Maintaining Plant Health

[GlennFrog]

Today I purchased a nice, big golden pothos for my girl's cage. I know that you want to use non-fertilized soil for use in the cage, but how, then, do you keep the plant alive? Is liquid plant food safe for use in an enclosure? Is there a different, specific way to provide nutrients to the plant without exposing the chameleon?

 

[KaijuVeiled]

If the plant is in a pot just put large river rocks over the dirt so your cham can't get to the dirt. You should be fine with fertilized soil if it's covered.

 

[GlennFrog]

The thing is that I was hoping to double up and use the plant's pot as a laying bin, too. She's still too young to be gravid, so I suppose that I could just keep a sharp eye out for egg signs/receptive colors and keep the soil fertilized and covered, then switch pots for laying in. Should I keep a laying bin available at all times, or do as stated above? Thanks for the help, everyone.

 

[Carlton]

Today I purchased a nice, big golden pothos for my girl's cage. I know that you want to use non-fertilized soil for use in the cage, but how, then, do you keep the plant alive? Is liquid plant food safe for use in an enclosure? Is there a different, specific way to provide nutrients to the plant without exposing the chameleon?

You don't really need to use "fertilized" soil for plants if it has organic matter in it. The plant still uses the soil components to grow. I think "fertilized" potting soil has been augmented with chemical fertilizing ingredients other than what is naturally present in the organic matter. Its probably stuff like those Miracle Grow potting mediums. If you use liquid plant food it will be absorbed into the soil, not sit on the surface. What you don't want is to use the time-release pelleted type of fertilizer that might attract your cham's attention.

Not all chams decide to shoot or eat potting soil. Obviously the few chams who do end up burying their eggs in plant pots are not dying from contact with the soil. I think you'll have to watch your chams to see if any of them decide to eat the stuff.

 

[GlennFrog]

Currently I have a pot of unfertilized top soil sitting in a large pot, which Rinoa uses as her hunting grounds, since that is where I tend to pour out the crickets; this is the pot I plan to put the pothos in. I guess I'll just use small amounts of liquid fertilizer every few weeks and watch for any dirt eating, which I haven't yet noticed. Thanks for the help, and any other help/suggestions are very welcome.