I have been taking full advantage of the wonders of the internet to help progress along my preparation to get my first cham. One topic I haven't been able to obtain too much direct information on, maybe because it is essentially overlooked, is water supply for the cham and how crucial what type of water it is. I've read about various routes one can take(reptisafe?), I have a hard water supply(no softener) which brings to mind my next question, how can I get the benefits of showering my cham once a week, is it not possible with the hard water supply; like would I be doing more harm than good, or am I being overly cautious because I am inexperienced. Thanks
Awesome, thanks a bunch. Also, I live outside of Chicago, summer months get really muggy, haven't actually taken a humidity measurement myself, but as far as maintaining humidity levels, any similar climate dwellers out there with any tips on keeping either a veiled or panther, any opinions on which would be better for my current location? I've read that humidifiers help, but not so much due to the free air flow of a screened cage? Any insights? (It's going to be kept in a bedroom, low traffic, two windows.
Does a waterfall do more harm than good? I think the idea of keeping one in the cage is just plain cool, and would add to it all, but I've read numerous accounts of the dangers of cham's drowning, etc. I would obviously have it set up with very low water levels, to minimize this risk as much as possible, but would something such as this aid in keeping humidity levels up? I'm just trying to figure out if a waterfall, in addition to real plants and regular misting, would be an applicable supplement to a humidifer, or should I go all out and include all four items in keeping humidity up? Thanks
The waterfalls are breading grounds for bactieria and you would need to sanatize it weekly which would pretty much take the "coolness" away from it. Mist by hand 2-3 times daily and use a dripper is the best and cheapest method. If you want to be hardcore then get a mysting system hooked up.
If i had one I would use it but you dont really need it. Provide enough LIVE plants and pletny of mistings and you are good. I do have a auto mister though so that is why I dont use a humdifier. Might be cheaper to get a humidifier and dripper though.
Almost forgot another nit picking observation, how do I know if my home tap water has chlorine or flouride levels exceeding safe amounts for my cham, without actually having to use trial by fire, anyone make any past observations of their own water supply and if the levels of chlorine could do true harm?
In less you live in an area with really poor water quality I would think is should be fine for showering. Try to use bottled water as much as you can just to be safe. You can also boil your tap water, store it in jugs for later use. you have to let it reoxygenate. I mist with a spray bottle, use a small dripper and shower every few days. herbie like it when I hold the dripper up to his mouth for him to drink.
Made this at lowes and I attach it to the garden hose. It filters down to 5 microns which is your standard filter rating for all inline fridge filters ect. Cost me about 45 bucks but now I never have to bucket water from the vending machine again. You could easily make one of these. Whirlpool brand WHCF-DWH Whole House Prefiltration (standard housing) Premium filter WHCF-GDO5 A-879 3/4" x 2" Brass Pipe nipple (2 of these) A-396 1/2" x 3/4" Machined male garden hose end (3 of these) Here is my mister set up
excellent! time to get started, have you ever let it run dry for a significant amount of time on accident? Also, excuse my ignorance but, with a system such as that, it looks like you could get a lot of misting done, etc, how's your drainage system set up? I was pretty much anticipating rigging up something with tarp / painting liners and buckets, etc because I wasn't planning on doing a misting system, just bottle and spray, any suggestions for efficient drainage systems? I am extremely gracious for all the help, my cham will appreciate it too
Yes i did make the mistake to let it run dry once. I elected to buy a diapgram pump since they have the capability to run dry with out damage as opposed to the cheaper piston pumps which will burn up fast. Its either a 100 dollar pump that with one mistake is shot or a 180 dollar pump that will last you no matter what. I did what I thought was best. Well my drainage is non exiistant and it is a pain in the but. I have the mister heads aimed at the front and back of the ficus so that most the water runs down the tree and into the pot where the excess water runs out into the collection tray and I suck the water out with a bulb every other day or so. I clean the tray and it works fine. I also bought 4 sponges per cage that I place in directly under the mister heads so that most the drips and run off are absorbed and this works great for me. I suppose I could have made a drainage system but then it takes away from room in the cage. Basically the only good way to do it is to sacrafice cage height and add a bucket for collection under the floor bottom. The floor is a fake fossil print tile that resists water and I have silconed the entire floor seems as well as the entire inside of the cage. It is all made of wood but ahs many layers of UV,Weather, and mositure sealer on it. A drainage system would be cool but still you have to spend time to pull the tray out and empty it ect. Its not like if I had a tray that I could let the water sit there any longer since I am already having issues with these darn little nats flying all around and breading in the soil. Here are some pics.
Thank's so much. Getting this set up for my cham has been trying, but it is going to be an amazing pay off, it's forums and communities on the net that make things like this possible, it's very encouraging and helpful. Do you find your cham's enjoying the vines? I want to have a set up with a branching plant, hibiscus or the likes, and another vine like plant, any suggestions on specific vined plants that have worked good for people out there? I have some ficus around the house, but have heard that some variations of it are toxic/harmful, any truth to this claim in anyones opinion? Thanks
never heard of any ficus being toxic but some say that the sap may get in their eyes. i have never had a problem with it and have 3 chams all with ficus. Vine plants that you see there are pothos and they work great. They also grow very fast and i have wrapped the vines all over the cage along with the fake vine. Hibiscus are nice but grow super slow and need good lighting, pothos can be in the house with no light and grow perfect.
On the question of the toxic plants, my last two vets Have told me that Ficus, Pothos, and all Ivys are toxic. I also read the same info from the Dallas zoo. I know there are so many "unsafe" Plants out there. The problem for me is conflicting info on plants and so may other things like glass tanks. It's like the egg thing with people, are we aloud to eat them are not. Anyway that's my take on the plants. I don't use them just to be safe. I know Herbie will eat them, he's a veiled and they usually do.
Wow not sure why they say that since they are on all the safe plant lists. My vield has ate the ficus leaves many of times in the past 5 yrs and he still is super healthy and has never been sick. I think those vets either know of some new research to refute what has been know to be safe or they are not that up to date on what people are using. A ficus is as common as feeding a cricket to a cham and everyone uses them. Sounds like bad info to me.
Vets are more than likely going to say the plant is toxic in general if any part of the plant could cause harm on the chemical level, no? I appreciate the first hand information a great deal. Ladycham, what type of plants do you use, if you don't mind me asking?
I used Ficus for a long time. It was the tree I was given with Herbie when I recieved him from a friend ( he was 6 months old). He enjoyed eating it but I found it an unstable plant (strength wise). shortly after I got him he got sick so I got rid of the plant and everything else in his cage and started over. I didn't know what was causeing his illness and still don't. Herbie is 3 years now and has abnormal swelling in his veil, glands and sometimes his eyes. I just found out this past month that ficus may be toxic I really have no idea if it contributed to his health problems. Right now I use fake plants and vines. I would like to give him a Hibiscus so he can have something to much on again. i would like to try some other plants too. A friend is building Herbie a new cage so i'm up for suggestion. Thanks guys.
