Madagascar Biome Project

Franquixote

Franquixote

Established Member
I'm in the planning stages of planning an Ambilobe region biome to set up a panther chameleon and thought I'd share some information and see if anyone else wants to come along for the ride.

Beyond the gratification, knowledge, and authenticity of such a setup I think it's always wise to try and duplicate the native region of any species kept in captivity for the health of the species. I personally get a lot of satisfaction from learning and studying a species this way.

I began a different thread but I'm starting this one since some initial questions have been answered.

I have an offer for you at the end too if you want to try this out with me.

I'm going to try and attach some resources as this progresses, and keep my focus on the Northeastern Ambilobe region of Madagascar; feel free to swipe whatever resources and info you want to if you'd like to start your own thread on a different region.

I've decided to begin with looking into vanilla orchids, pitcher plants, and a few other plants and dwarf trees that will provide some value beyond the ornamental. I like the idea of having edibles both in my home landscaping and in other hobby projects.

The pitcher plants are a draw for me not because of their edibility, but their inherent interest as a species and the thought that they may guard against uneaten feeders wandering around too long and either escaping, chewing things up, or desensitizing the chameleon from readily and immediately accepting food when offered.
I also think they may perhaps draw in some flying insects through a screen top which might add some free variety to the diet of the chameleon, and unlike crawling insects that may make their way into the enclosure are less likely to be exposed to pesticides.

I'll update and attach information as I discover it.

I happen to already have growing some edible native plants from Madagascar, Houttuynia cordata... also known as... the CHAMELEON PLANT!
http://www.eol.org/pages/595460/overview

As a new member I'd like to offer as a gesture of good will toward this forum clippings or small plants for anyone that's interested. I'd only ask you cover the shipping (or if you want me to try and mail one in an envelope I'll spring for the stamp). The plant is attractive and edible, it has a citrus smell but definite undertones of ether or diesel. It's widely used in some cuisines and grows in other places like Vietnam. My only complaint is that it's so easy to grow that you shouldn't put it anywhere it can spread because it will take over and become invasive quickly. A planter or pot is safe.

Hope I get some others interested, I'll be looking to source some vanilla orchids soon along with a few dwarf fruit trees and pitcher plants. I have pretty decent access to exotic plants so don't anticipate having any trouble acquiring anything.


Hope to update soon.
 
I've been interested in doing something similar, but it's on hold while I finish the other 500 projects my crazy brain likes to start:confused:. Look forward to following this, good luck!

(My take you up on some clippings in the future)
 
First and foremost, I need to decide on what enclosure I'm going to use- right now one from Dragon Strand is in the lead, the 24X24X48. Kind of small for what I want to do but I really need to get started, I'm a teacher and the summer is ticking away- after September, despite the general reputation the profession gets, I'm up to my arse in alligators without much hope of draining the swamp i.e. real busy.
Anyone that's interested in a clipping, keep in mind that right now the Chameleon Plants are in bloom and after about mid-September transplanting might get sketchy, they begin to go dormant. It's the variegated kind- identical to this:

upload_2017-7-19_17-55-51.png
 
I am just realizing now what even getting the tank ready entails- so far I've ripped off the screen top and replaced w/ aluminum, and have had to completely start from ground zero with lighting-went with a led spot and 12% bulb from one of our sponsors plus dimmable basking.

So far I have 2 leads on those native pitchers, one for 12 seeds and one for unacclimated tissue cultures both from Ebay if you are looking for them.
I need to get everything in place before I start adding plants and dialed in with temp, humidity,etc. I have the exo terra monsoon multi in there and a few different gauges to spot check areas along with a laser temp gun from Amazon to check hot/cold spots.

Then I'm on to figuring out feeder colonies that don't involve crickets.

I don't expect to get back into thinking about plants for a month or two, this project has me WHIPPED.
 
Ahhh gotcha! Just curious how your plant list was going. There doesn't seem to be many of them that are suitable for an enclosure. I'd like to be corrected on that though.
 
Have you kept nepenthes before? If not here's a little info from someone who has for years:
- You should have some temperature differential between night and day, it's necessary for long term success. While not a huge deal with a lowland pitcher (your N. M. is an example of this), it is very important for highland pitchers, which you may want to add later.
- There are only 2 Nepenthes native to Madagascar, the other being N. masoalensis. (another lowland species)
- You could add some other easy ones that are not local, maybe a N. Ventricosa or Alata (or a hybrid of these too, which is common)
- There are tons of interesting Nepenthes that you could use, they would really make it a cool thing, even if they do exit the biotype
- There are a variety of soil types, some sites ship a mixture of only sphagnum moss, which I've found is a very very poor substrate, much better is sphagnum along with other materials, such as bark, mulch, and perlite
- Nepenthes need a good deal of light, sometimes, with the wrong lighting, the plant will grow well, but no pitchers will develop
- Nepenthes don't actually need to eat flies and etc, do not make the mistake of thinking they will deal with a bug problem or anything, you basically have to feed them if you want them to eat
Best of luck with your cage
 
What a thoughtful response! I don't take others' time for granted so please accept my appreciation for the time you took to post.

Have you grown the from seed? The only options I see otherwise are tissue cultures, and my experience with growing mushrooms has taught me this is tricky.
I can get seeds for cheap though and I a not in a rush.
You'd think the options for native plants from Madagascar would be phenomenal but there really isn't a lot out there that either produces branches for climbing, fruit for human and insect consumption, or lots of added interest like pitchers.
So far my only definite is STEPHANOTIS FLORIBUNDA which is a flowering jasmine vine.
I'm also thinking of defoliating my 20 year old ficus to fit it in the tank- it's root bound and has been a hassle to being outside every summer and take up a 5X4 area inside in winter which is just too big.
So I'm thinking of bonsai'ing it come what may. I feel a little bad, I've had it since college in the late 80's/ early 90's but I'm seriously considering it!
 
Another thing is even though some of these are in Madagascar, most of our Chams wouldn't be found anywhere near them. Everything I've seen shows panthers in dry, low ground, brightly lit bushes. We probably shouldn't replicate that, but that's the way it is apparently
 
Franquixote said:
What a thoughtful response! I don't take others' time for granted so please accept my appreciation for the time you took to post.

Have you grown the from seed? The only options I see otherwise are tissue cultures, and my experience with growing mushrooms has taught me this is tricky.
I can get seeds for cheap though and I a not in a rush.
You'd think the options for native plants from Madagascar would be phenomenal but there really isn't a lot out there that either produces branches for climbing, fruit for human and insect consumption, or lots of added interest like pitchers.
So far my only definite is STEPHANOTIS FLORIBUNDA which is a flowering jasmine vine.
I'm also thinking of defoliating my 20 year old ficus to fit it in the tank- it's root bound and has been a hassle to being outside every summer and take up a 5X4 area inside in winter which is just too big.
So I'm thinking of bonsai'ing it come what may. I feel a little bad, I've had it since college in the late 80's/ early 90's but I'm seriously considering it!
Click to expand...

Whatever I can do to help, I love nepenthes and love to help others with it, they are such cool plants. I've never grown from seed, I feel like its an option, but I'd only do it if I wanted to sell plants, personally, I just try to find my plants cheap, places like predatory plants and pet flytrap (the latter can have some amazing prices and would be where I'd recommend) are great sources for healthy plants. Other places like California Carnivores can have better plants, but much less variety and much higher prices. If you do buy seed, really watch out, many people sell seeds that are those of others plants, and since Nepenthes seeds take a while to really tell what they are, the sellers can get away with it easily, only buy from certified vendors.

The biotype is an amazing idea, but I feel you may have to occasionally exit it for functional things like vines, maybe a Red Trumpet Creeper, I cut them down locally and they are the perfect chameleon vine. I'd think you'd want to decide what type of madagascar environment you want before progressing though, it's got a ton of variety in terrain and I'd think you would pick before you looked for plants. I was trying to find a rare plant a few weeks ago and when I changed my search engine to that of other countries, especially those close to the plant, I had much more luck finding it.

It sounds like an awesome plant, but if you are having to winter it every year I think it would be better to have a plant that is more manageable. I'd go with a trim.
 
I have to agree with the above. If you are doing all the work to make something cool like that you should make something a little bigger.
 
Recently I spent a while building a free range. It came out (what I consider) really nice. It's based around a PVC frame. I could design a similar model and send you all the specifications and a parts list to build it? I can scale it to any size and add a variety of things to meet your ideas. If you want to see how it came out, there's some pics of it on my free range topic.
 
I would absolutely love a free range plan! PLEASE share it! Since becoming a member here I have learned so much and never thought about keeping an outdoor setup in summer here in NJ, but a keeper mentioned yesterday he does so in Delaware and they do fine in a summer storm so it'd be something I'd like to look into.

Point taken about being a purist with this. Originally, I thought that the options would be near limitless to recreate the ambilobe area of Madagascar but truth be told I am having a hard time finding ideal flora- either you are dealing with introduced species such as vanilla and ylang-ylang, or very large trees, or otherwise unsuitable flora.

I'm trying to work out a deal for that native jasmine vine STEPHANOTIS FLORIBUNDA which will climb up the side I have trellised, and I already have a native ficus that I just bought the tools and pot to bonsai- the plant has been with me 20 years, so I'm a bit nervous about what I am about to do to it but I spoke with several bonsai experts and they seemed to think taking off 1/2 to 3/4 of it along with equal amounts of root would be fine.

As far as "small box", my enclosure is small but not really tiny. I didn't want to post a pic until it was well on its way but what the heck here is a "before" photo taken a while ago and gives a general idea of what I am working with- note that all the absurd decor has been removed (no dragons and plastic flowers!) and all lighting has been changed, misting system added, really only to give you guys an idea of the overall size.

James, my interest in the nepenthes is exactly what you say, gnat and insect control.I'm not sure about the overwintering mentioned- the jasmine is an evergreen if that's what you were referring to.
 

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Ok I'll try to organize some plans, they should be done before tomorrow. I've grown sundew before. Some of the larger ones are really cool to watch. No danger to a chameleon, unless he is the size of a penny. I really like sundews, though I'm not growing any right now, I don't have the right environment. Little fun fact, Charles Darwin, author of The Origin of Species, claimed that "I care more about sundews than the origin of all the species on the world." They are incredible plants though, my favorite is Drosera Spatulata, which is small, but has beautiful pigmentation. Here are some other fun ones to check out:
- The cobra lily (a Californian native, it's similar to the other pitchers of NA, I've never grown these, they can be really hard to acquire)
- Cephalotus (Austrailian, small ground pitchers, one of my favorites)
- Sarracenia (The North Amerian Pitcher, it's easy, quick, and quite large, though it does need a dormancy period and is in no way ideal for tropical conditions)
- Dionea Muscipula (Venus Flytrap, again, very poor for tropical conditions and needs dormancy)
- Butterwort (I have one of these in my free range, they are small, sticky, and really cool)
- Bladderwort (these are more of an aquatic plant, though some are terrestrial, they have beautiful flowers though, again, probably not good for a chameleon cage)
- Bromeliads (while not strictly a CP, they have been shown to utilize some of the dead bugs in their pools, I grow two of these and they are gorgeous plants that are always flowering)
In regards to growing any carnivorous plant, I can help you, direct you to a good forum, whatever you need
 
Putting together the plans would be terrific.
As far as sundews, there are a few native to Madagascar .
If I go off the rails with being entirely faithful to the biome there is one very special sundew that rivals Venus flytraps in terms of speed-
ever hear of this one?

Drosera glanduligera
 
I have heard of it, it's in one of my books and I think I almost purchased one once. Sundews need varying conditions, while some may live up to the tropical climate, some others would die. All sundews need poor soil, RO water, and good sun, they usually prefer a bit of shade too.
 
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