New set-up and Ficus help?

[yojon3000]

So I havent gotten a veiled yet but im setting up a cage and i found a ficus but when i re pot it can i repot it in organic sphagnum peat moss and the wooden stick i put on the pic to show you its those sticks from walmart in the craft section. are those okay to use? im not finished setting it up btw
the cage is 3 ft tall and the diemeter is 20 inches
i need to finish the top

 

[UrbanChameleon]

Be very careful with the dowels. I added five to my cage, three of which had to frantically be removed. All the while my Chameleon just had to be on them. For some reason, only those specific three turned. He almost fell twice and it scared the crap out of me!

Those three were a bit larger and were more difficult to secure. I now only have two in there, which haven't budged. I feel it's not really worth it. I don't think I will use them ever again. Instead, I have to pay $20 each for 5 fake vines. You would think living in KY I could find some branches, but no. Lol.

I love my Ficus by the way. If you can fit one, or if you get a bigger enclosure later, you should get an Umbrella Plant. Bodhi loves to sleep in his.

 

[yojon3000]

Be very careful with the dowels. I added five to my cage, three of which had to frantically be removed. All the while my Chameleon just had to be on them. For some reason, only those specific three turned. He almost fell twice and it scared the crap out of me!

Those three were a bit larger and were more difficult to secure. I now only have two in there, which haven't budged. I feel it's not really worth it. I don't think I will use them ever again. Instead, I have to pay $20 each for 5 fake vines. You would think living in KY I could find some branches, but no. Lol.

I love my Ficus by the way. If you can fit one, or if you get a bigger enclosure later, you should get an Umbrella Plant. Bodhi loves to sleep in his.

thanks for the tips on the sticks i could probably zip tie it well ill see.
do you know anything about using sphagnum peat moss to plant the whole ficus?

 

[azgnoinc]

I believe that your tree would do best if you plant the ficus in a mainly soil mix, and the top couple inches could be purely sphagnum moss to avoid the chameleon from ingesting soil.

 

[Salty]

I do not think you will have enough air flow at the bottom of your cage. I would do something like..... maybe use a small drill bit and drill holes like crazy all around the sides of the bucket. I believe you may experiance a mold problem rather quickly if you do not do something there...

 

[Salty]

thanks for the tips on the sticks i could probably zip tie it well ill see.
do you know anything about using sphagnum peat moss to plant the whole ficus?

I used zip ties for all my branch work. Zip ties worked rather well for me. I used branches though... don't remember what they are called but I got them from Target in their fake floral section. They are not real cheap but they work well. Target actually has bundles of bent up crooked white sticks.

 

[Solid Snake]

I do not think you will have enough air flow at the bottom of your cage. I would do something like..... maybe use a small drill bit and drill holes like crazy all around the sides of the bucket. I believe you may experiance a mold problem rather quickly if you do not do something there...

I think this is a good point.

That bucket is quite deep.

I would drill some drainage holes on the bottom, like maybe 4-1" holes, and fill most of it up with soil, and plant the tree in it, higher up.

This will move the height of the tree up, but you could reposition/add more of the screen, and make the setup taller.

Or, cut the top half of the bucket off.

Actually, Id probably go with that last one myself...

 

[yojon3000]

I believe that your tree would do best if you plant the ficus in a mainly soil mix, and the top couple inches could be purely sphagnum moss to avoid the chameleon from ingesting soil.

so could i leave it in the soil its in but put the sphagnum peat moss on top. it does have the white balls but i could cover it

 

[Goldenarcher1328]

thanks for the tips on the sticks i could probably zip tie it well ill see.
do you know anything about using sphagnum peat moss to plant the whole ficus?

I use peatmoss on all my plants and its seemed to work fine, however i have a a 5 x 2 aeration chamber underneath my dirt enclosure to prevent mold.

Also, zip ties work wonderfully, however, don't cut them as to sharp ends that may cut your cham.

 

[yojon3000]

I use peatmoss on all my plants and its seemed to work fine, however i have a a 5 x 2 aeration chamber underneath my dirt enclosure to prevent mold.

Also, zip ties work wonderfully, however, don't cut them as to sharp ends that may cut your cham.

so its okay to replant it in JUSt sphagnum peat moss

 

[Ulrich]

so could i leave it in the soil its in but put the sphagnum peat moss on top. it does have the white balls but i could cover it

Be careful with the white balls. Those are nitrates and not useful for your Cham if it swallows. Best is to get rid of the garden soil and replace with organic soil.

If you want a veiled I do not recommend a ficus. Veiled live in dryer areas. Acacia is fine. Hibiscus is great. But ficus is tropical. Do it needs more water than the Cham itself.

 

[yojon3000]

Be careful with the white balls. Those are nitrates and not useful for your Cham if it swallows. Best is to get rid of the garden soil and replace with organic soil.

If you want a veiled I do not recommend a ficus. Veiled live in dryer areas. Acacia is fine. Hibiscus is great. But ficus is tropical. Do it needs more water than the Cham itself.

would this be okay http://www.lowes.com/pd_305315-446-...rentURL=/pl__0__s?Ntt=organic+soil&facetInfo=
and then put peat moss on the top

 

[Ulrich]

Sure. As long as there are no nitrates to swallow. For veiled we just used organic soil and pothos and hibiscus. They usually don't roam to lower levels to hunt as much as furcifer. So I would not really cover the floor with moss.

 

[yojon3000]

Sure. As long as there are no nitrates to swallow. For veiled we just used organic soil and pothos and hibiscus. They usually don't roam to lower levels to hunt as much as furcifer. So I would not really cover the floor with moss.

how could you tell if there are nitrates? on the ingredients?