enclosure decoration

[watersam]

hello everyone I'm kind of new to the cham scene but I've done a lot of research and feel like i am ready to go but one thing i am wondering about is maybe a decorative substrate. i know you cant use most things because your cham may eat it by mistake but i was thinking more along the lines of beaked moss just to give it an extra foresty feel. not looking for any hateful comments just looking for some friendly advice from the more experienced community. thanks a lot look forward to posting pictures of the finished product with my baby panther cham

 

[windex]

Basically anything that is vegetation, or fibrous should not be used as substrate, its a pain to clean, and will breed bacteria like crazy in such a warm humid environment. If you don't like the bare bottom you could use a reptile carpet to cover it, but you would need a couple since you will have to wash them probably every week.. you're best bet is to stick a couple potted plants on the floor of the enclosure and if they are dense enough you will not see much of the floor anyways

 

[watersam]

would a few live bromeliads be ok? or are potentially toxic if chams eat them?

 

[windex]

Bromeliads can be tricky, if they fill up with water and can breed bacteria as well.. also they can start to rot.. your best bet is an umbrella plant, pothos, or something similar.. They are sturdy enough for the cham to climb and they will help fill the enclosure since they are fast growing

 

[Carlton]

hello everyone I'm kind of new to the cham scene but I've done a lot of research and feel like i am ready to go but one thing i am wondering about is maybe a decorative substrate. i know you cant use most things because your cham may eat it by mistake but i was thinking more along the lines of beaked moss just to give it an extra foresty feel. not looking for any hateful comments just looking for some friendly advice from the more experienced community. thanks a lot look forward to posting pictures of the finished product with my baby panther cham

Many mosses also have tiny fairly sharp spines that your cham can ingest that could injure the intestinal lining. Plus all the comments about being really hard to clean, change, and maintain. Been there, done that. Took a lot of effort and never really did look great. I have used other products on cage floors depending on the setup. One was that sterilized recycled paper pulp bedding. Also tried large clean dry magnolia leaves scattered on the surface. They resist molding pretty well, but again you do have to keep up on them and feeders can hide under them quite quickly.

If you don't like the appearance of the bare cage floor you could always hide it from YOUR view (as your cham won't really care either way) by attaching something to the outside of the cage along the bottom. Really, once you have a cluster of healthy potted plants you probably won't pay much attention to what the cage floor looks like.

 

[jmwhitel]

I just put in a Swedish ivy to cover my lava rocks on the bottom. It's a cham safe plant, spreads out to cover the ground and looks great!

 

[Carlton]

I just put in a Swedish ivy to cover my lava rocks on the bottom. It's a cham safe plant, spreads out to cover the ground and looks great!

That's a great idea! You could prune off or clean soiled leaves, and ivy is shade-tolerant and tough!

 

[Chaka]

You could try using creeping plants like Soleirolia soleirolii (baby tears). It pretty much looks like moss and it's commonly used for ground cover in gardens, I've been meaning to try it.