Moss

[reptiles4evar]

I have a huge exo terra for my veiled ( 36x18x36 ) that I want to make into an all living vivarium. The reason I want this is because it will help with humidity/airflow, as well as look much nicer than fake plants. My question is, can I grow moss down there, way at the bottom? How does it get light? I think a bottom covered in moss would look much nicer than plain dirt, which I dont want to be in the open for him to ingest anyway. The plants I want to use are pothos and maybe ficus or umbrella plants, but I fear these may block any light that may get to the moss :/.

 

[trickedoutbiker]

I was wondering about moss in enclosures too, as I found a few neat moss plants on Josh's Frogs website that would be a neat little finishing touch to an enclosure. They would do great in a chameleon cage because of all the misting going on. As for your question though, I'm not sure if it would thrive all the way at the bottom. Maybe someone could chime in on this?

If you DO want a plant at the bottom though, I've seen lots of people who planted Baby Tears because they grow like a wild fire and don't require a whole lot of light. You can probably find them in most garden centers or plant nurseries. Baby Tears has a moderate to high water requirement, and should not be allowed to dry out. Baby Tears can grow in a wide variety of lighting conditions, but more intense light will result in a more compact, lower growing habit and lighter green leaves. Baby Tears can function as a ground cover in the front of a tank, and does not need air circulation.

I'd like to know about the moss as well cuz I was gonna put one in my enclosure, about 1/4 way up from the bottom.... Just didn't know if it was even safe because I never saw it on the SAFE PLANT LIST for chameleons on all 3 sites I checked. Maybe someone else can give us both some insight into both of our questions...

 

[Carlton]

There have been lots of threads about using live moss in cham cages in the past, so why not search the forum for it? Sometimes it stays alive and sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes you end up with a smelly mess.

 

[reptiles4evar]

Baby tears look really awesome, probably going to go with those . Thank you

 

[trickedoutbiker]

There have been lots of threads about using live moss in cham cages in the past, so why not search the forum for it? Sometimes it stays alive and sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes you end up with a smelly mess.

I did do a bit of searching on the forums (as well as Google) but I couldn't exactly pinpoint if the moss I was wanting was safe or not (or any moss for that matter, as NO MOSS appears on any SAFE PLANT LIST for chameleons that I've ever seen). I will probably decide against it, and instead, get myself a bushy fern or something.

Baby tears look really awesome, probably going to go with those . Thank you

No problem. I'd link you to some pics of enclosures that used them, but I'd have to search for them again. If you go to the official enclosure thread here, and start searching through everybody's setups, you can find quite a few that use Baby Tears. The look nice, grow nice and won't overgrow (because the plant has to have contact with the soil, it will only grow as big as the area it is in which provides soil. It won't overgrow your planters or anything)

What kind of chameleon do you have, just wondering? Veileds have been known to eat an entire plant of Baby Tears - they love em! Great for holding water as well on their tiny little leaves. Just an all-over great plant to use in any enclosure.

 

[reptiles4evar]

Its a veiled but hes never shown interest in eating any sort of plants. Left the pothos alone as well as two corn plants.

 

[Davecameos]

Not all types of moss require a lot of light.

I have use java, reindeer and sphagnum moss without problems.
Pillow moss looks quite good if you prefer a more compact look or carpet moss.