No more live plants ever !!!

[LitldevlblueBar]

So I have recently come to the conclusion that ever since I put a live plant in my cage all it has done was bring bugs!!!! Also my cham has had a URI and now he has mouthrot. He has never been sick before the live plant. I clean his cage all the time everyday 2 or three times a day. He is on medication now and not looking so good. Im cleaning his mouth with Chlorahexadine also putting a topical on the sores. I'm syringe feeding him now also giving him water from the syringe. This just started today with the meds and force feeding and watering. I hope he pulls through but those live plants are staying out of his cage forever! !!! I really hope he makes it through this rough time.

 

[SaintJimmy]

So I have recently come to the conclusion that ever since I put a live plant in my cage all it has done was bring bugs!!!! Also my cham has had a URI and now he has mouthrot. He has never been sick before the live plant. I clean his cage all the time everyday 2 or three times a day. He is on medication now and not looking so good. Im cleaning his mouth with Chlorahexadine also putting a topical on the sores. I'm syringe feeding him now also giving him water from the syringe. This just started today with the meds and force feeding and watering. I hope he pulls through but those live plants are staying out of his cage forever! !!! I really hope he makes it through this rough time.

Yeah my ficus is bringing gnats. :\
There are ways to remove the bugs though.

 

[LitldevlblueBar]

I just took the plant out and did the soapy water treatment along with spraying the leaves with the soapy water but still I never had a problem until I put that plant in his cage!

 

[Texas Panther Man]

The plant didnt give him an infection. He had a compromised immune system and got sick. Plants are beneficial and give the animal stimuli in their caged enviroment. (ie a place to drink and climbing oppurtunities) Chams dont climb around on plastic plants in nature and we should be trying to mimic their natural surroundings as much as possible within a caged setting.

 

[tkilgour]

Do you have drainage? The root ball should dry out between mistings and this will help with mold issues, etc. You can cover the top of the root ball with sand to prevent gnats. You already did the soapy water trick, so that is a step in the right direction.

 

[nightanole]

ficus sap can cause eye irritation. And yes if you keep it too wet it will brind bugs to eat it (nats/fruit flies). I dont have that problem since i cant keep one alive more than 6 months indoors.

 

[PhiffZooted]

I own a garden center did u repot only use fafard organic soil.. Others had eggs in the soil alot of times and hatch change the so to the brand fafard organic

 

[LitldevlblueBar]

My mister goes off every three hours for three mins. I'm gunna change that to every three hours for 2 mins take that down a notch maybe the cage was to wet. It always dried out before it sprayed. So I have no idea what's going on here and why he has been sick twice already and I have only had him for going on three months. But still I think I'm just gunna keep it out. Like I said I never had a problem until I put the plant in. I'm not saying it caused it I just think its weird he was fine up until I put it in.....

 

[LitldevlblueBar]

I own a garden center did u repot only use fafard organic soil.. Others had eggs in the soil alot of times and hatch change the so to the brand fafard organic

Yea I repotted it and used organic.

 

[SSimsswiSS]

Do you live in a winter climate? I always see a spike in URI's posted here on the forums during the Northern hemishere winters

 

[amandagreeneyez]

So sorry your lil man is under attack with illness. I'm wishing you both the beat and a positive outcome.

 

[LitldevlblueBar]

I live in chicago.

 

[LitldevlblueBar]

What settings do you guys have your misting system set to I have mine every three hours for three mins but I think that might be to much. Any suggestions would be helpful.

 

[amandagreeneyez]

I personally have my monsoon (which I'm not super pleased with) come on 5 times a day for 4 minutes. The reason for so much is that I modified the monsoon's misters...increasing them from 2 misters to 4. This is so the foliage in Pascallywagz enclosure can receive moisture from all angles. Unfortunately the monsoons weak pump cannot adequately accomadate 4 mist nozzles (due to lack of pressure) so two of the nozzles do not spray a fine mist and instead shoot a weak stream. I am going to get a mistaking as soon as my hubby relaxes in regards to how much $ I've put into both him & his enclosure. His enclosure drains into a drip pan which is emptied daily so there is not any standing water in his enclosure.

 

[amandagreeneyez]

I stand corrected...my lame monsoon system only allows 2 minutes of misting per interval. I thought that I had fixed that issue by bypassing its built in timer via using my own timer, having the monsoon kick on for 4 minutes at a time but no. Thankfully I hand mist him also. So frustrating since my other timer only has so many alloted programs. New project today! Yay (insert saracasm here)

 

[amandagreeneyez]

Problem fixed..relief!

 

[Ulrich]

Sorry your Chameleon is sick. As stated before. The live plant cannot be the issue. They actually hold humidity better an because of them growing, foliage can grow into to the enclosure size. They also capture less dust than plastic based artificial plants. To my knowledge one of the factors of mouth rot could be stress. Maybe something in the environment was stressing him (less hiding places, too much traffic around, exposure to people). Do you have a photo of the enclosure setup with live plant?

 

[pigglett79]

I have my mister set to 7:30am for 15 mins, 10am for 10 mins, 1pm for 10 mins and 4:30pm for 5 mins. I had a gnat problem, then I re potted all plants and used organic soil mixed with play sand. I made sure to have plenty of sand at the bottom and on the top. Gnats are all gone and plants drain very well.

 

[Olimpia]

I'm sorry about your guy. But chameleons usually take a long time to get sick and a long time to heal, so it's possible that the infection started to take root long before you got a plant. It's just coincidentally gotten obvious at the same time as the addition of the plant. And misery loves company, so it's really typical for 2-3 things to pop up at once, especially in these colder months like Steve said.

I have a Meller's that I just got who came with a RI and mild stomatitis as well (mouth rot) but at least she's cleaning up beautifully with antibiotics (Baytril) and some Silvadine cream for her mouth. So you're not alone, I know that it's miserable. And she's not my first chameleon with a RI AND eye issues, or limb injuries, or what-have-you at the same time, it just seems like bad news really does come in pairs or threes.

If you haven't done so already, try raising up your basking light a few more degrees. The extra heat works in the same way as a fever would in us - not only does it stimulate your immune system and metabolism but it helps fight off the infection by making it uncomfortably warm for it in the body. So if your basking spot is 85F, I would bring it up close to 90F, as long as the cage isn't so small that the chameleon cannot choose to cool down.

 

[Carlton]

I just took the plant out and did the soapy water treatment along with spraying the leaves with the soapy water but still I never had a problem until I put that plant in his cage!

The gnats came from soggy soil not the plant itself. Once they lay eggs in the soil all you can really do to get rid of them is repot the plant and throw the old wet stuff out.

Your plant did NOT cause your cham's problems!!! Chams live in live plants in the wild everywhere. And, the majority of cham keepers use live plants and have healthy chams. It's going to be a lot harder to keep your cage humid without live plants.