Help with plants for lizard cage

[Mike T.]

Hi everyone, I'm Michael and I reside in southern California. This is going to come off as rather strange, but I would like to set up a mini garden in my pets cage. The environment I have created is ambient temps of 78F, and currently there is a Schefflera arboricola, or umbrella tree in there that is thriving. I have a watering system that creates rain, which goes off four times a day for 4 minutes each cycle. It is a panther chameleon that has a cage that is 2x2x4tall, with a uv light at the top, so essentially there is some uv rays reaching the floor of the cage. I'm hoping this is the correct section to post in because I would like to put a garden at the bottom to make it as beautiful as possible. Ive looked at bog gardens but I'm not quite sure which type of plants would be suitable with that much water. The humidity is about 60%, and the dry out periods between watering sessions are 3 hours long.
Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

[DoubleDogFarm]

Sounds like a interesting project. How about a picture or two of the cage and the little guy.

Tell use about Panther Chameleon. What is their native habitat.


Eric

[Mike T.]

Here's a picture of him "fired up" where hes showing what hes got. The other is of him acting casually. The drainage system is minimal, or to say nothing. The water falls strait down into that large plastic container where I just take that outside and dump it. Panther chameleons are solitary animals by nature and are quite reserved, but I was blessed and got an awesome guy that enjoys being taken out and held. They are STRICTLY aboreal, meaning they live in the trees there entire life span, and never go on the ground. They come from the island of Madagascar, which makes their environment tropical, with high humidity and luscious landscapes. Depending on where you are the island will determine the color variation of the animal. I hope with these basics, some more in depth questions may be asked. I guess, my main concern is the amount of water the plants would receive? I want to provide you with the most information I possibly can, so please don't hesitate to ask. And by the way, the plant looks much less wild and "dingy" in person.

[img]https://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i145/hallasara/cage3-1.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i145/hallasara/3.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i145/hallasara/12-1.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i145/hallasara/rest.jpg[/img][/img]

[mitzi56]

hey michael, its funny but I'm here trying to get some answers for the exact same reason. I am having a cage built now and awaiting my new pets Panther chameleons), once I have the cage set up. I went out a little early out of anticipation for my new arrivals to buy what plants I would like to try and it appears you have the umbrella tree too! My issue already is that it is dropping its leaves considerably and its not even in the cage yet, but I had sat it next to an open south window and was suggested to keep it out of too much light and also to be careful it is not sitting in too much water and sure enough I was doing both wrong! Now I'm wondering since the umbrellas don't seem to like a lot of water, wether this will work, let alone the additional light for my up coming chameleons that they are going to need. I will go back to finish reading you're question, sorry just got a little excited when I saw someone else with cage issues that I'm trying to avoid lol OK so youre question I believe is about wether your umbrella can tolerate too much water? well you got you're answer lol. Are you having a lot of leaf drop like I was??

[mitzi56]

Where did you get him, as I'm about to get ready to order a pair maybe as early as next week, and I would love to find one with a good temperament as my last one was vicious lol he hated to be messed with! I would also love to get another red like you got as my "AFO" was on his way to becoming red before I had to sell him due to financial difficulties. And I'm really hoping to get lucky and find a more even tempered red one. And how frequently do you handle him as I thought that may have been the problem with mine being so aggressive, I rarely handled him, since It was always the the suggestion to not handle them too much since their so easily stressed. I thought since perhaps since they are all being captive born now a days, they are becoming more adapted to being handled? because everyone in the chameleon forum, are back and forth about wether they should be handled, while others are saying they handle theirs daily!
I'm from florida by the way. Oh and did you say you were using a misting system?, as that is my plan as well.