Help with live plants...

[jergar2]

Hi everyone,

I have just recently purchased my first Panther Chameleon. I have his cage set up with Bio vines(Zoo Med brand). But I really want to put a live plant inside of his cage tohold the dripping water better. If anyone has a good website to purchase the type of plants needed please let me know. I was told that the drawf umbrella plant is the way to go and that I would be able to find them at Home Depot or Lowes. I went there and neither store has them. They both have plats that I think would be sutible for his cage but I do not want to just buy anything and it end up being harmful to him.

thankyou,
Jeremy

 

[Paul R]

I only use Ficus sp. as pot plants, thay are relatively hardy, hold moisture well, the leaves are a comfortable size and they are pothos by nature meaning that they filter the air. Thay should be readily available at all stores

 

[pudge]

Search the forums for the plant data base and it will give you a list of safe plants.

 

[Carlton]

As panthers don't often chew on leaves you have some options. The safe plants database is great. Basically, you need plants with sturdy branches and leaves for the cham to climb, will hold water droplets he can lick or shoot, and can handle the relatively low light level in a cage (compared to sitting in a bright window). Regardless of what plant you choose you'll need to wash the plant down well to remove any residue of pesticides or fertilizers the nursery used, and re-pot the plant in new potting soil that does not contain perlite (the white styrofoam-like bits) or systemic pesticides. When you feed your plants you can use liquid fertilizer instead of granulated types. This way the cham won't pick up these on its tongue by accident. The pots need to drain well because the plants are going to get sprayed daily and will mold if the soil stays too wet.

 

[DGray]

websites for mail order

Welcome to the forum.

Its hard to find places that will mail order common plants, especially plants large enough to use in your cham cage. Also, I don't know where you are, but unless you're in California and buying from a CA nursery, shipping can be risky right now and most places in colder climates won't do it in winter. I'm presuming you're in the Northern hemisphere, probably the U.S.

I would try harder to find a plant locally. Rather than going to a big box like one of the home improvement stores, why don't you try a good nursery, garden center, or even a bigger florist? Dwarf Scheffleras (aka:"umbrella plant") should be more-or-less easy to find in most bigger towns and cities in the U.S.

There is a good information site for plants called Dave's Garden

 

[Dave Weldon]

...drawf umbrella plant is the way to go and that I would be able to find them at Home Depot or Lowes. I went there and neither store has them...

Howdy Jeremy,

Putting 2 and 2 together... Did you get your Panther at the Pomona show? I wonder if it was me at the SBCK booth talking about Dwarf Schefflera being available at Home Depot and Lowe's . By the way, Walmart has them too. Maybe it's a seasonal plant at those stores? You could always try a regular Garden Nursery type place. If price is an issue, try the places that look a bit on the "wholesale" side of the trade. I think a 2'-3' tall one should be around $10-$15 at places like Walmart etc. Some of mine grew to the top of my 4' enclosures and then went sideways for a foot or more . Buy a couple extra and rotate them to outdoors to encourage growth. Also add a 6500K fluorescent light if you want to get them to grow better indoors.

I think I bought all of mine from Home Depot, Lowe's and Walmart. Oh, I did get a few from a wholesale nursery that has since closed.

What town are you in?

Try these names for Dwarf Schefflera:

Schefflera Enano
Schefflera arboricola

http://images.google.com/images?hl=...esult_group&ct=title&resnum=5&ved=0CC8QsAQwBA

 

[meganm85]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cT_uHYBWQwU

omg!! i hope it didnt eat any!! lol

 

[pssh]

Whoever the heck you are stop posting that video!

 

[jergar2]

thanks

To really reply to everyone at once... I live in southeast Georgia. I have called a local nursery about drawf umbrella and the lady seemed very knowledgeble but she had never heard of it and said she would reserch and see if it is a term used for a different name of a plant. Until I read all of your post I didn't know it was called drawf scheffla. Now I do. The nurdery at Lowe's said they don't start putting them out until about Feburary because of the climate. It has actually been getting pretty cold here. It has warmed up for the past week but probably going to get cold again. Also right now I have him in a small cage about 2' Hx2' Wx18" D. He is barely over 2 months old. When he is about 4 months I plan on upgrading his cage to at least a 4' high cage. I curently leave in a small barracks room so size is a problem and did not realize that when I bought him. The pet store owner I bought him from was not very informative and I thought that the Panther Cham was always going to be small. Then I got home and figured that I should do as much reserch as I can to make sure that I could give him the best care possible and found out a lot of thaing that the pet shop did not tell me. In that case I probably would have waited to buy a cham for a couple of months until I moved into a house or a apartment with my soon to be wife. I appreciate all of your help and I will soon post some pics of Cajone and his cage. The pet store told me that he is a male and that he is about 8 weeks old but I have been told that it is probably a female and that it really looks farely older than that buy a well respected breader named care4urchameleon that I found on youtube.

Thankyou Again
Jeremy