Terrarium Moss and Coconut Fiber Safe?

[broderp]

As the title states, I'm wondering if making a terrarium background out of foam and covering it with some sort of terrarium moss and or coconut fiber would be safe for a Cham?

I stumbled upon several YouTube video's when researching how to make a fake rock wall for my terrarium. I kind of like the look but need it to be safe.

I see a lot of these type of backgrounds are done for frogs and other high humidity species, so can it be bad for a Chameleon who's humidity is significantly less? They wont eat or or something will they? I'm not planning on using it on the ground, just around the sides several inches above the ground along with real plants and some fake ones to fill in.

 

[Solid Snake]

Imo...

No go yo.

Its going to depend on the species to be honest, but there is always a chance of ingestion, whether accidental or not. Some do/will eat vegetation/rocks/sand ect. at times. If theres a feeder on it. It could happen by accident when it is plucked off by the animal.

Its not going to serve much purpose other than to look nice, and one should never place ones own visual pleasure over the needs of the animal.

Pack a bunch of live plants in there instead, where you cant even see the back of the thing.

Youll both love it...

 

[broderp]

Imo...

No go yo.

Its going to depend on the species to be honest, but there is always a chance of ingestion, whether accidental or not. Some do/will eat vegetation/rocks/sand ect. at times. If theres a feeder on it. It could happen by accident when it is plucked off by the animal.

Its not going to serve much purpose other than to look nice, and one should never place ones own visual pleasure over the needs of the animal.

Pack a bunch of live plants in there instead, where you cant even see the back of the thing.

Youll both love it...

Good points. I will probably not consider this further based on that. I can see a Cham now going after a cricket on the wall and getting some fibers or moss ingested.

I will however look into this:
http://dragonstrand.com/principles-chameleon-cage-setup/

It will service the same purpose and keep the bottom clear and free.

Back to the drawing board....lol

 

[jamest0o0]

I thought coconut fiber was safe, especially stuck to foam? I planned on doing this myself, just sticking it on with silicone and making sure it doesn't come off easily to add texture. I heard it'd help the humidity as well which would make sense. I'm no expert though! Most people i talked to and read about didn't find it to be a problem. I'd be interested to hear what others have to say on the subject though.

 

[Alexander1]

Coconut fiber can build up if it's not passed, remember that chams live on the canopy and a background is better for animals that have a use for it, the space that is taken up by the background would be better used by a mount for a potted plant

 

[Fla_tony]

I used black pond foam didn't stick anything to it. Once you get some plants around it it looks pretty natural.

Here is what I'm talking about.
I can take a better picture of it planted as that was just with the basking lamp on, my quad fixture was still in the box.

 

[jamest0o0]

I did similar just mine was the entire back wall, i like yours a lot! I'm suprised i actually like the plain black foam without the added coconut fiber after seeing how mine turned out and especially yours.

 

[Fla_tony]

Here is a better picture.

 

[SunflowerSupreme]

NEherp has two great tutorials on making backgrounds here and here. They're my favorite place for information about building cages.

 

[broderp]

I decided against coconut fibers as well. I liked the look, but not so much the work and possibility it could hold even more moisture in my terrarium. I wen for the black foam look and I really like it.

How I built it is here:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/diy-floating-removable-foam-wall-for-glass-terrarium.155908/

The almost finished product looks like this:

 

[RcManChild]

I just did a similar setup and opted out of coconut husk due to indigestion issue but went with moss.