Help a fellow panther owner out :)

I got my little dude about a month ago and built a pretty awesome cage with a fog waterfall ( fog not pouring water ), fake and real vine plants, drip system for water, and a few hearty succulents just for looks. My problem is i am not very good with live plants and i keep killing the main plant in the bottom of my cage. Had a hibiscus to catch the water for him to drink and it just died yesterday. SO im wondering what is a good hearty plant that looks awesome and doesnt have too much foliage? Ill post a pic of the enclosure and my cham in a few.
THANKS :)
 
I've added more branches for sun bathing since this pic
 

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Most flowering plants do not do well indoors as they need sunlight to thrive. You can get a plant light (6500K) from Home Depot and use that to help keep it alive. I would just go with a Sheffelera or Ficus. They do have a lot of foliage though and not sure why you would not that.
 
Nothing survives as well as Pathos, you can get variegated leaves in white/green and yellow green. They grow like a weed, but you can trim them to keep them small.
 
I agree pothos and scheffelera are the hardiest, most funtional plants for an enclosure. I have also had a lot of success with dracaenas, but they are more for cover as they don't offer good climbing branches or vines.

Edit: Don't you dare change that awesome name!!!!
 
Thanks errybody! Yeah I have some yellow green pathos on the top right that should grow and spread down the back wall but I'm trying to replace that plant on the bottom. Maybe some kind of flower or something?

Yeah me and my roomie got drunk and came up with that last weekend haha. (Shifty tripod eyes and colors) just like the drug king H S Tompson!;)
 
I hate Sheffelera I think they always get overwatered, the ficus you can't go wrong with it takes ALOT to kill.
 
Most flowering plants do not do well indoors as they need sunlight to thrive. You can get a plant light (6500K) from Home Depot and use that to help keep it alive. I would just go with a Sheffelera or Ficus. They do have a lot of foliage though and not sure why you would not that.

If you want a flowering plant try using the (6500K) light, like Carol5208 suggested... this will give it sufficient light and not hurt the chameleons eyes. They are pretty cheap lights. I got 2 for under 10 bucks. Hope this helps.
 
Dumb question, but is your enclosure mesh? If so, how did you attach the rock planter thingys?

I made the enclosure out of an old entertainment center. Meshed the back and framed up a screen door for the front. In total I spent probably 75 with the plants but it is bigger than any of this rinky dink all screen cages you can get online :). The rock stuff is that canned foam stuff sprayed though the screen just a little, then built up more in the front for "rock" feel. Then painted and water proofed, followed by a good wash.
 

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did your hibiscus die from the bottom up or from the top down? if your dripper was dripping into it it might have drowned. generally speaking, if your plants are dying from the bottom but the tops are good..probably over watering even though they like water, constant saturated soil with no place for the water to go would be too much, even if the pot has holes in it the dirt gets saturated. I added about an inch of rocks under the soil and that really helped the dirt drain more than if the pot was just full of dirt for it, it made a "false bottom" kinda like using hydro balls if dying from the top or outer leaves and branches towards the base then its probably not enough water or light
 
did your hibiscus die from the bottom up or from the top down? if your dripper was dripping into it it might have drowned. generally speaking, if your plants are dying from the bottom but the tops are good..probably over watering even though they like water, constant saturated soil with no place for the water to go would be too much, even if the pot has holes in it the dirt gets saturated. I added about an inch of rocks under the soil and that really helped the dirt drain more than if the pot was just full of dirt for it, it made a "false bottom" kinda like using hydro balls if dying from the top or outer leaves and branches towards the base then its probably not enough water or light

It died from the top but one stalk is still green. I think I'm just going to get one of those juvenile sheffelera plants just because its so hearty.
 
Scheffelera can be somewhat tricky too and I have used them, but mainly for the past 15 years I have used ficus trees - they are hardy enough to take a dripper everyday, they grow prolifically & when they need to be trimmed you can root those branches you trim and they will grow into more trees for either your home or other enclosures. Remember - the enclosure & it's contents are for the chameleon to be happy, not the owners visual appeal to be happy. A densely planted enclosure will give the chameleon more security & comfort.
 
Oh he's got plenty of shrubbery and seems to live his cage! He's also starting to trust me enough to walk off his branches and into my hand to hand feed :)
 
i've had a lot of success with ficus, too. it can handle most light conditions. the dracaena i tried never grew that much and it doesn't have as many good climbing branches.
 
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