Wood & Vines... Fake or Real???

[jojackson]

None of the above. I use this twist tie garden product. For ease of cleaning/removal/shaping, I find them ideal.
Waterproof too. Its a matter of aesthetics v's cleanliness. Natural vines do rot, carry bacteria, can be hard to clean, difficult to get them where you want them.
Commercial faux vines dont suit my needs either being too course, too short (and expensive) prone to rust in the ends, hard to shape to requirements.

Personal choice.

 

[tkilgour]

I use a mixture of everything. I like a combo I guess, and have been using bio vines, flukers vines, live plants, and wood vines and branches from outside. With the outside vines I soak them in clorox, then bake them at 350 degrees from 30 min. The habitats look amazing when finished.

 

[Chameleon Company]

With the outside vines I soak them in clorox, then bake them at 350 degrees from 30 min.

Wow ! That's overkill ! Just a quick rinse with a hose should be fine. No need to treat the "wild" as toxic !!

 

[eisentrauti]

Branches from outdoors

 

[withlime]

bamboo, store bought wood, an assortment of store bought vines, and soaker hose in the free ranges

 

[Texas Panther Man]

I also use the grape vine wreaths. They are the best value if your buying vines. They are cheap last foreever and dont fall apart or shred. And they come in all different diameters. So your cham has diff sized perches for his/her feet. Not good for all vines to be the same diameter. They need many diff sizes to ease foot issues.

 

[tglassburner]

For hatchlings I use some sort of bendable, forked, plastic branch "thingies" I bought at Petco.

Got a pic or link?

 

[chameleon76]

Hello
I personally have switched to Romax for the last about 2yrs. I also use found wild grape vines(in all sizes) which I dry and sand/wire brush and make them have more charachter.
I believe the bnefit to romax are:

Easier to sanitize

No crevices for bachteria to grow

Extreamly plyable.

Can be twisted and using multiple pieces to make for endless variety in grip sizes.

Long lasting

Strong.

The main drawbacks for Romax is its not very decorative looking Thats why i go a little over the top with some wild lookin natural vines!

 

[Elizadolots]

None of the above...I do have a live pothos in each cage and as mine are small they can climb those, but beyond that my "horizontal" (with rise or fall) vines are Rapiclip Soft Tie and my strictly up and down vines are double thickness twine (I put a knot in every inch or so).

 

[eric thompson]

grape vine we get it @ the river this is "The Freeway" in the house

 

[coganchams]

I use the jungle vines in different sizes. I have used plants in the past but they got insects and I could not get rid of the insects without using sprays. I don't use branches from outside because I am not sure what they have on them. One of my customers is trying plastic tubing from the drug store. Any thoughts regarding using the tubing? Please let me know. Thanks.

 

[Chamanam]

What about tree fern stumps?

I was thinking about using a tree fern stump to mount epiphytic plants onto. I know its not as hygenic but if you were to take it out and hose it down every so often would that be ok?

Cheers

Chamanam

 

[Brad Ramsey]

I think it's interesting that so many people are so intent on washing, bleaching, baking branches from outside.
Has anyone actually experienced a health problem with a chameleon exposed to natural (unwashed, untreated) branches and vines?
We haven't, and I have yet to bake or bleach a branch.

-Brad

 

[PhxKarma]

I think it's interesting that so many people are so intent on washing, bleaching, baking branches from outside.
Has anyone actually experienced a health problem with a chameleon exposed to natural (unwashed, untreated) branches and vines?
We haven't, and I have yet to bake or bleach a branch.

-Brad

I think for some it's just easier to not risk anything, but if you have had no problems I think that's good enough for me to know that I can just use real branches.

 

[tglassburner]

I want to know.

I think it's interesting that so many people are so intent on washing, bleaching, baking branches from outside.
Has anyone actually experienced a health problem with a chameleon exposed to natural (unwashed, untreated) branches and vines?
We haven't, and I have yet to bake or bleach a branch.

-Brad

Who goes into the jungle to sanitize the branches before a cham is allowed to walk on them? I want to know.

 

[Elizadolots]

Maybe it depends on what sorts of things live in the area. I'm sure very few of the trees in my neighborhood live in the jungle. I've got lots of palm and eucalyptus trees and some weird olive trees that the coyotes love to eat... I can sort of see the theory that what can survive in these trees is not going to be native to the chameleon's homeland and could possibly cause a problem. That said, I've grabbed branches off the few ficus trees in the area and just stuck them in the cage.

 

[Cainschams]

I havent paid for a branch in I dont know how long!! No washing or sanatizing either. Just gather and place in the cage. You spend enough money and deal with enough headaches in this hobby. Why not ease the pain with free natural sticks and one less thing to clean

 

[Brad Ramsey]

I can sort of see the theory that what can survive in these trees is not going to be native to the chameleon's homeland and could possibly cause a problem.

Probably quite the opposite.
Branches from the new world and old world animals ... anything on those branches is not likely to have much effect on the chameleon.
Remember too, that most micro fauna is beneficial and adding it to the micro climate of your chameleon enclosure might actually help to keep things cleaner and more "in balance"
This eco system will not survive extreme "germo-phobe" warfare, however, and so this particular point in some cases would be moot.

-Brad

 

[Joann]

This thread is great.Love all the ideas.Just curious if chameleons can get snake mites?
With that being said I brought in some branches from the lake and used them in my cornsnakes enclosure and he promptly got mites.These were actually drift wood not branches up in the trees so maybe thats why they were less clean.
I also once used cypress mulch that I bought and ended up with at least a hundred strange bee like insects hatching out in one of our cages in the house.If had been a lizard they would have probably eaten them.
So IDK cleaning the branches isnt such a bad idea really.

 

[ChameleonRave]

I use outside branches, fake vines, and I use wooden dowels that i hot glued them together to make pathways. works very well too