Ground question

[Lastb0isct]

I want to make my cage look at real as possible and i know substrate is bad. For most cages is wood the best floor to use? What i could use, in combination, with wood, as an alternative to substrate to make the floor look "realistic"? Thanks

 

[AFH]

Generally, people use some sort of plastic sheet for the bottom. I can't remember what its called though, so it's not that helpful. I do know you can get it at a sign store. Usually they have scrap that you can take and cut it to the right size.

Sure, it's not "realistic", but your cham should never be down there anyway. Ease of cleaning is more important than asthetics.

 

[desultadox]

There are several problems with substrate including accidental ingestion, making it too easy for free-roam prey to hide, difficulty of cleaning and, depending on what type of substrate we're talking about, bacteria.

That being said, I use green moss as a substrate because I too desired a very natural-looking cage (to me, that's part of the joy of owning an exotic reptile). it looks very nice and it does have the added benefit of raising humidity, though I don't think it's very noticeable in the huge cages chameleons require. It's actually not THAT difficult to clean (especially if your cham potty trains himself to poop in more or less the same place as many chams do), but it does require pretty much taking everything out of the cage. I'm pretty sure eventually all the moss might have to be replaced (and at that point I may just use a plastic liner).

Aesthetically though, I feel like it can't be beat, so if you're willing to work with it, you might try checking that out.

 

[Petmason]

What about trying a slate tile? It will look like stone and just as easy to clean.

 

[Lastb0isct]

I like the idea of stone, seems really easy to clean up but i don't think i'll get the type of look i want. I want something more natural, but maybe i can find the right type of stone. Any other suggestions? Moss seems like it might be a bit too much trouble. But thanks for that suggestions, i'll look into it more.