Plants and flowers for future cham cage

[RcManChild]

Thinking of adding an

Orchid

Hibiscus

Pothos

a bird of paradise flower...


The worry here is:

1) safe for the chameleon?

I know the hibiscus and the pothos are safe any ideas about the Orchid or Pothos...

2) Lighting requirements?

I am looking at the solar ray light by exo terra and then 2x UVB 10.0 T5 bulbs.... However I fear this isnt enough light for the flowers to stay alive..

3) over watering.... right now I am water every 2 hours for 3 minutes to keep the humidity up...

The cage I am looking at is either the Exo terra or zoo med XL...

the zoo med I find isn't wide enough, and the exo terra isnt tall enough for my liking...

Any other ideas?

 

[Extensionofgreen]

Hibiscus are more trouble than they are worth, imo. A lot depends on the type of cage you are using as to how much and what types of light you will need. Bird of Paradise are too large for any enclosure less than 5-6' tall and will eventually outgrow even that, in short order. There are many orchids of varying light, temperature, humidity, watering, and dormancy requirements. A phalaenopsis is a good orchid type to try and it is readily available.
Non spiny bromeliads may interest you, there are several draceana that make for interesting and colorful additions and many other options, depending on the species of chameleons, enclosure, your growing skills, and the amount of light you can provide.

 

[RcManChild]

I mean I will make the lighting what I need based off of the plants. I will not however sacrifice lighting for the chameleon to keep a plant alive

 

[Extensionofgreen]

Please tell me what chameleon your are going to be keeping.
Other popular choices for chameleon caging are dragonstrands and reptariums. Some are more suitable than others and again, a lot, including your lighting, plant, and cage choices will be determined by the species of chameleon you are keeping.
Feel free do a search under the enclosures section for Epic Parsonii build and you should find the thread of my enclosures that show lots of plant choices and ideas for what is possible.

 

[RcManChild]

I have a female Ambilobe panther chameleon... I looked at the dragon strands and while they are awesome it is cheamer for me to get 2x a 24x24x48 zoomed cage and put them together than get a dragonstrand...

So if I do this I will get two zoomed cages and put them together to make a 48Wx24Dx48T cage

 

[RcManChild]

I mist every 2 hours for 3 mins to keep humidity up, once a new cage is setup with all this im hoping to mist less

 

[Extensionofgreen]

With a panther, you'll want fairly bright lighting, warm temps, moderate-high humidity, and barring thorny, hairy, exceptionally toxic plants, and plants with sharp leave edges, you have many options. I would suggest visiting liggtyourreptiles.com and reviewing the plant and daylight bulbs, as well as the Arcadia UVB tubes, basking spots, and so forth. You will want natural daylight spectrum for food plant growth and for the psychological stimulation of your panther.
Ficus benjamina, Ficus 'alii', schefflera, and some other, specialty (available through mail order and not big box stores) are recommended, because they provide branches at a smaller size and are functional. Pothos have sturdy vines and are also a good choice. Orchids, bromeliads, and other plants can add interest, but aren't as functional, in that they don't provide sturdy foliage for a panther chameleon to crawl around on. There's no reason not to use a mix of functional and interesting plants, just think carefully about the attributes of each plant.