Enclosure check

[Oconnell.alicia.m]

Hey everyone. I just finished getting plants and setting up my little girls enclosure and was hoping to get some thoughts and making sure everything looks good for her. I got the dracaena tree, a golden pothos, and a hibiscus ( I’m aware needs a lot of sun). I used a list that I found on some research on this forum for safe chameleon plants.

 

[Alagarde]

How big is your cage and what type of lighting system do you have?

 

[Multivitamins]

There are going to be a few bits of advice coming from different angles especially the lights... I'll stick with the task at hand plants and enclosure.

You'll want to have more "stuff" to climb be it branches or vines or plants with less leaf and more trunk / branches. if you want other plants there's a wealth of posts talking about people's h.d. runs or bio active stories. People love decking out their enclosures and are happy to post about them use the search option it's your bff ... In the years I've lurked before making an account and now using it as a member search almost always has some information on what I'm curious about.

Short recommendation list
Tree like
Schefflura
Money tree
Ficus

Vine or runners
Pothos
Hoya
Spider plant (I prefer Pothos heartier vines)

Some people even put passion fruit vine but I have no experience first hand that in an enclosure as it may fruit and get messy

Decorative
Air plants
Bromeliads
Goldfish plant (nickname forgot scientific )

Filler

Spanish moss for deadspaces , works to provide a humidity pocket and hold most / spray well also it looks nice but can get messy if you Cham poops in it.some people love it some hate it
I use it to fill open space and drape it from a potted plant in my canopy to give my Cham an area to hide under my Pothos where he's not as visible and exposed.

I like snake plant it needs little to no extra care just good lighting mixed with any floor plants they run up tall and can be add aesthetic and a climbable vertical option from the ground level should your Chameleon find themselves there



Now some other stuff

You'll
Be putting a lot of water into the enclosure you'll need drainage.

Your going to be told to get new lights. A linear t5 fixture is the standard it runs across the length of the top and provides uvb more consistently through the enclosure than the spiral bulb you have. The spiral is NOT enough on it's own.

You might want to get a dual or quad bulb fixture to put off enough light to keep it well lit and plants alive .

Mount some temp probes I got cheap aquarium ones knowing they will survive the misting and get a temp gun (cheap on Amazon infared temp gun). This way you know your surface temps and ambient temps. And can adjust accordingly.

You need to lift the lights off the screen so your Cham doesn't get burnt if they climb under it.