be learnt from using the plant itself over any other. Logic dictates that if its strong and has branches, the lizard will climb it. same as any other. Why not a prickly cactus? Then you could research how much damage might be caused so more sane sensible folk will avoid it!
You already know you can eat it without harm, but if you call it call it 'research',
atleast provide some useful data, such as nutritional value.

I dont care less if you or anyone smokes pot, legally or otherwise, its just not a big deal,
what I do care about is how folk treat their animals.
As far as young members of this forum go, the legality of your habit has nothing to do with the message you send by subtley bragging you smoke pot.

:)
 
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