Substrate question/riddle...

[buick455]

Ok, my first plan was to just place my live potted plants on the formica floor of my cage that way the cham could get as high as he wanted and never come down.. I also know substrate is just a PITA and not good for him so I really didnt want it, but this just looks silly and dangerous for him.

Well since he's the adventureious type, he climbs down to the floor for dinner that doesnt climb up the screen to him. I have a bunch more plants that I bought, but have relized that if I put them in the cage his floor space hunting/exploring will be like a labryh of pots (not as cool as it sounds ).

I have decided when I transfer him to his outside cage for sun this wek that im going to make some mods to his cage.

1. I'm lowering the floor and making it so I cant see the pots through the front screen (more of a planter box floor idea)

2. boxing off the old and new floor so its more like a bathtub then a floor (planter box)

I have sketched up what im talking about:

Plants will be placed in pots on the floor (or on top of something to give then hight. Then I want to fill in the green area (inside the }? ) with somethng feeders cant climb through, Booger won't eat & water can run throuh to the drain. I was thinking rocks b/c they would be easy to remove later if need be, but will they mold? alot of water runs through my drain into the bucket in a month. I think that whatever I use it will help with my humidity...

any ideas?

If I do go with rock, no smaller then his head I guess?

 

[pssh]

If you use rocks they have to be large, but bugs will hide in the rocks. Make sure he can't eat the rocks. Try using metal screen so the bugs don't hide but he can't eat the dirt! Make sur nothing is poking out though so he doesn't harm his tongue. Also make sure to drain the pan every day or two so the water doesn't get funky.

 

[buick455]

If you use rocks they have to be large, but bugs will hide in the rocks. Make sure he can't eat the rocks. Try using metal screen so the bugs don't hide but he can't eat the dirt! Make sur nothing is poking out though so he doesn't harm his tongue. Also make sure to drain the pan every day or two so the water doesn't get funky.

Draining the pan is no problem at all... right now it’s a 2 gallon bucket at the end of a drain tube that’s glued into the cage itself. once I get the cage into my living room there is a drain hose I built into the floor so it will all go outside, and for the misters I am going to plumb a filtered tap water line into the same wall (like for an ice maker).

I wish I thought of this pot problem before I finished the cage. It makes a hell of allot more sense to drop the pots below the habitat floor then it does to sit them on it. Black plastic pots don’t look very natural

I even thought about building an insert that had the pots cut out, but then my drain wouldn’t work to well...