My Bioactive Enclosure Build (Panther chameleon)

And thank you haha! I really like them. I'm lucky to live in an area with so many good foraging locations! Hopefully I can go feeder hunting in the summer; i know the area is frequented by Carolina locusts and a few varieties of katydids!
I’m hoping to go hiking soon to go miss hunting. Want to try and make a nice moss wall in the bioactive I’m placing on building or cover the dirt with it. Still working out how I want to set it up. Maybe some isopods will pop up during the moss hunt.
 
I’m hoping to go hiking soon to go miss hunting. Want to try and make a nice moss wall in the bioactive I’m placing on building or cover the dirt with it. Still working out how I want to set it up. Maybe some isopods will pop up during the moss hunt.

Ooh! Let me know how it goes! I'd also like to incorporate moss for sure. The carpet moss I have outside is very resistant to all sorts of weather conditions, and I'm almost positive it'll love terrarium conditions!

I'm so jazzed that the weather's getting nicer here- it's almost warm enough now to pack up my parrot and go hiking! Monty loves the woods, and especially loves to play with bugs. She's very gentle, and tries so hard to pick them up with her big, clumsy feet! :LOL:
 
Ooh! Let me know how it goes! I'd also like to incorporate moss for sure. The carpet moss I have outside is very resistant to all sorts of weather conditions, and I'm almost positive it'll love terrarium conditions!

I'm so jazzed that the weather's getting nicer here- it's almost warm enough now to pack up my parrot and go hiking! Monty loves the woods, and especially loves to play with bugs. She's very gentle, and tries so hard to pick them up with her big, clumsy feet! :LOL:
I live near lots of hiking trails and came across lots of moss in my hikes b4 getting into this hobby. When I was a girl I collects isopods for fun after watching “bugs life” so hopefully I still have an eye for it.

Monty!! I love that name. My hiking buddies always ask if we can turn around yet lol. If I don’t see a deer we aren’t leaving yet is usually my answer lol
 
Update: I separated the o. Asellus from the a. Vulgaris, and harvested a bunch of them while I was down in Vancouver (BC) over Easter. They're absolutely everywhere, there! They're very active and awesome little eaters, and definitely my favorite of the two species. I also picked up some interesting millipedes and some white worms with the leaf litter, as well as a few red wiggler worms. It's crazy how effective are at composting! Im going through litter surprisingly fast.

My a. Vulgaris culture, while still puttering along, experienced a pretty significant die off. I'm not entirely sure what happened, but I'll go and harvest some fresh stock sometime this week. They seem to prefer lower humidity and greater ventilation than o. Asellus, and are much less voracious eaters overall.

Plant wise, I currently have (in no particular order):
  • Coffee plant
  • Persian shield
  • Earth star bromeliad
  • 3 varieties of pothos (golden, pearls and jade, marble queen)
  • Schefflera
  • Purple wandering jew
  • Varigated spider plant
  • Varigated creeping fig
  • 2 varieties of ferns (bird' nest, unidentified tropical)
  • Several tillandsia species
  • Unidentified "air plant" (likely a bromeliad of some sort - waiting on blooms)
  • A few varieties of moss (rough goose neck, unidentified ground cover)
I also harvested a fair few interesting, moss covered branches to use as well as some knots and a log to use as "shelves".

We're getting there! I should have my enclosure in May to start actually building, and the lighting to follow. (y) while I'm still sorely tempted to attempt a waterfall, it might be a waste in a panther enclosure... maybe when I eventually get a montane species. :unsure:
 
I visited one of the local nurseries a couple days ago. I told myself I was "just looking"... yeah right!! :LOL: so, I've added to the plant list:
  • Highland pitcher plant (Nepenthes sanguinea)
  • Neoregalia c. Linda x2 (bromeliad)
  • Neoregalia "Fireball" (bromeliad)
  • Polkadot plants (2 white, 2 pink, 1 red)
I also went foraging today, and scored some bark for my background! :D It was all scavenged from ancient weeping willow trees by the creek, and no live trees were harmed in the process. None of it has been cleaned yet; I'll give it all a good soak tomorrow and place them under the deck with the rest of the goods, maybe play with it all for a bit and make some rough mockups! :D

The haul:
231120


The piece de resistance (super excited to use this as a focal planter!! Technically 3 pieces loosely jigsawed together):
231121

231122
231123


Another planter idea:
231125
 
I visited one of the local nurseries a couple days ago. I told myself I was "just looking"... yeah right!! :LOL: so, I've added to the plant list:
  • Highland pitcher plant (Nepenthes sanguinea)
  • Neoregalia c. Linda x2 (bromeliad)
  • Neoregalia "Fireball" (bromeliad)
  • Polkadot plants (2 white, 2 pink, 1 red)
I also went foraging today, and scored some bark for my background! :D It was all scavenged from ancient weeping willow trees by the creek, and no live trees were harmed in the process. None of it has been cleaned yet; I'll give it all a good soak tomorrow and place them under the deck with the rest of the goods, maybe play with it all for a bit and make some rough mockups! :D

The haul:
View attachment 231120

The piece de resistance (super excited to use this as a focal planter!! Technically 3 pieces loosely jigsawed together):
View attachment 231121
View attachment 231122View attachment 231123

Another planter idea:
View attachment 231125
Ok I need to go hiking now. Those are amazing finds
 
Have you started farming moss yet?

I have some rough goose neck and some unidentified ground cover that I'll be setting up in a proper 15g terrarium tomorrow with lighting. Ill probably throw some of the wood in there in an attempt to get the moss attached before hand! My ground cover may not survive; I left it in a baggie for too long :( But there's a bunch of nice lush moss that grows around my house that seems very weather tolerant, so I might harvest some of that!
 
I have some rough goose neck and some unidentified ground cover that I'll be setting up in a proper 15g terrarium tomorrow with lighting. Ill probably throw some of the wood in there in an attempt to get the moss attached before hand! My ground cover may not survive; I left it in a baggie for too long :( But there's a bunch of nice lush moss that grows around my house that seems very weather tolerant, so I might harvest some of that!
Nice I’m really looking forward to how this build comes out. I’m sure keeping it alive is going to be hard
 
Nice I’m really looking forward to how this build comes out. I’m sure keeping it alive is going to be hard

Yeah, the whole "alive" thing might be tough... but at least it still looks pretty/is functional if it's dead and dry! I have lots available to experiment with, in any case. :)
 
Awesome how your doing it just from whats around you. True green way of thinking eh. Think its a killer idea! Wish Ontario was like that, lol

Thank you!! I'm lucky to live in an area with multiple safe foraging grounds within my limited range, especially since I don't/choose not to drive. I figure it's much more environmentally friendly to harvest small amounts of wild dead fall than it is to purchase a bunch of cork, and it's much much easier on my wallet. And fun, to boot!! :D It's like a scavenger hunt; I highly recommend it, especially for bioactive set ups!
 
Thank you!! I'm lucky to live in an area with multiple safe foraging grounds within my limited range, especially since I don't/choose not to drive. I figure it's much more environmentally friendly to harvest small amounts of wild dead fall than it is to purchase a bunch of cork, and it's much much easier on my wallet. And fun, to boot!! :D It's like a scavenger hunt; I highly recommend it, especially for bioactive set ups!
I'm the same way, I repurpose almost everything, lol. There are some woods close to me, but I'm still in the city so it's not the greatest. Everytime I had to cut down a tree (which I only had heart to do if thing was beyond saving) I would always keep the cool looking branches for me and my friends enclosures. If I can get it for free, just my putting in a lil work and time, plus having fun ta boot. Thats a win, win..win situation lol
 
Happy to report that my most recent leaf litter harvest came with temperate springtails! :D I came across several dozen while I was poking through the colonies, and there appear to be many juveniles. Hopefully that means they'll establish themselves and start multiplying! I'll provide an extra feeding this week, see if I can jumpstart them. The springtails are thriving in the a. vulgaris culture, and are present in lesser(visible) numbers in the o. asellus. My little bitty millipedes are also doing very well, and I have some white worms cropping up. All sorts of useful CuC!

I think I'll try my hand at making a "moss milkshake" this weekend and attempt lto get some moss growing on my bark collection. Apparently if you take some moss (dead or alive) and put it through a blender with a 1:1 ratio of water:buttermilk until it has the consistency of a milkshake and then spread it on a pre-moistened surface, you'll have better luck with a moss mix adhering and growing on vertical surfaces. I certainly have nothing to lose, as my moss is looking a tad sickly anyway and I can easily get fresh stuff of it doesn't work out. Should be an interesting experiment! I'm going to mix all three of my mosses and see what pops up. (y) It can smell pretty vile, allegedly, so I'll keep the bark and mixture outside on the north facing wall until i need it and water it daily.
 
Happy to report that my most recent leaf litter harvest came with temperate springtails! :D I came across several dozen while I was poking through the colonies, and there appear to be many juveniles. Hopefully that means they'll establish themselves and start multiplying! I'll provide an extra feeding this week, see if I can jumpstart them. The springtails are thriving in the a. vulgaris culture, and are present in lesser(visible) numbers in the o. asellus. My little bitty millipedes are also doing very well, and I have some white worms cropping up. All sorts of useful CuC!

I think I'll try my hand at making a "moss milkshake" this weekend and attempt lto get some moss growing on my bark collection. Apparently if you take some moss (dead or alive) and put it through a blender with a 1:1 ratio of water:buttermilk until it has the consistency of a milkshake and then spread it on a pre-moistened surface, you'll have better luck with a moss mix adhering and growing on vertical surfaces. I certainly have nothing to lose, as my moss is looking a tad sickly anyway and I can easily get fresh stuff of it doesn't work out. Should be an interesting experiment! I'm going to mix all three of my mosses and see what pops up. (y) It can smell pretty vile, allegedly, so I'll keep the bark and mixture outside on the north facing wall until i need it and water it daily.
I read something about moss milkshakes awhile back but was confused on how it works. Let me know how it goes then maybe I’ll try it out
 
Back
Top Bottom