Added some sphagnum moss! (finally!)

[SliK JiM]

I've finally got round to removing the muslin/plastic I was using to cover the fertiliser in my plant pots. I've replaced it with sphagnum moss so that it should hold the water better for the plants (as I've been struggling to keep a good water balance around the roots of my plants - leading to a very sorry looking redcurrant plant in the back right corner! ) I'm hoping this will hold more water away from the roots of the plants, and let it through slowly when I mist, as the muslin/plastic was not really letting as much permeate as I thought it would.

Here are some pictures of the pots now. (They're nothing spectacular!)

And here's one of Dante watching me while I work!

I'm hoping this should help the plants receive a 'better' level of water as they haven't been doing that well lately! I'll keep you updated if there's any improvement!

p.s - I have to keep the fertiliser covered as Dante would try and eat it and I don't think it would be the best thing for him!

 

[gary1621]

Wow!

That is such a cool enclosure

I hope the moss works, let us know how that goes

 

[newdude1]

what kind of plants are you using? Your cage looks awesome.

 

[SliK JiM]

Cheers guys.

There's an umbrella plant, two ficus' (that one at the front completely died so I had to cut it right back which is why it's looking a little small...) There's also a 'cascade' palm and a white/redcurrant (It was labeled a redcurrant, but I think it is a white currant....)

All the vine things (the hanging plants) around the top are fake, as they take the heat better and are easy to fit into the small spaces at the top.

 

[SoCaliSon]

I wanna Shrink myself and go on an expedition inside your cage.

 

[newdude1]

What kind of lights are you using too?

 

[Silverdusk]

Looks great, but I'd be worried about impaction from the moss.

 

[newdude1]

Thats something else I dont really understand. How do they make it in the wild when shooting at bugs. How do they deal with impaction?

 

[veiledchameleonyoshi]

Thats something else I dont really understand. How do they make it in the wild when shooting at bugs. How do they deal with impaction?

In the wild they are generally high up in the trees, so they don't really have a problem with this.

 

[SliK JiM]

What kind of lights are you using too?

I have a 40W incandescent bulb for basking, and a 160W megaray bulb position 18" above the top of the enclosure to give the right UV levels inside.

Looks great, but I'd be worried about impaction from the moss.

Well, I've been speaking to quite a few people who do a similar thing and they say they've never had any problems (It is more of a continental European idea though). It's only like him eating some of the vitis leaves I put in for him, only smaller and will break up if he pulls at it, so it shouldn't be an issue. I'm going to keep an eye on him just in case (as is the way whenever you make any changes to your chameleons enclosure) but it should be fine. The main bulk is fixed down and if the worst happens, I can just wrap it in netting and that'll hold it all in place.

Here's the thread where I first saw the idea:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/my-phelsuma-chameleon-room-22514/

I've been asking around since and there are quite a few people who do it, so I thought why not!

 

[SliK JiM]

Thats something else I dont really understand. How do they make it in the wild when shooting at bugs. How do they deal with impaction?

The odd bit of stuff every now and then won't make too much of a problem, its only if they get far too much that things can clog up!

 

[cushcameleon]

What kind of soil are you using? I found that most soils are inadequate for plants living in chameleons cages, since they receive much higher amounts of water. The moss may help with soaking up some of the extra water, but I wouldn't think that it would stop the problem entirely. I noticed you commented on my blog about custom soils. If I were you, I would switch your soil to a 50/50 mix of play sand and husk. So far (getting close to two months), my plants are still doing very healthy. If your worried about your chameleon eating the soil, then place large river rocks on top of the soil. In my opinion you should only use the river rocks with the husk/sand soil. If you use river rocks with regular soil, then the roots will not be able to dry as quickly and you will most likely end up with a droopy plant. If you use the husk/sand soil, then you won't have to worry about droopy plants or toxic fertilizers. By the way, your cage is one of the best I've seen!

 

[nick barta]

That setup is Cham friendly!

Impaction would likely occur not when striking, but when foraging. The Veileds are very well known for chomping plants, so I would watch to be sure he doesn't take it for a salad.

Another suggestion is to be sure your plastic plants "leaves" don't come off easily, I lost a Fischers to a plastic leaf caught in the throat. If you pull on the leaves, they shouldn't come off.

Nick

 

[SliK JiM]

What kind of soil are you using? I found that most soils are inadequate for plants living in chameleons cages, since they receive much higher amounts of water. The moss may help with soaking up some of the extra water, but I wouldn't think that it would stop the problem entirely. I noticed you commented on my blog about custom soils. If I were you, I would switch your soil to a 50/50 mix of play sand and husk. So far (getting close to two months), my plants are still doing very healthy. If your worried about your chameleon eating the soil, then place large river rocks on top of the soil. In my opinion you should only use the river rocks with the husk/sand soil. If you use river rocks with regular soil, then the roots will not be able to dry as quickly and you will most likely end up with a droopy plant. If you use the husk/sand soil, then you won't have to worry about droopy plants or toxic fertilizers. By the way, your cage is one of the best I've seen!

The plants have never been doing that badly (just the one red/white currant as I picked it up for 20p last year as the garden centre thought it was dead... It almost was too!) But it's just been a bit tricky to give them an adequate amount of water. The pot is full of about 20% rocks at the bottom, the rest is the correct type of fertiliser for the plant. I'm hoping that this way, the moss will hold on to water, and the rest will drain through into the rocks and trays (I'll get rid of the trays when I finally build my new enclosure, as it'll all be able to drain away and not just sit in the bottom of the enclosure as it would right now)

Thanks for the complement! But you wait till you see the one I'm building for him! It should (hopefully) be something spectacular!

That setup is Cham friendly!

Impaction would likely occur not when striking, but when foraging. The Veileds are very well known for chomping plants, so I would watch to be sure he doesn't take it for a salad.

Another suggestion is to be sure your plastic plants "leaves" don't come off easily, I lost a Fischers to a plastic leaf caught in the throat. If you pull on the leaves, they shouldn't come off.

Nick

He does like a bit of salad, but the only thing he want to eat that's green are vitis leaves. He loves the things. I once buried one under a few grapes, bits of carrot and something else, and he just moved everything out of the way to get to the leaf!

I think I remember you saying something about the fake leaves coming off. I've only had one come off an that was when I was trying to pull out one of the fake bendy binds and it just got tangled around and broke the plastic! I was pulling fairly hard!

 

[MandaRyan]

Wow.....awesome enclosure!!!!!

 

[SliK JiM]

Thank you very much!

 

[BocaJan]

FYI for anyone who cares - I have a female that will eat dead crunchy leaves from under her plants. She will also feast on the sand in her laying bin, causing sandy poops that break when touched. Go figure. Some of these critters will eat anything! Not saying yours will eat the spagum, just watch the poops and see if anything comes through. I put rocks from the craft store on top of my soil and it works for both moisture retention and keeps the veileds from eating the soil.