My Exo Terras...

showjet95

showjet95

Avid Member
Some of you have been asking to see my exo terras that I keep most of my chams in so here ya go:) One of them isnt done yet (top left) and has nothing in it. A couple others I just recently re did so the plants have some growing out to do. All my other chams are in the garage in screen cages.

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What is that growing on the ground? I have been looking for a "grass" to grow in a tank for a long time with no success...also, what type of wood are you using? that wood looks like it wood rot out?


How long have you been successfully growing it? I have tried using a similar wood which rotted out after a few weeks and scotch and irish moss but they tend to die on me (i'm guessing its too humid for them as they are temperate mosses?)

I can grow pillow moss and shag moss like in my frog tanks, but that stuff isnt' "Grassy" like yours are in the pics




I'm very curious how you maintain these....they seem setup just like dart frog tanks, but those are MUCH more wet as opposed to how we want chameleon setups. Do you use ventilation fans bringing in outside air?
 
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+1 Showjet! I love them! What do you use for ground cover? Is that just grass?? I was thinking about trying some moss but humidity requirements are usually just too high for it. Also, Do you have drains in these? Or just use typical LECA, then divider, then soil? :)
 
Think you can give me some pointer? :D My female is in a glass terrarium just like these. Another post said to plant the plants, but I'm not sure exactly of the measurements for the hydroballs and soil. Can you give me a couple tips pretty plz.
 
Scotch moss, Ive had to replace it once already but that was because I over watered. Im hoping this stuff will grow well in them but its only been about a month...
I keep the layers as follows, hydroton clay balls, then black plastic window screen, then miracle grow potting soil, then organic soil, then in a couple I use a thick layer of exo terra coconut shavings? cant remember what theyre called exactly but are very fine little pieces. I also use 2 extra pieces of the exo terra background pieces for the sides, it looks way better IMO and I cant make the branches go whichever way I want because I can stick them into the foam.
 
@showjet: good luck with the scotch moss, but I do not believe it will grow in these conditions...it usually lasts ~1month for me too and i have tried it multiple times

i'm pretty sure it is too wet for the moss since it is a temperate moss. you can probably grow "pillow moss" (tho its not grassy like i said earlier)

do you know what kind of wood that is? if that has also only been in there for 1 month, I would be concerned about mold issues...it does not look like any of the water-friendly types of wood I'm familiar with.



btw: do NOT use potting soil if you are doing this! they will break down over time and end up one nasty, mushy mess. Use a block of COCO COIR mixed with orchid bark to up drainage+keep moisture (i like to throw in some shredded sphagnum and ground WOOD NATURAL charcoals too) and some springtails personally.

you have MIRACLE GRO in there?!???!?!?!? and your chameleons are doing fine??? if it has only been a month i would highly recommend removing miracle gro...although chameleons don't have the same risks of fert/water sensitivity as frogs do, I personally would not take that risk...


Just a point of clarification: these tank setups are different from "planted pot" setups in several ways and so you shouldn't just use the same components as you would there.
 
@kokom: you can always house some frogs in it or a pygmy chameleon in the future.

also, its a good idea to have a sterile tank for emergency transport / quarantine / unexpected situations
 
I'm pretty sure showjet knows what he's doing. The miracle gro isn't instantly fatal, and he has buried under a thick layer of moss and organic soil so it's not exposed. I certainly would not recommend it to anyone else, but with his experience with unusual species I'm not going to argue if it works for him! Plus I use non-water-friendly wood types in mine and they have err molded over. It's not the same humidity as frog tanks.

Those tanks look amazing!! I love the design aspect of all of them!
 
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I didn't mean to imply that he didn't know what he was doing....that is why I was asking how long he had these setup :) My general principle is that if it is toxic to one animal it is toxic to all unless it can be specifically established otherwise (I know this isn't' very scientifically accurate, but its my catch-all safety for enclosure building)


My personal experience lies more in the area of enclosure design-builds rather than being great with any one particular animal, but I can say from having built many of these exo-terra tanks...

its very easy to make it look amazing on day 1 or even week 1....but making it to year 1 is a whole other ball game!
 
showjet95 said:
Some of you have been asking to see my exo terras that I keep most of my chams in so here ya go:) One of them isnt done yet (top left) and has nothing in it. A couple others I just recently re did so the plants have some growing out to do. All my other chams are in the garage in screen cages.
Click to expand...



Amazing! What size exo terras r those?
 
There is no way any of my chameleons would be able to ingest the miracle gro. There is a thick layer of organic soil over it and most of that is covered with moss and in a few others it has coconut shavings over that as well. I have had half of these tanks set up for almost 2 years straight with not one problem, and my plants have been growing great in them. I have 2 sizes of exo terra, 18"d X 24"t X 24"w and the others are 18"d X 18"w X 24"t. I try and convince myself I know what I'm doing and some of it is trial and error but I have been keeping chameleons since I was 16 and I'm 32:) thanks for all the compliments!
 
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