Weeping fig too large

[SuperFastSlug]

Hey guys. I've had my chameleon for almost a year now, but my enclosure has basically just died. My ficus just started dying and I couldn't bring it back, as I really don't have a green thumb. So I went out and got a new weeping fig, however, I was dumb and got one that ended up being to big. It fits in the cage, but then entire top of the cage becomes covered in green, which I don't want at all. Well crap. So now I should try to cut it down, right? But the problem is I don't even know where to start. I don't know how to cut, where to cut, and how much to cut, so I'm kinda stuck. So my question is: should I trim it? And if so, how? Here's a pic of the tree next to the cage:

so yeah lol any help would be appreciated! And I'd appreciate quick replies too because Oscar is stuck in an empty cage at the moment haha

 

[SuperFastSlug]

Nvm problem fixed

 

[reptoman]

Lets see it How bad did you have to butcher it? In case you still need any advice, I usually take the braiding apart very carefully and keep is spread apart with small branches and zipties. I then start with a pair of hand pruners and cut it down until it fits. Then I prune a little more until it has enough area on top to let light in and some room to move.

 

[SuperFastSlug]

here it is! I did have to trim it pretty well off the top to give oscar some room to move around and bask up there. Before it would all just press up against the top of the screen. And thanks for the advice I'll keep that in mind!

Sorry if this was a dumb question btw, as I stated previously I don't have a green thumb and have a bad habit of unintentionally killing plants so I wasn't sure where or how to trim at first haha

 

[reptoman]

Never a dumb question first of all and I would have asked the same thing if I just spent $20+ for a plant before I hacked it to bits and killed it. If you have a regular drip watering the ficus I think you should do fine with it the way you trimmed it. You could thin it out a little more to create more pathways inside the canopy if you wanted. The rule is to trim 30% max to not harm the tree but I have trimmed more than that in the same situation you are in and those ficuses are going on 4 years in a couple of cages and doing great. I have to trim the top every few months to let UVB light into the cage as it gets congested from growth. The leaves will poke through the top screen too so be careful not to tear the screen when trimming the top later on. The sap is irritating to chameleon eyes as well so be mindful of that when trimming. Good luck!

 

[junglefries]

Switch to linear bulbs. A T5 HO dual or quad fixture would really benefit the cham and plant. Use one 5.0 and one 6700k for a double and one 5.0 and 3 6700k for a quad. That will really light up your cage and keep your fig from croaking. Even the double with a basking light would be a huge difference. You may even be able to use either two 5.0 or a 10.0 bulb because of the cage height. Best to use a uvb meter to be sure.

 

[SuperFastSlug]

Switch to linear bulbs. A T5 HO dual or quad fixture would really benefit the cham and plant. Use one 5.0 and one 6700k for a double and one 5.0 and 3 6700k for a quad. That will really light up your cage and keep your fig from croaking. Even the double with a basking light would be a huge difference. You may even be able to use either two 5.0 or a 10.0 bulb because of the cage height. Best to use a uvb meter to be sure.

Thanks for the replies guys! And I'll start looking into that. Right now I got a 100 powersun and a 26 watt solar glo.

 

[Carlton]

Another thing I like to do to these really dense Ficus is to prune out some of the internal twigs so the tree's structure is more open. It gives the chams more climbing areas and allows more light to reach more of the lower foliage. Leaves that are too shaded from the overhead lighting will die eventually anyway.