Enclosure/Husbandry feedback

[Ventura]

I posted around a year ago about how I was rescuing a panther cham from a facebook ad & that it turned out that he was being horribly mistreated (almost no water let alone misting, lots of force handling, tiny petsmart enclosure, fake plants, the whole nine yards…at least they didn’t put a cup full of water in there).

This is where he lives now compared to the enclosure he was in when we rescued him (can fit about 6-8 of those in his current enclosure). Would love any advice on how I can improve it even more! There are more branches in it than what’s visible, but the plants & middle are hiding them a bit. I want to continue to add more plants but I get paranoid about just getting it from lowes or home depot & the online reptile safe plant stores don’t have big plants often

It’s a bit wet because I was adjusting the misting system, however he normally gets misted right before lights turn on in morn, right before they turn off at night, and a bit around midnight. Unfortunately my temps don’t go low enough at night to add a fogger but hopefully that’ll change when I move.

The substrate itself is bioactive from neherp (I know I could’ve made it myself but again, paranoid so i’d rather spend the extra money to make sure it’s safe because I often get things like substrate recipes wrong)

 

[MissSkittles]

It looks good as it is, but would look great with some small pops of color, like from a tradescantia zebrina, nerve plants, or maybe a croton. Prayer plants are one of my favorites. The floor on the right needs some short plants, like maybe some ferns. This may help a bit. https://chameleonacademy.com/plants/ I get most of my plants from Lowe’s and the rest from either Walmart or Home Depot and haven’t had any real problems. I remove all of the soil down to bare root, using the garden hose to blast it all. Then I dunk the plant several times in a bucket of soapy water (using Dawn dish soap) and agitate or rub the leaves a bit with my hand. Holding it upside down still, I rinse well with the hose and then rinse again. Plant in fresh soil and give it a little time to recover.

 

[Sonny13]

Looks great and what palace he came in. Agree with above and another option would be repotting one Pothos from the top left into the bioactive soil (if this still possible). That would remove that large plant pot (which is useless space) and will create something beautiful. Most of use let the pothos hang, but if you place it in the soil it will grow upwards, climb against the walls and branches and will grow thick vines and large leaves. I'll try post some pictures of mine. Also added some thinner branches throughout the enclosure will make him happy.

But, it's already perfect and beautiful and these small changes would only be the icing on the cake

https://www.chameleonforums.com/thr...me-going-for-the-ultimate-build.185998/page-7 check post #140

 

[Motherlode Chameleon]

The terrarium looks great!! Keep progressing with what you have got.

I am a big fan on the natural look and bioactive approach to keeping terrariums. I am glad your chameleon has got natural plants to climb on now!

Best Regards
Jeremy A. Rich

 

[Beman]

Very pretty. Have you checked the UVI level though. Concern would be most of your branches look pretty low. Depending on the UVB type and strength you may not be getting the UVI needed for the cham.

 

[Ventura]

Thank yall for the advice!

Very pretty. Have you checked the UVI level though. Concern would be most of your branches look pretty low. Depending on the UVB type and strength you may not be getting the UVI needed for the cham.

I’ll definitely be investing in a UV meter to check so I can correct it if it’s wrong.

Looks great and what palace he came in. Agree with above and another option would be repotting one Pothos from the top left into the bioactive soil (if this still possible). That would remove that large plant pot (which is useless space) and will create something beautiful. Most of use let the pothos hang, but if you place it in the soil it will grow upwards, climb against the walls and branches and will grow thick vines and large leaves. I'll try post some pictures of mine. Also added some thinner branches throughout the enclosure will make him happy.

But, it's already perfect and beautiful and these small changes would only be the icing on the cake

https://www.chameleonforums.com/thr...me-going-for-the-ultimate-build.185998/page-7 check post #140

I love the idea about the pothos. That’ll open up room for a ficus too!

It looks good as it is, but would look great with some small pops of color, like from a tradescantia zebrina, nerve plants, or maybe a croton. Prayer plants are one of my favorites. The floor on the right needs some short plants, like maybe some ferns. This may help a bit. https://chameleonacademy.com/plants/ I get most of my plants from Lowe’s and the rest from either Walmart or Home Depot and haven’t had any real problems. I remove all of the soil down to bare root, using the garden hose to blast it all. Then I dunk the plant several times in a bucket of soapy water (using Dawn dish soap) and agitate or rub the leaves a bit with my hand. Holding it upside down still, I rinse well with the hose and then rinse again. Plant in fresh soil and give it a little time to recover.

When I originally got him this scared me a bit because I didn’t know if he’d bite the leaves a bit (I know they sometimes do) but seeing as he doesn’t now, it is something I’m open to trying

 

[Beman]

Thank yall for the advice!

I’ll definitely be investing in a UV meter to check so I can correct it if it’s wrong.


I love the idea about the pothos. That’ll open up room for a ficus too!


When I originally got him this scared me a bit because I didn’t know if he’d bite the leaves a bit (I know they sometimes do) but seeing as he doesn’t now, it is something I’m open to trying

Sounds good. Your looking for a UVI of 3 at the highest branch below the UVB lighting.