Pothos!

[liquidnia]

My 6 month old male veiled chameleon wont stop eating his pothos plants! He refuses to eat collard greens and only recently started nibbling on apple. Is there anything else I can try so he'll stop destroying a majority of his plants? Or can anyone suggest some other plants I can put in there that he wont eat? He also seems fond of his jade plant too... My only issue is that he HATES fake leaves. What can I do for my little bugger?

 

[Julirs]

Maybe you are not feeding him enough insects? Maybe he just loves Pothos!

 

[sandrachameleon]

Have you tried offering things other than collard greens? different leafy greens?

 

[Brad Ramsey]

What can I do for my little bugger?

Just keep replacing your plants!
Some veileds are just vege-crazy!
Lynda has had veileds that completely strip pothos.
My experience with a male veiled is that after about a year old he just stopped eating greens. Occasionally he will take a bite of hibiscus leaf.

Pothos are easy to start from cuttings. You can have several plants (eventually) from the one you have and just keep replacing them.
I keep pothos cuttings in a jar of water till they are well rooted.

-Brad

 

[sandrachameleon]

Pothos are easy to start from cuttings. You can have several plants (eventually) from the one you have and just keep replacing them.
I keep pothos cuttings in a jar of water till they are well rooted.
-Brad

Brad is right, its very easy to take cuttings and make new plants.
The Pothos in all my cages never leave the "cuttings in jars of water" stage. They grow quite well simply in water and with only the reptile lights.

 

[RachelRiot]

Brad is right, its very easy to take cuttings and make new plants.
The Pothos in all my cages never leave the "cuttings in jars of water" stage. They grow quite well simply in water and with only the reptile lights.

Sandra,

Do you leave the jars of water in your chams cage? Have they ever knocked them over?

 

[liquidnia]

I have about 5 pothos that I've been rotating and trying to rehabilitate. I feed him about 4-6 med/large crickets a day, dusting every other feeding. I think he is just veg happy! He is very suspicious about mellon, but seems to like apple. I'll probably try getting some more pothos, I'm hoping I'll be able to find them in the winter.

 

[hallenhe]

You probably already know this - just be sure to wash any new pothos thoroughly before giving them to him, in case they've been treated with fungicides, insecticides, etc.

Mmm - pothos...

 

[kinyonga]

What are you supplementing with and how often for each supplement?
What are you gutloading with?

 

[sandrachameleon]

Sandra,
Do you leave the jars of water in your chams cage? Have they ever knocked them over?

My cages are mostly made of wood, so it is pretty easy to securly attach things. The jars mostly rest on the wood 2x2 or 2x4 cross braces at the midpoint of the cage height, and I use a simple elastic band or piece of wire around the neck attached to the side of the cage (through pegboard holes) to make sure it stays in place. The plants get walked over, climbed up etc and so far no crashes or spills

 

[SoCaliSon]

My cages are mostly made of wood, so it is pretty easy to securly attach things. The jars mostly rest on the wood 2x2 or 2x4 cross braces at the midpoint of the cage height, and I use a simple elastic band or piece of wire around the neck attached to the side of the cage (through pegboard holes) to make sure it stays in place. The plants get walked over, climbed up etc and so far no crashes or spills

What holds the pothos in the water when a cham climbs it? I can see if it was rooted into soil it would be climbable... But climbing a pothos vine that is just in a glass of water sounds like trying to climb a rope that isn't tied to anything at the top.

Edit: are you saying you elastic band the vines to the side?

 

[sandrachameleon]

What holds the pothos in the water when a cham climbs it? I can see if it was rooted into soil it would be climbable... But climbing a pothos vine that is just in a glass of water sounds like trying to climb a rope that isn't tied to anything at the top.
Edit: are you saying you elastic band the vines to the side?

Opps. I wasnt clear about a fairly important step in the process!
I take new cuttings off of a few very fast growing happy mother plants regularily. No less than twice a month Im starting new cuttings, just to keep my house plants (mothers) of a manageable size. The mom plants get mmy home made organic compost tea as a fertilizer and fish tank water, nothing chemical artificial. They grow really well. If I dont cut them back, they'd take over. I use old glass jars that have a slightly narrow neck. I have several jars on the go at any one time, while the cutting take hold. The cuttings are VERY well rooted in the jar before I put it in the cage. So much so that the roots have twisted around each other multiple times and made a big knot - one that does not easily slip out of the jar. The cuttings can come out, if I pull them. But I've never found my male panther chameleons able to pull them out, even when ones full weight is hanging from a single vine.

 

[SoCaliSon]

That answers my question... I should have figured that. Sounds like a cool process! Thanks Sandra!

~Joe