Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Plants

Live plants are really the best way to "dress" your chameleons environment.
They provide security, help to maintain humidity, produce oxygen, and make the enclosure much more pleasing to the eye.
Veiled chameleons enjoy exploring a densely planted territory and will often stop to take a bite out of a nearby leaf.
For this reason in particular, safe, non-toxic plants must be chosen for your chameleons habitat.
Additionally, these plants must be washed well and re-potted in safe, fertilizer and pesticide free soil.
Popular plants that are utilized in a chameleon enclosure include:
Schefflera arboricola
Ficus benjamina
Dracaena fragrans
Ficus elastica
Hibiscus
Pothos
A very beautiful, jungle environment can be created by incorporating any combination of the above plants with some well washed branches and creatively twisted and braided commercially available vine for arboreal reptiles.
The soil mix that I prefer is one I make myself by combining two parts sifted peat moss and one part sifted topsoil.
The reason I sift it is because I allow the chameleon to have access to the soil and consume it if he wishes.
There is some danger of impaction with this practice if there are larger pieces of material in the potting mix.
To clean newly purchased plants, I remove the plant from the pot and rinse the roots outside with the hose. Bring the rinsed bare-root plant inside to your shower or tub area where you can wash the leaves (top and bottom) with a mild dishwashing soap, then rinse and rinse and rinse! Repot the plant with new soil and it's ready to be placed in the enclosure.