Reptile Forum, Reptile Classifieds - CaptiveBred

[jen23]

i'm mid way through sorting out my viv for my male panther chameleon (which i haven't got yet) but i'm really stuck when it comes to plants... i've seen a few names dotted about but really have no clue! could anyone help me out with this please? i don't know what to get, where to get them from, how to hang them or how to ensure they live! i do have plastic ones but i want to have some real ones in there by the time i get him. thanks
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Jennifer

[mcfluffin]

The most commonly used are umbrella plants (Schleffera I think)...fig plant/trees (ficus sp.) and maybe devil's ivy (pothos), which usually comes on a growing pole thing....you can pick them up at homebase or B&Q...but shop around, because some places are more expensive than others...especially homebase....if you can get them reduced even better...(also tesco and sainsbury's often sell them near me, but might be different where you live)...

Hope this helps...all these plants are great for chams
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[jen23]

thanks. do they stand up right or do i have to hang them or wrap them round something? do they need to be replaced regularaly or will they live well in the viv?
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Jennifer

[mcfluffin]

All the plants I spoke of will just come in pots. I usually find they live pretty well...ficus tend to drop leaves, but this is natural....and even when they are dead the remains are useful for climbing twigs
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[jen23]

so should the leaves be left in as a natural substrate or should they be taken out? thanks you've been really helpful!
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Jennifer

[lol93]

There are a few previous threads where plants for chams are discussed. Try doing a search.
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[jen23]

i've search for the ficus and others but the tend to have sub species, which ones do i want?? this is just off homebase but...

for the ficus theres: dauphine, pastiliere and brown turkey

all thats coming up for the umbrella is umbrella bamboo 'fargesia murieliae', is this right?

can't find pothos or sansevieria and crassula (the last two i read in a book)
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Jennifer

[captainmerkin]

I have a few bits and peieces for my Yemens but in all honesty I am not happy with the plants.

I have two tops of dragon plants (the thicker leaved ones), two orchids, 2 swiss cheese plants, silver pothos, pothos, creeping fig, dwarf prayer plant, some kinda fern...

The dragon plants are growing slowley but seem to be too thick leaves for the chameleons and they do not use them for anything other sleeping in like a nest..

The creeping fig died in about 2 weeks..

the orchids have shed their flowers and I dont know much about how to get them flowering again so will just replace them I suppose.

The dwarf prayer plant is a dwarfs worst nightmare as it dying bit by bit.

the fern looks like a goat ate a chunk of it then 'poo' on it... lots

the pothos has grown 1 and a half leaves in two months between two plants.

the cheese plant has been doing really well on the other hand and has got a nice viney alcove in the back right corner and the smaller offshoot I planted is being trained up one of the liana vines successfully.... but then again I forgot to water my bedroom cheese plant for almost a year and it still looked fine.

the chams are growing out of their current exo terra very quickly and I am looking forward to getting their terry thatcher cage sorted and sorting out the new plants etc..

will definately be going for a cheese plant, umbrella plant, and potentially a grape vine if it is not posonous as well as some ferns at ground level and half way up the sides.

as for the current house I am going to gut it and replant it more suitably, the chams utterly love the orchids and sleep in them whenever they have flowers over anywhere else (maybe too big now) and ferns are always nice in the shadey bits... the creeping fig is lovely when it doesnt die, so I will try and get this better next time and grow it up the sides.

pothos I just dont understand why it wont grow, the silver is lovely but neither are doing anything..

also going to try and extend the grown of the cheesplant by trimming leaves so it goes into vines like my bedroom one!

[jen23]

where did you get all the plants from? i'm havin trouble finding the right ones do you have any pictures?
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Jennifer

[jen23]

oh and i'd love to have orchids in there, i didn't realise they liked them! i thought they were super hard to keep though? like a hobbie in themselves!
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Jennifer