Mold growing on moss?

[emma_5774]

Hi! Recently I have noticed that some mold has been appearing on my chameleons moss vines. I read online that it means theres too much water in his enclosure. His misting system goes off every 3 hours for 40 seconds and that seems to keep his humidity at a good level. All of his vines are attached to his cage with zipties. I read that taking them down and putting them in boiling water then scrubbing them takes off the mold however the moss on his vines falls off very easily and I am afraid that if I took them down and scrubbed them there would be no more moss left. Does he need moss vines? Could I take them out and replace them with just plain vines? He seems to be on the normal ones anyways. Is there another solution to get rid of the mold without having to constantly take down the vines? Will the mold hurt him?

 

[emma_5774]

I also want to mention that the water used is filtered water from my fridge.

 

[MissSkittles]

I would get rid of the moss vines entirely and just use plain ones. I like the vines by Fluker’s as they are foam and don’t shed any particles that could make their way into your cham’s eyes.

 

[Beman]

I agree with @MissSkittles. The moss vines are not good for chams. They do not tend to dry out which can also cause issues for the chams feet. But they grow bacteria and are not easily cleaned. The only fake vines I recommend are the flukers vines. Stay away from the black Jungle vines they have a coating that comes off which can get into a chams eye when they rub on them.

 

[emma_5774]

I agree with @MissSkittles. The moss vines are not good for chams. They do not tend to dry out which can also cause issues for the chams feet. But they grow bacteria and are not easily cleaned. The only fake vines I recommend are the flukers vines. Stay away from the black Jungle vines they have a coating that comes off which can get into a chams eye when they rub on them.

Thank you so much!

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

I'd stick with live vines only. Foam vines may not shed, but they may still hold water like a sponge, possibly providing a growth medium.

Some excellent live vines that grow relatively quickly (up to 12"/month):
Inchplant
Philodendron
Golden Pothos

My Schefflera has gotten so big that my cham is using it like vines as well.

 

[emma_5774]

I'd stick with live vines only. Foam vines may not shed, but they may still hold water like a sponge, possibly providing a growth medium.

Some excellent live vines that grow relatively quickly (up to 12"/month):
Inchplant
Philodendron
Golden Pothos

My Schefflera has gotten so big that my cham is using it like vines as well.

I have 2 golden pothos and they are still very small. He has 5 plants in his cage! I am referring to the branches you bend and weave throughout his cage!

 

[Multivitamins]

I have 2 golden pothos and they are still very small. He has 5 plants in his cage! I am referring to the branches you bend and weave throughout his cage!

The black rubberized vines were something I used when I got my panther. It caused issues with his eye that required 3 vet visits to resolve. Something that was preventative if I had removed the fake bendy vines. I just use real sticks and allowed some plants to grow out.

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

I have 2 golden pothos and they are still very small. He has 5 plants in his cage! I am referring to the branches you bend and weave throughout his cage!

Yes, I knew that. Your 2 pothos may take some time to reach that growth rate, but not too long.
I have all three of the plants I mentioned above. When they reached 10 feet in length, I threaded them through other plants, around branches, etc. They've more than doubled in length since then, but I've left them on their own. The inchplant is at the end of flowering right now.

Another 'vine' worth mentioning is the Madagascar Jasmine (if you can find one).

 

[Beman]

Thank you so much!

Your welcome. If you can not use real branches then the only fake vines you will want are the flukers ones. They are flexible and you can wipe them off if needed. These do not hold water and grow bacteria the way others will and they dry out. They sell them in multiple dimensions and I recommend getting a few different sizes so that the cham has different grip sizes.

 

[Multivitamins]

Another 'vine' worth mentioning is the Madagascar Jasmine (if you can find one).

The actual name of the plant is stephanotis if your at a nursery it will most likely be labeled as Stephanotis floribunda but it's common names include S. jasminoides, Madagascar jasmine, waxflower (not to be confused with waxplant which is common name for Hoya another awesome plant), Hawaiian wedding flower, or bridal wreath

It made my search for this plant easier using the scientific name