EcoTerra Enclosure

[Twhit]

Hello

I'd like to plant live plants directly into my enclosure. Please any advice on doing this? I know that I need to cover the soil (was thinking with rocks) but would like advice or experiences with regards to moisture. There is no drainage in the bottom of the ExoTerra, will excess water be a problem?

 

[Jordansmith8301]

IMO not having that drainage layer is asking for problems a little bit. On the other hand I have never had a terrarium without one. I have about two inches of Hydroballs in the bottom, mesh on top of that, then ecoearth to the bottom of the vent in the front and it's more built up in the back of the tank for my larger plants with more root base like schefflera. It is pretty heavily planted and I mist fairly heavy twice daily. I do not have any drainage issues at all. If you have not yet planted the terrarium I would definitely suggest putting in a drainage layer. It gives that excess water a place to go, my enclosure would probably be a mess with out the drainage layer.

 

[Twhit]

Yes sorry, I do plan on putting in a drainage layer, what I meant is there is no drainage out of the enclosure, I'm concerned that the water sitting below the soil layer will cause problems.

 

[Jordansmith8301]

It shouldn't cause any problems

 

[Ferrah88]

My ellioti vivarium does not have any drainage as it's glass and things work out well. I have some very absorbent substrate which holds a lot of water without molding. One thing you do have to keep in mind is not to spray too long. You want to cover the leaves for them to drink, but not so much that a lot drips into the ground, and let it dry between mistings. So far I have not had any humidity problems (the ellioti's like a very humid environment) and no mold problems as well. The chams are fully hydrated and drink happily from the leaves around 3 times a day

Just letting you know that it can work, just make sure you monitor the amount of water falling to the ground, cover up your substrate with something if your chameleon is larger to prevent impaction and set up some debris-eating bugs I use springtails, a couple of earthworms, isopods and a giant millipede (He doesn't climb as he has more than enough food for himself) as the cleanup crew! The chams stay up, their garbage collectors stay down. Works wonderfully Even some earwigs (ewww) have moved in