Plant Questions.

[UrbanChameleon]

So I'm wondering what kind of food I can give my pants/trees. I have a Ficus and an Umbrella tree. They are potted in organic soil and that's about it. Is there any kind of food I can give them that's safe? I really want them to grow as quick as possible. I was curious if you guys do anything to them. Also, I have a hard time getting my Chameleon's poop/urine out of the soil and rocks on top. Is it okay to leave in there? I don't want it to mold or anything. Other than the stench I figured it wouldn't harm the plants. But I wanted to make sure. I doubt they are getting any UVB from my bulb too. My cage is 4 feet and if anything is getting any rays, it would just be the top of my Umbrella. I keep his heat lamp directed towards the side of the Umbrella. I haven't seen any bad results from that. So they both get heat but it's more indirect light. I figured my Ficus would be more finicky from all I've heard about them.

So in summary..

Is there anything I can do for my plant growth? Any type of liquid food, or otherwise, that I could give them?

And..

Will my Chameleon's poop and urine be a problem for the soil? Will it mold? Is it okay if I can't get to all of it, or should I try my best to remove it all?

Any other random tips would be great. I haven't had them very long, but they look the same as the day I got them. I would like to find an organic/safe way to help them grow and thrive. Thanks guys.

 

[brandon1]

So I'm wondering what kind of food I can give my pants/trees. I have a Ficus and an Umbrella tree. They are potted in organic soil and that's about it. Is there any kind of food I can give them that's safe? I really want them to grow as quick as possible. I was curious if you guys do anything to them. Also, I have a hard time getting my Chameleon's poop/urine out of the soil and rocks on top. Is it okay to leave in there? I don't want it to mold or anything. Other than the stench I figured it wouldn't harm the plants. But I wanted to make sure. I doubt they are getting any UVB from my bulb too. My cage is 4 feet and if anything is getting any rays, it would just be the top of my Umbrella. I keep his heat lamp directed towards the side of the Umbrella. I haven't seen any bad results from that. So they both get heat but it's more indirect light. I figured my Ficus would be more finicky from all I've heard about them.

So in summary..

Is there anything I can do for my plant growth? Any type of liquid food, or otherwise, that I could give them?

And..

Will my Chameleon's poop and urine be a problem for the soil? Will it mold? Is it okay if I can't get to all of it, or should I try my best to remove it all?

Any other random tips would be great. I haven't had them very long, but they look the same as the day I got them. I would like to find an organic/safe way to help them grow and thrive. Thanks guys.

To answer both questions: leave the poo in there as it actually helps in plant growth, and the addition of earthworms also helps with plant growth. Unless someone says otherwise, make sure your cham doesn't get any of the earthworms before they bury themselves, and don't drown out the plant to where there is a bunch of water in it because it will cause the earthworms to surface, and if your cham doesn't eat them, they will most likely escape out of your cage or just die.

 

[UrbanChameleon]

To answer both questions: leave the poo in there as it actually helps in plant growth, and the addition of earthworms also helps with plant growth. Unless someone says otherwise, make sure your cham doesn't get any of the earthworms before they bury themselves, and don't drown out the plant to where there is a bunch of water in it because it will cause the earthworms to surface, and if your cham doesn't eat them, they will most likely escape out of your cage or just die.

Thanks. I hadn't thought of the earth worm idea. The bad part is he seriously eats anything that moves or is out of place. I have to pick up leaves off the cage floor the second they fall. Luckily it's not too common for him to go after those, but he has tried. So I might add a few earth worms and really keep an eye on it. This is kind of off topic.. but when do Chameleons start eating less? He has hit the 6-8 month mark and I've noticed he's less interested in his food. He will eat a couple and then take his time on the rest. It used to take me 3-4 minutes to feed him. It now takes about 15 minutes. It's not just with crickets either. Is he just growing up or could that be an issue?

If anyone else has any plant growth methods, I'd love to know what you do. Thanks.

 

[Rottsko]

Thanks. I hadn't thought of the earth worm idea. The bad part is he seriously eats anything that moves or is out of place. I have to pick up leaves off the cage floor the second they fall. Luckily it's not too common for him to go after those, but he has tried. So I might add a few earth worms and really keep an eye on it. This is kind of off topic.. but when do Chameleons start eating less? He has hit the 6-8 month mark and I've noticed he's less interested in his food. He will eat a couple and then take his time on the rest. It used to take me 3-4 minutes to feed him. It now takes about 15 minutes. It's not just with crickets either. Is he just growing up or could that be an issue?

If anyone else has any plant growth methods, I'd love to know what you do. Thanks.

The grow light (6500k bulb in the other thread) will help tremendously. I don't do anything like plant food and stuff but one thing to make sure is that you have plenty of drainage. I drilled some holes in the bottom of the pot. I learned the hard way with my mist king. If your plant gets too much water and no way to drain it, it will die. Too much of a good thing, is not always good.

 

[brandon1]

Thanks. I hadn't thought of the earth worm idea. The bad part is he seriously eats anything that moves or is out of place. I have to pick up leaves off the cage floor the second they fall. Luckily it's not too common for him to go after those, but he has tried. So I might add a few earth worms and really keep an eye on it. This is kind of off topic.. but when do Chameleons start eating less? He has hit the 6-8 month mark and I've noticed he's less interested in his food. He will eat a couple and then take his time on the rest. It used to take me 3-4 minutes to feed him. It now takes about 15 minutes. It's not just with crickets either. Is he just growing up or could that be an issue?

If anyone else has any plant growth methods, I'd love to know what you do. Thanks.

As for the eating, I don't know if it this goes with all chams but if your cham is a Veiled then yes this is normal. This is around the time that my Veiled slowed down his eating and is when you should actually put him on a scheduled feeding rather than give him all he will eat like when he was younger. Do a set amount for everyday, or every other day of around 10 normal sized crickets or an equal amount in size for another feeder of 10 crix. 10 is just an estimate and my opinion as I mix it up with my Veiled and never give him the same amount as the day before, but this is the preferred method by most. Just so long as you're providing your cham with a variety of feeders and he's not going on a hunger strike then you are fine with him taking a little longer to eat

 

[UrbanChameleon]

The grow light (6500k bulb in the other thread) will help tremendously. I don't do anything like plant food and stuff but one thing to make sure is that you have plenty of drainage. I drilled some holes in the bottom of the pot. I learned the hard way with my mist king. If your plant gets too much water and no way to drain it, it will die. Too much of a good thing, is not always good.

Yeah I'm planning on getting a grow light once I get my soon-to-be Chameleons in their adult cages. I'd never seen anyone mention plant food on here before, so I just never did anything for them. I do have some decent drainage in my Umbrella. My dad re-potted the Ficus and I'm not sure what the situation is on that pot. He helped me with the Umbrella so I'm pretty sure he did something with the Ficus. Luckily, my Monsoon is positioned towards the front/middle of my cage. The water hits none of the plants soil.. ever. Just the Umbrella's leaves. I manually mist them myself. It kind of sucks though, because there is Cham poop in the soil. I can't tell if the plants need watered because I don't want to stick my fingers in poop. Haha. I do a lot of things for him, but I refuse to knowingly touch poop without latex gloves.

 

[UrbanChameleon]

As for the eating, I don't know if it this goes with all chams but if your cham is a Veiled then yes this is normal. This is around the time that my Veiled slowed down his eating and is when you should actually put him on a scheduled feeding rather than give him all he will eat like when he was younger. Do a set amount for everyday, or every other day of around 10 normal sized crickets or an equal amount in size for another feeder of 10 crix. 10 is just an estimate and my opinion as I mix it up with my Veiled and never give him the same amount as the day before, but this is the preferred method by most. Just so long as you're providing your cham with a variety of feeders and he's not going on a hunger strike then you are fine with him taking a little longer to eat

That's good to know. I was a little worried. Although I figured that was the situation. He will eat 3-4 and then look around forrrrever, not even caring they are jumping around. I have to stand there and maneuver until he eats. I'm going to make a feeder cup that I can leave in his cage. That way he can eat at his own pace. He has changed a little since being in his new cage. He now has view of things he couldn't see in the past. So he gets distracted very easily. Plus I've freaked him out trying to remove him from that cage. He usually feeds beneath my height and I don't think he likes that. He keeps trying to look in my eyes and I quickly move my line of sight. I seriously think he assumes I'm going to eat him alive now. I've probably scarred him for life, trying to get him out of his cage for a cleaning. Plus I wear red and blue pajama pants when I feed him. He was oblivious to all of these things in his old cage. It must be sensory overload now. I guess he is just trying to adjust. It took him 3 months before he was completely adjusted to his old cage.

 

[brandon1]

That's good to know. I was a little worried. Although I figured that was the situation. He will eat 3-4 and then look around forrrrever, not even caring they are jumping around. I have to stand there and maneuver until he eats. I'm going to make a feeder cup that I can leave in his cage. That way he can eat at his own pace. He has changed a little since being in his new cage. He now has view of things he couldn't see in the past. So he gets distracted very easily. Plus I've freaked him out trying to remove him from that cage. He usually feeds beneath my height and I don't think he likes that. He keeps trying to look in my eyes and I quickly move my line of sight. I seriously think he assumes I'm going to eat him alive now. I've probably scarred him for life, trying to get him out of his cage for a cleaning. Plus I wear red and blue pajama pants when I feed him. He was oblivious to all of these things in his old cage. It must be sensory overload now. I guess he is just trying to adjust. It took him 3 months before he was completely adjusted to his old cage.

First off, lol, do you wear the red and blue pj's every feeding ?

For the feeder cup, don't assume that he'll eat out of there because a lot of times our chams just don't agree with us. My Veiled has refused to eat out of a feeder cup since he was about 5-6 months old. Closing in on a year of age, needless to say he hasn't eaten out of a feeder cup in a while and I really couldn't tell you why . I've tried several different kinds of feeders in there and put it in various places, and even kept from feeding him for 3 days and left his only source of food in the feeder cup but he won't mess with them if they're in there. I even created a thread a while back asking if anyone has had a problem with a cham not eating out of a feeder cup, but no one could give me a solution that I didn't already try or an experience in dealing with this type of action for any significant period of time.

"He keeps trying to look in my eyes and I quickly move my line of sight..."
Hawk does the same thing with me all the time and I do the same thing trying to look away very quickly lol.

 

[UrbanChameleon]

First off, lol, do you wear the red and blue pj's every feeding ?

For the feeder cup, don't assume that he'll eat out of there because a lot of times our chams just don't agree with us. My Veiled has refused to eat out of a feeder cup since he was about 5-6 months old. Closing in on a year of age, needless to say he hasn't eaten out of a feeder cup in a while and I really couldn't tell you why . I've tried several different kinds of feeders in there and put it in various places, and even kept from feeding him for 3 days and left his only source of food in the feeder cup but he won't mess with them if they're in there. I even created a thread a while back asking if anyone has had a problem with a cham not eating out of a feeder cup, but no one could give me a solution that I didn't already try or an experience in dealing with this type of action for any significant period of time.

"He keeps trying to look in my eyes and I quickly move my line of sight..."
Hawk does the same thing with me all the time and I do the same thing trying to look away very quickly lol.

Of course I wear my pj's at every feeding. How could I not? Lol. Bodhi's been eating out of a cup since he was 3 months. Except I'm holding it. I figured he would feel more comfortable eating without me there. The older he gets, the more he hates me. There is no way in hell that there is a meaner Chameleon. I kind of understand him though... so it's not all that bad. Our Chams do have a mind of their own. They can do the weirdest things sometimes. I always wonder what's going through Bodhi's mind. I'll see him looking at my wall and focusing on it. I have no idea what he's thinking, but it's pretty interesting. It's pretty funny how you look away too. Pretty much every animal sees eye contact as a threat. Whereas humans, see it as love. At least some of us. Haha.