Plant advice

[Chris85]

Hi,

I'm busy preparing my first Terrarium and I'm stuck on plant selection. Unfortunately a lot of the plants mentioned here are hard to come by in south Africa. I managed to find Hibiscus and Schefflera. I also have a Golden Shower vine (Pyrostegia Venusta). I was wondering if the golden shower vine is toxic to a panther chameleon? There doesn't seem to be much information available on this particular vine with regards to chameleon care.

Does anybody know of a good creeping vine for a terrarium that is available in south Africa?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Beman]

I dunno about that vine. But do you have Pothos plants there? They are great plants that Vine. They are quite strong as well and can support the weight of a panther.

 

[timw1]

Just in case you haven't seen this: https://flchams.com/chameleon-safe-plant-list/

 

[KobaOregonherper]

Hi,

I'm busy preparing my first Terrarium and I'm stuck on plant selection. Unfortunately a lot of the plants mentioned here are hard to come by in south Africa. I managed to find Hibiscus and Schefflera. I also have a Golden Shower vine (Pyrostegia Venusta). I was wondering if the golden shower vine is toxic to a panther chameleon? There doesn't seem to be much information available on this particular vine with regards to chameleon care.

Does anybody know of a good creeping vine for a terrarium that is available in south Africa?

Thanks in advance.

As a good rule of thumb most vines and hanging plants are toxic unless specifically said otherwise.

Also, hallo uit Amerika! Not sure I spelled that right or if you speak afrikaans lol. My families from capetown, haven't been back there or Johannesburg in years!

 

[KobaOregonherper]

Just in case you haven't seen this: https://flchams.com/chameleon-safe-plant-list/

This

 

[Kaizen]

Hi,

I'm busy preparing my first Terrarium and I'm stuck on plant selection. Unfortunately a lot of the plants mentioned here are hard to come by in south Africa. I managed to find Hibiscus and Schefflera. I also have a Golden Shower vine (Pyrostegia Venusta). I was wondering if the golden shower vine is toxic to a panther chameleon? There doesn't seem to be much information available on this particular vine with regards to chameleon care.

Does anybody know of a good creeping vine for a terrarium that is available in south Africa?

Thanks in advance.

Dude, I can totally help. First, to stick with the ficus genus, try the creeping fig...Ficus pumilla (I think). Also, since you’re in South Africa, why not use natives like the Port Jackson fig and lavender star flower (grewia occidentalis). The latter are super fast growing, safe, showy and super easy to shape to fit your needs. Schefflera are also a great choice, and if you can get a decent sized one, they can easily be forced to send out aerial roots by using your mister several times a day. This will give you a mangrove effect and be super Cham friendly.

 

[Chris85]

Thank you for all the awesome advice!
Unfortunately none of the shops I went to had ever heard of Pothos, so that was out.

As a good rule of thumb most vines and hanging plants are toxic unless specifically said otherwise.

Also, hallo uit Amerika! Not sure I spelled that right or if you speak afrikaans lol. My families from capetown, haven't been back there or Johannesburg in years!

Thanx Koba, I'll keep that in mind! And well done, lol that was spot-on!

The list actually helped a lot. I managed to get the star jasmine.

Dude, I can totally help. First, to stick with the ficus genus, try the creeping fig...Ficus pumilla (I think). Also, since you’re in South Africa, why not use natives like the Port Jackson fig and lavender star flower (grewia occidentalis). The latter are super fast growing, safe, showy and super easy to shape to fit your needs. Schefflera are also a great choice, and if you can get a decent sized one, they can easily be forced to send out aerial roots by using your mister several times a day. This will give you a mangrove effect and be super Cham friendly.

Thanx a lot Kaizen! I ended up buying Schefflera, Star Jasmine and Hibiscus. Apparently the hibiscus will die if indoors but I'm gonna give it a shot anyway.

I ended up building the main cage plus the drip tray and layered floor for the misting system. I still need to add branches that lead to a basking spot but I ran out of time this weekend.

One more question, I am adding a UVA and UVB 5.0 on a 12 hour timer. During this 12 hour "day" cycle I'm also adding a misting system that will mist 200ml every 2 hours. I then have a moonlight that will come on every 12 hour "night" cycle. Oh and I have an additional heating pad connected to a micro temperature controller to heat up the bottom of the terrarium. What else would I need or should I get rid of before I adopt my Panther?

Thanks again for all the advice

I've attached a pic of my progress..