I did see a few minutes of the video from Rawdawg, which is where I got the idea for the stand. I was unaware about the ficus being an issue. I thought it was a common plant kept in chameleon enclosures. It does feel a little bare to me. I like the idea of adding an umbrella plant and some pothos. I will try and get some new plants soon to add. I will also try and get a photo of the mister. I have the hose modified at the end so that it can go through the screen. I noticed that the water built up on the outside of the screen and stopped the fog from going in so I plumbed it to a plastic fitting and made a small hole. Now it works great. I placed the cham in there on Sunday night. I saw him eat last night. The room he is in is my frog room, which is temp controlled at 74 degrees and has a 12 on 12 off light cycle. It is nice and dark in there during the dark cycle.
Thank you for the responses.
Any other suggestions?
it is a very common plant, I have a small one at the bottom of the cage and my juvenile jackson sleeps on it every night without issue. The problem would be whether or not your chameleon tries to eat the plant or is heavy enough to break branches, which would cause the sap to excrete. Having a hibiscus will provide good texture of branch for them to itch/clean their eyes on even though I typicially see her cleaning her eyes on the grape vine perches or the screen. Deffinitly want to add a lot more branches and a couple more plants.
Hobby stores like hobby lobby or michaels carry grapevine wreaths that work great for connecting plants. I always soak mine for 24 hours before placing them in the oven to kill any potential bacteria and cook out or wash away any type of preservatives that may be present on them. Typically the "natural" name bearing brands will not spend the extra money on preserving their products as it lets them claim to be natural, which is really popular this day and age.
The cup around the mistking seems like rain overkill. The mister should fire for a couple minutes every time the cage is completetely dry and re soak 3/4 of the plants. Always leave a quarter of the cage that is always dry. Jacksons need a cool dry bottom and a warm and dry top
The fogger having its hose placed on top and sealed as tightly to the screen as you can (I used polly tape) should apply enough pressure for the condensation to drip through without blocking the mist from entering as well. I use this to keep the back left corner wet, which is the farthest point away from the basking light)
The ammount of constant moisture that will be sitting at the bottom below this dripper like fogger will put you at risk for bacterial growth and over watering of whatever plant the drops are dripping down into the roots of. I had this problem and ended up replacing the pvc bottom with all screen. You also have the issue of keeping your fogger in ship shape and free of any bacteria that likes to grow in these units. The bacteria also become atomized and will cause respiratory problems.
That redkneck guy is great, he just did not adress the fact that if the conditions are not sanitary and very well kept, the ammount of moisture he suggest you provide is very conducive to upper respiratory infections(URI's). Make sure that your enclosure has time to dry before the next misting cycle begins. This will help keep humidity up and temps down, which is what jacksons thrive in.
Look for a dwarf schefflerra, the schefflerra aboricola and some type of well pruned dracaenia. Pothos are good too but I removed mine after learning about the calcium oxalates that make them toxic if eaten. My young jackson kept bitting at the leaves and it made me nervous.
Braided habiscus seem to be the preferred plant by all of my young chams. Not sure why but I think it might be the edibility and good texture on the stems.
How are you guys all mounting branches to your screen enclosures?
