Plastic Plants?

[Mrscpoulson]

I'm new to Cham's, I don't even have one yet... But I'm researching essentials for the cage setup, and I'm wondering... How important are live vs plastic plants? Reptile branches are alright, right? What about the bottom of the setup? Should it be a soil for live plants, or if I do all plastic does the bottom setup matter or could I use like paper towels?

Like I said, totally new to Chams. I've been reading the awesome resources on here, but I don't see if/where they really touch on how important live plants are.

Sorry! I just have a habit of killing all the plants I look at, so plastic would be *easier*... But if I have to learn to garden, I can! LOL.

 

[Carlton]

I'm new to Cham's, I don't even have one yet... But I'm researching essentials for the cage setup, and I'm wondering... How important are live vs plastic plants? Reptile branches are alright, right? What about the bottom of the setup? Should it be a soil for live plants, or if I do all plastic does the bottom setup matter or could I use like paper towels?

Like I said, totally new to Chams. I've been reading the awesome resources on here, but I don't see if/where they really touch on how important live plants are.

Sorry! I just have a habit of killing all the plants I look at, so plastic would be *easier*... But if I have to learn to garden, I can! LOL.

Live plants really help maintain the humidity level your cham would need in its cage. Not only will the leaves hold water droplets from the daily misting you'll need to do, but the live plants release moisture as they transpire, and the potting soil holds and releases moisture too. Fake plants can help fill in bare areas of the cage of course, but they won't help with moisture as well. Bushy live plants provide more visual cover for your cham too. There aren't that many fake plants easily available that can fill a cage. You don't need to plant the plants in the cage bottom...some people do it, but it takes a lot of practice to get it right. Easier to keep the plants potted so they can be switched out or moved as necessary. Also, a layer of soil in a cage bottom won't be deep enough to support the root structure of a large bushy plant you will need that is large and sturdy enough for the cham to climb around on and live in. Potted plants such as Hawaiian schefflera, Pothos, Ficus, or Hibiscus work for cage structure. Some keepers do use substrates on the cage floor but it can be tricky to control molds and bacteria buildup. The simplest way for a newbie to set up a cage is to keep the cage floor bare...but a layer of paper towels are very easy to pick up, absorb water, and many of us started off using them until we found out what we liked over time.

I had a true black thumb before I started keeping chams...it was do or die and now I have too MANY houseplants that seem to live forever! If I can do it anyone can.

 

[distortionz]

In the past I have always preferred live plants over fake plants.. like they said for humidity also my veileds like to core down on the ficus you just have to make sure you wash them when you buy them.. also live plants just look better imo.. I would usually have some fake pothos on a back wall to fill up a little space.. but I've learned ficus and scheffleras are pretty easy to keep alive in a reptile cage especially with the lighting.. And I'm just as terrible with plants.. I don't like the look of just having a potted plant in the cage though so what I have been doing is making foam/stone pot surrounds