deeooogee

I'm looking for live ficus or other nice artificial plants for my
chameleon's cage. Any help locating these would be appreciated. I tried
the local shops, but they all use chemicals and their artificial plants are
not what I'm looking for. TIA

dontpanic

I'm a bit confused - are you looking for a real ficus tree,
or an artificial one? And what chemicals are you trying
to avoid on the artificial plants? They're all made with
some kind of chemical.

-M

deeooogee

Sorry for the confusion. I'm looking for a nice "real" ficus tree. If I
can't find one I'll take artificial.

Thanks

dontpanic

Unless you can find an organic gardening center it may be
hard to find a ficus tree that meets your needs. However,
you can always buy a ficus and doctor it up to meet your
needs. You can repot it in chemical-free soil or simply cover
the existing soil with sheet moss. I doubt the chameleon will
spend much time near the soil. As for the chemicals used on
the leaves of the tree - you can wash it well with soap and plenty
of water. You can also let it grow for awhile at your house before
putting it in with the lizard to get rid of any residual chemicals.

One word of warning though - Ficus trees have a white, milky sap that
is an irritant. When branches or leaves are broken off the tree the
sap
seeps out and could irritate any chameleon skin or mucus membranes
that come in contact with it.

-M

deeooogee

"thank you"

justin williams

Additionally...

We found wwith our cham that he trampled the bejeezus out of it, and
fast.... If you *do* decide to go that route, get 3 so that you can
rotate them through, allowing the trampled one a chance to recover...

We pulled the ficus back out. It was decimated... Instead, we have
decorated with:

3/4-inch sisal wrapped in fake vines, and pulled tight enough to act
like branches.
2 pothos suspended from the ceiling (1 jade; 1 golden, and they both
love all the water the automated misting system gives)
1 chinese evergreen

All of the plants we got from Home Despot, and simply washed them, and
replaced the top 2 inches of soil with fresh stuff to get rid of the
insecticides/pesticides.

I love the pothos in there... they love the humidity and really thrive
in the chams' cages...

Our little female, we're trying to avoid having any plants on the
ground, and are planning on mounting one on the back wall, instead.

HTH!
Justin


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