Clintaceous
New Member
Hey y'all, so I'm in the midst of setting up a new enclosure for a chameleon. I have all the equipment ordered, all that's left is to collect some hardwood branches, get lighting specific to plants, and get some plants for the cage. Right now I want to get going with the plants.
The chameleon I'm getting is a juvie male panther (don't know the locale), and while not as notorious for eating plants as veileds are, I'd still like to stick with plants that if he did eat them he wouldn't get sick.
Another requirement is that I need at least 1 plant to fill both the role of dense shelter & for collecting mist for drinking. 2 good examples I can think of are pothos & schefflera (schefflera for water only, unless you get a big potted one which I won't be getting). I plan on creating a very dense hiding area near the basking spot & halfway down the enclosure. There will be various other hiding spots, but definitely want 2 that you can't see into. I also want 2 drinking areas again, near the top (far from the basking area) and 1 halfway down.
As long as I have a plant or 2 for the above requirements, it'll be pretty easy to find plants that can act as both accent pieces, mist collection & shelter!
So for some of the plants I want to grow, lets start with the lower 1/3 of the enclosure:
-Chinese Evergreen
-CastIron Plant
-Peace Lily
-Ferns, like Korean Rock Fern
-Palms, like Parlor Palm
With the lower 1/3 I am looking for low light plants only, with preference given to dark leaves. It will give that part of the cage the look of the dark forest floor!
In the middle of the enclosure, I am looking more into epiphytes & vining/scrambling plants, with perhaps a small potted tree or 2 placed on the back wall. Most of the plants here will just be various shades of green, with only the odd plant having flowers or leaf varigation. The different leaf shapes & sizes is what will draw the eye here, with big leaf plants growing between the branches & small leaved plants growing along & dangling from the branches:
-Pothos
-Climbing Philodendron
-Grape Ivy
-Schefflera
-Ficus benjamina
-Ficus pumilia (Creeping Fig)
-Croton
-Maranta
-Creeping Jenny
-Peperomia sp.
-Rabbit's foot fern
-Kangaroo's paw fern
-Raphidophora tetrasperma
-Monstera adansonii
-Bird's Nest Fern
-Boston Fern
-Phalaenopsis orchid
-Spanish Moss
-Tillandsia
-Bromeliads (Neoregelia)
-Moss (really want to add this along with the Spanish Moss. It would look so cool!)
In the top 1/3 of the cage is where I would like to see some flowers! This whole section would be exclusive to vining plants, with exceptions like a hibiscus, as I feel the light may be to hot/strong for some of the other plants listed:
-Mandevilla
-Morning Glory
-Hibiscus
-Passionflower
This isn't a list off ALL the plants I want to put in, but just a starting point. Not only would it be expensive buying all these plants, but the cage would become too dense with foliage!
If any of these plants could pose a toxic threat to a chameleon please let me know! I will also be having a look. I know FL Chams has a nice list of safe plants.
If it helps too, I most likely will go with 1 or 2 24" Jungle Dawn LEDs, but still on the fence about it. The other option was getting 2 SANSI 70W LEDs.
The chameleon I'm getting is a juvie male panther (don't know the locale), and while not as notorious for eating plants as veileds are, I'd still like to stick with plants that if he did eat them he wouldn't get sick.
Another requirement is that I need at least 1 plant to fill both the role of dense shelter & for collecting mist for drinking. 2 good examples I can think of are pothos & schefflera (schefflera for water only, unless you get a big potted one which I won't be getting). I plan on creating a very dense hiding area near the basking spot & halfway down the enclosure. There will be various other hiding spots, but definitely want 2 that you can't see into. I also want 2 drinking areas again, near the top (far from the basking area) and 1 halfway down.
As long as I have a plant or 2 for the above requirements, it'll be pretty easy to find plants that can act as both accent pieces, mist collection & shelter!
So for some of the plants I want to grow, lets start with the lower 1/3 of the enclosure:
-Chinese Evergreen
-CastIron Plant
-Peace Lily
-Ferns, like Korean Rock Fern
-Palms, like Parlor Palm
With the lower 1/3 I am looking for low light plants only, with preference given to dark leaves. It will give that part of the cage the look of the dark forest floor!
In the middle of the enclosure, I am looking more into epiphytes & vining/scrambling plants, with perhaps a small potted tree or 2 placed on the back wall. Most of the plants here will just be various shades of green, with only the odd plant having flowers or leaf varigation. The different leaf shapes & sizes is what will draw the eye here, with big leaf plants growing between the branches & small leaved plants growing along & dangling from the branches:
-Pothos
-Climbing Philodendron
-Grape Ivy
-Schefflera
-Ficus benjamina
-Ficus pumilia (Creeping Fig)
-Croton
-Maranta
-Creeping Jenny
-Peperomia sp.
-Rabbit's foot fern
-Kangaroo's paw fern
-Raphidophora tetrasperma
-Monstera adansonii
-Bird's Nest Fern
-Boston Fern
-Phalaenopsis orchid
-Spanish Moss
-Tillandsia
-Bromeliads (Neoregelia)
-Moss (really want to add this along with the Spanish Moss. It would look so cool!)
In the top 1/3 of the cage is where I would like to see some flowers! This whole section would be exclusive to vining plants, with exceptions like a hibiscus, as I feel the light may be to hot/strong for some of the other plants listed:
-Mandevilla
-Morning Glory
-Hibiscus
-Passionflower
This isn't a list off ALL the plants I want to put in, but just a starting point. Not only would it be expensive buying all these plants, but the cage would become too dense with foliage!
If any of these plants could pose a toxic threat to a chameleon please let me know! I will also be having a look. I know FL Chams has a nice list of safe plants.
If it helps too, I most likely will go with 1 or 2 24" Jungle Dawn LEDs, but still on the fence about it. The other option was getting 2 SANSI 70W LEDs.
