Opinions on some fake plants

[ArtKtAstic]

I'm reconstructing Mr.Grinch's habitat to be a large beautiful screened area with both real and fake plants, other items as well. I purchased a fake tree from the AtHome Store, which was really pricey but I personally thought it would be a good one for him. Labled as picture 1. Before I cut the tags off and begin washing it for his habitat. Can you let me know what you think? I have others I am buying off the Facebook market for less money and know I must clean it very well, and would really appreciate your advise and tips on what home made cleaners are recommended. I typically use a dawn dish soap vinegar water mixture and thoroughly rinse with water then allow it to dry. Any advice and opinions are appreciated. I'll number each fake tree for easy identification purposes. I also have 5 maybe a few more live plants which will be uses as well.

 

[Beman]

I would be very careful using any fake plants. Should he ingest them thinking they are edible it can kill him by causing impaction. I am guessing it is a veiled since that is your profile pic. You have a higher risk with a veiled ingesting since they love to munch on plants. If you can I would try to stick with all live plants. Hope this helps. Good luck with your build I’m sure he will love it!

 

[Goose502]

My opinion with any reptile is live plants only using bioactive substrate.

 

[KobaOregonherper]

My opinion with any reptile is live plants only using bioactive substrate.

Prepare for the anti substrate hate brigade. I love bioactive setups and know plenty of panther keepers who use them.

 

[Carlton]

Plant 1 probably won't be very attractive to him as it won't be very comfortable on his feet and provides no visual cover. IMHO it doesn't add much to a cham free range visually either.

Plant 2: I've used fake Ficus like this quite often, even with veileds. To help keep him from trying to eat leaves a) check the attachment points for all of them to make sure they are secure and can't be tugged loose. Reinforce any that seem loose. Hot glue works fine. b) if your veiled likes vegetation always have the REAL stuff that you prefer he eat available. Fruit chunks on skewers, fresh greens in the same places, etc. He'll be less likely to bother with less tasty tough fibrous fake leaves.

Also, make a waterproof cover for the basket and the decorative moss...or just get rid of it entirely or replace it with river rock. If you mist this fake tree at all the base may rot eventually if it gets wet or stays moist. You also don't want your cham deciding to sample the moss.

 

[Beman]

Prepare for the anti substrate hate brigade. I love bioactive setups and know plenty of panther keepers who use them.

Lol sorry if you got this impression. Most of the keepers on here greatly respect our fellow keepers that have bio active setups like @Goose502 whom is also very knowledgeable about them as well. I think the concern comes in when people do not know what they are doing and toss some soil in and call it bio active.

 

[KobaOregonherper]

Lol sorry if you got this impression. Most of the keepers on here greatly respect our fellow keepers that have bio active setups like @Goose502 whom is also very knowledgeable about them as well. I think the concern comes in when people do not know what they are doing and toss some soil in and call it bio active.

I've avoided posting my set up because I've read mostly very negative responses to people using any substrate with chameleons due to the possibility of impaction. I love having a mini biome in my room. Not to mention the the benefits in humidity and water for the cham. Live plants I feel are an absolute must. I've done enough research to write a couple of my own books, but that doesnt out weigh people's experience keeping. I know how people can get when they have a single bad experience, so I keep my beautiful bio active set up to myself lol.

 

[GoodKarma19]

I've avoided posting my set up because I've read mostly very negative responses to people using any substrate with chameleons due to the possibility of impaction. I love having a mini biome in my room. Not to mention the the benefits in humidity and water for the cham. Live plants I feel are an absolute must. I've done enough research to write a couple of my own books, but that doesnt out weigh people's experience keeping. I know how people can get when they have a single bad experience, so I keep my beautiful bio active set up to myself lol.

We like to tell people here (particularly newer keepers) to go with a bare bottom because it's less likely to cause issues in the long run and is generally easier to maintain. This is a broad statement made to try and simplify chameleon keeping as much as possible, particularly for newer keepers that may be having a rough introduction to the hobby and whom we want to avoid overwhelming as much as possible

You certainly won't catch any flack from people here for having a well maintained, balanced, and thoroughly researched bioactive enclosure! I'm a firm believer that bioactivity is wholly beneficial to our reptiles when done appropriately, but a couple inches of [insert substrate here] and a plant or two isn't at all equivalent. Without the balance of microorganisms found in a mature bioactive enclosure, substrate doesn't serve much of a purpose (beyond helping to maintain humidity, but there are other ways to handle this such as the inclusion of live potted plants) and can potentially be more harmful than helpful. This is of particular concern in the case of animals that may not be at 100% in the first place, and thus more susceptible to issues (such as the often quoted risk of impaction).

(Aside - I'd be more than happy to see your set up! I'm in the middle of planning a bioactive enclosure, and am always happy to see pictures/hear what has/has not worked! I'm always eager to learn and share knowledge with like minded folks)

~Amanda

 

[jamest0o0]

Substrate should never be used, bio activity is a myth and 100% of all chameleons will die that have substrate in their enclosures. I can guarantee this.

 

[ArtKtAstic]

Plant 1 probably won't be very attractive to him as it won't be very comfortable on his feet and provides no visual cover. IMHO it doesn't add much to a cham free range visually either.

Plant 2: I've used fake Ficus like this quite often, even with veileds. To help keep him from trying to eat leaves a) check the attachment points for all of them to make sure they are secure and can't be tugged loose. Reinforce any that seem loose. Hot glue works fine. b) if your veiled likes vegetation always have the REAL stuff that you prefer he eat available. Fruit chunks on skewers, fresh greens in the same places, etc. He'll be less likely to bother with less tasty tough fibrous fake leaves.

Also, make a waterproof cover for the basket and the decorative moss...or just get rid of it entirely or replace it with river rock. If you mist this fake tree at all the base may rot eventually if it gets wet or stays moist. You also don't want your cham deciding to sample the moss.

I had Started removing the base already in a planned on going to buy actual cement for the bottom so will be heavier the hold in the bottom and removing it but I put it back just for the picture purposes of what I currently bought and am work with. Under the moss is a very brittle sandy type of something that I was very surprised to find, so it will be removed. I'll update my post with the live plants as well. I've been nursing plants that I got at lowes on sale at the end of the season back to health some of them are money trees Hawaiian Sunshine plants and I can't remember the other names but I will update the post with them. I had placed him on one of the money trees a few months ago and the limbs weren't strong enough to hold him so it droupped and he had to get back onto the stronger trunk base. This is why I have been investing in the fake ones that are more sturdy. I really appreciate the help and feedback.

 

[ArtKtAstic]

I had Started removing the base already in a planned on going to buy actual cement for the bottom so will be heavier the hold in the bottom and removing it but I put it back just for the picture purposes of what I currently bought and am work with. Under the moss is a very brittle sandy type of something that I was very surprised to find, so it will be removed. I'll update my post with the live plants as well. I've been nursing plants that I got at lowes on sale at the end of the season back to health some of them are money trees Hawaiian Sunshine plants and I can't remember the other names but I will update the post with them. I had placed him on one of the money trees a few months ago and the limbs weren't strong enough to hold him so it droupped and he had to get back onto the stronger trunk base. This is why I have been investing in the fake ones that are more sturdy. I really appreciate the help and feedback.

Also regarding the 1st one the leaves are quite soft and it spirals around I'll take another picture of it because if he wont like it then I'm returning the $80 tree. or should I see if he likes it and watch him closely for a few minutes to test it?

 

[ArtKtAstic]

I forgot to include this picture in my original post and I'm not sure how to edit it to remove the duplicate plant picture and replace it with this one. Here's the last fake tree I'm planning on getting Saturday. It's much taller being 5 ft compared to the others are 3 ft.

 

[ArtKtAstic]

Substrate should never be used, bio activity is a myth and 100% of all chameleons will die that have substrate in their enclosures. I can guarantee this.

Agreed. His current setup has a bare bottom. He's almost 3 years old.

 

[ArtKtAstic]

I've avoided posting my set up because I've read mostly very negative responses to people using any substrate with chameleons due to the possibility of impaction. I love having a mini biome in my room. Not to mention the the benefits in humidity and water for the cham. Live plants I feel are an absolute must. I've done enough research to write a couple of my own books, but that doesnt out weigh people's experience keeping. I know how people can get when they have a single bad experience, so I keep my beautiful bio active set up to myself lol.

I'd love to see your set up!!!

 

[GoodKarma19]

Agreed. His current setup has a bare bottom. He's almost 3 years old.

James was kidding, in his super dry way.

 

[Beman]

I've avoided posting my set up because I've read mostly very negative responses to people using any substrate with chameleons due to the possibility of impaction. I love having a mini biome in my room. Not to mention the the benefits in humidity and water for the cham. Live plants I feel are an absolute must. I've done enough research to write a couple of my own books, but that doesnt out weigh people's experience keeping. I know how people can get when they have a single bad experience, so I keep my beautiful bio active set up to myself lol.

Well don't avoid it. You should share. James was attempting to be funny lol. He runs all bio active as well for his. As Karma said it is really for the new keepers that have not done the research and like I said they toss in some dirt and woodchips and say poof that is bio active lol.

 

[jamest0o0]

Well don't avoid it. You should share. James was attempting to be funny lol. He runs all bio active as well for his. As Karma said it is really for the new keepers that have not done the research and like I said they toss in some dirt and woodchips and say poof that is bio active lol.

Wow @Beman throwing me under the bus like that. But yes, I was just messing. This forum has become very welcoming to bio set ups over the years. Took some time, but it's finally catching on mainstream. My main issue with substrate is when people only use reptibark.

 

[Brodybreaux25]

Real chameleons need real plants!

 

[Syreptyon]

This is an unscientific piece of input, but I just think fake plants look so so so tacky. Not for me. Not for my chameleons!

 

[KobaOregonherper]

Wow @Beman throwing me under the bus like that. But yes, I was just messing. This forum has become very welcoming to bio set ups over the years. Took some time, but it's finally catching on mainstream. My main issue with substrate is when people only use reptibark.

I could tell you guys were joking no biggy. To be fair most of the posts are from 5-8 years ago. Although I think the cement substrate was a great idea! I heard chameleons love urban development climates. I've seen some bad "bioactive" (just bark, or like the Oregon zoo, straight sand) setups so I completely understand