FICUS question.

[FAIL]

I hear a ton of people using ficus, and I hear a ton of people saying EYE INFECTION. I would like to include a ficus, but should I? I have a 5-6 month old veiled male.

 

[Brad Ramsey]

I have never had a ficus effect a veiled chameleon.
The only cases of the sap irritating the eyes (that I know of) have been panthers.

-Brad

 

[wilfred]

Short answer: Yes.

The way I understand it Ficus benjamina is the most used live plant for chameleons.

The sap can irritate chameleon eyes but only comes out if the bark is removed. Your veiled can and probably will eat the leaves of the ficus, but this will not release any sap and is normal and healthy for your guy. The chameleon will not mess with the bark other than gripping it as he walks, so it should not be a problem.

 

[Damien]

I use ficus and have had no problems, in fact- he loves it!

 

[Vampire.queen]

I used ficus for my calyptratus and now for my verrucosus and have never had any problems with this plant.

 

[eisentrauti]

I've kept nearly 20 species from a few genus and had never any problems with Ficus. They and Schefflera are my no.1 chameleon plant

 

[sandrachameleon]

I have a fiscus in two of my panther cages. No issues. I used to have one in with a female who is very active, a brute, broke alot of branches and thus caused a fair bit of sap leakage from the plant. This has the potential to irritate skin and eyes, so I took that plant out of her cage and gave her pothos instead.

 

[PardalisGirl]

Go for the ficus.........

I'd go for the ficus..........I use them a lot and have a lot of chams. I've only had one eye issue. It happened just the other day. A young Panther was chewing on one and got a little sap in it's eye. It irritated the eye. I showered the cham for a couple of days and it was fine again. Most of my Veileds eat the leaves. Many of my Panthers do too. Only one problem in all these years......I have no plans to stop using them. They are such great plants! Go for it

 

[panthercrazy]

I agree, ficus is one of the better plants to use. I have them in all my cages (panthers, veiled, flaps). My veiled and 1 panther boy eat the leaves. I have had no issues using ficus yet.

 

[writh]

I have a ficus tree too and even though I offer my cham kale and collard greens she still eats the ficus plants she looks really healthy though, so I dont see any issues with the ficus.