Plants?

bigwigwabbit

bigwigwabbit

Avid Member
Hello,
Im new to the forum and wanted to know what other plants are good for chameleons besides pothos and umbrella? Also can someone tell me if a fig tree is non toxic. Im figuring it is since u can eat the figs but am not sure after reading the bellow...

Toxicity

The latex of the unripe fruits and of any part of the tree may be severely irritating to the skin if not removed promptly. It is an occupational hazard not only to fig harvesters and packers but also to workers in food industries, and to those who employ the latex to treat skin diseases.

Leaves: Fig leaves are used for fodder in India. They are plucked after the fruit harvest. Analyses show: moisture, 67.6%; protein, 4.3%; fat, 1.7%; crude fiber, 4.7%; ash, 5.3%; N-free extract, 16.4%; pentosans, 3.6%; carotene on a dry weight basis, 0.002%. Also present are bergaptene, stigmasterol, sitosterol, and tyrosine.

Was curious about the fig tree cause i have a small one planted in the backyard and figured and figured when i get my chameleon i could let him crawl around on it with like the sprinkler on or somthing :D
 
i dt know much about the fig tree. but ficus are good plants. my favorite one is a hibiscus. they are good for your chameleon to munch on and they also have very sturdy branches to walk on. the only problem is trying to keep them in side. they tend to die on me. i dnt give it enough light. my pothos put to much shade over it. but if you can give it light it is great.
 
Ficus Benjamina... or "Weeping Fig" is mildly toxic, but not to such a level that it is considered a threat to your chameleon. I have kept ficus in cages for years with no issues whatsoever.

Also... Be carefull as some types of "Umbrella" plant are highly toxic for chams and would want to be avoided. The safe "umbrella" plant people speak of is "Schefflera Arboricola". They are found in the indoor garden section and normally under the hanging Pothos.

Hibiscus is another good one to use... and if you can get it to flower you can have some color in your cage.

Bouganvilla is another good one... the chams seems to like the security the long slinder thorns provide, and this is also another flowering plant that is good to use.

There is also several safe plant list on the interenet, including a great one on this site.


Good Luck...

~Joe
 
If you have a Large cage, a schefflera is really good.

I hibiscus is pretty good too. There a few different hibiscus, the one with the rose is hard to keep alive but the one with the long twisty trunk is pretty good. My female panther love sleep on it.

Croton is very easy to care for and have nice color but my chameleon never get on it. Seem like they only want to poop on it. You can keep it on the bottom of the cage to add color.
 
No, its not a weeping fig, its one like in the attachment. fig.jpg



Also, i will have a reptisun 5.0 linear 18" tube light and a 75 watt daylight blue heat bulb will these be enough to keep my plants alive? If not would i need to add another light of some sort for better plant growth that wont harm my chameleon, and if so what would that light be?

thanks for the help guys!
 
bigwigwabbit said:
No, its not a weeping fig, its one like in the attachment.View attachment 26190



Also, i will have a reptisun 5.0 linear 18" tube light and a 75 watt daylight blue heat bulb will these be enough to keep my plants alive? If not would i need to add another light of some sort for better plant growth that wont harm my chameleon, and if so what would that light be?

thanks for the help guys!
Click to expand...

I don't know what that plant is. The fig we refer to is in the genus Ficus. The toxicity issue is for sap that might get in a cham's eye if he rubbed up against a freshly broken twig or leaf stem. I have never had any problems using Ficus alli or Ficus benjamina. I prefer F. alli.

You don't really need the fancy blue heat bulb. A regular incandescent halogen spot light or house bulb will work for basking and may give more general light for plants than the blue one. I like to use a double fluorescent fixture...one side has my "new" ReptiSun 5.0 and the other side has a spent one. Gives more light for plants that way. A single fixture just isn't very light.
 
Thats interesting I did not know that "The toxicity issue is for sap that might get in a cham's eye if he rubbed up against a freshly broken twig or leaf stem. "
With that being said I found that the the sap of the fig's green parts is an irritant to human skin. Would it be safe to say that if its an irritant to the human skin than it is bad for a chameleon!?:confused:

Carlton said:
I don't know what that plant is. The fig we refer to is in the genus Ficus. The toxicity issue is for sap that might get in a cham's eye if he rubbed up against a freshly broken twig or leaf stem. I have never had any problems using Ficus alli or Ficus benjamina. I prefer F. alli.

You don't really need the fancy blue heat bulb. A regular incandescent halogen spot light or house bulb will work for basking and may give more general light for plants than the blue one. I like to use a double fluorescent fixture...one side has my "new" ReptiSun 5.0 and the other side has a spent one. Gives more light for plants that way. A single fixture just isn't very light.
Click to expand...


Symbiot- I actually came across that safe plant list this weekend when i wuz search n...
 
Ficus carica

You've got _Ficus carica_ the edible fig. Its not suitable as a house plant. Low danger as a plant in enclosures ( if you're talking about one outside ).

Get a nice F. benjamina.
 
Yes, the fig is outside. My g ma planted in my backyard, shes got this thing for figs & fig trees. Its still pretty small but it should get a descent size. So would a fig tree outside be ok for the chameleon?

If so I might build a cage around once hes big enough...

DGray said:
You've got _Ficus carica_ the edible fig. Its not suitable as a house plant. Low danger as a plant in enclosures ( if you're talking about one outside ).

Get a nice F. benjamina.
Click to expand...
 
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