What kind of plant is ideal for these little guys? What is a no no?

I was thinking of putting some grasses against the sides, and some succulents in and around the viv, complimented with twigs and such for climbing, but i am confused about their drinking habbits.

Is there a recommended type of plant that will serve as a drinking plant? Or should i just plant the thing up and buy a dripper system?

plant it and mist it, possibly use a dripper sytem as well. Misting keeps the humidity up

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Do you use a dripper for yours? or are they fine without? Any advice on the types of plants they enjoy?

All i have to do after this is actually find some lol.

You dont need a dipper as long as you spray well, also they can be fine with fake plants you know.


Phil

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Fake plants are like my nemesis. I absolutely hate them.

Also, plants regulate humidity, even in whole rooms. I would rather have my humidity ideal as its the only real variant in the room i plan to keep them.

I was wondering about succulents mostly, are the slightly spiky ones ok to use (theyre points, not spikes like a cactus)? If not is something like a smooth aloe ok?

Mine currently have ficus pumilia - readily available at B&Q in 2 forms, a standard variety that looks like a small tree, and a creeping variety that looks like a bush. Take them out of the pots, free the roots from the soil and give them a good rinse, then either plant them in the viv or put them in a new pot and bury that in the substrate in the viv. I'm guessing you have hydroleca base with membrane on top followed by 3" of top soil.

I'm looking at planting epiphytes, possibly broms, in the viv as well. If you're going through all this effort you may as well make the substrate bioactive - throw in some dwarf tropical woodlice and springtails - just churn it up every couple of weeks. You'll need a UV tube for the plants to do them any justice.

You can get a thorough guide on setting the whole thing up if you check out some posts on Chameleon Forums, and also apply the knowledge available at Dendroworld • Index page (you will need to register to get access to more forums than are available as a guest).

In fact, here you go:

Care:

Chameleons! Online E-Zine
Chameleons! Online E-Zine

Pics:

r. brevicaudatus - Chameleon Forums

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Just out of interest how important is the drainage base layer? I got the impression it was more of a professional touch. eek!

Ive got a wooden viv with a large plastic tray base, ive filled the edges with aquarium silicon and then put these glass pebbles ontop (look weird but i plan to put moss ontop and they are presumably inert). With this setup i assumed that i would just keep the soil moist to the touch. The hydrometer is currently reading 80% and all the vents are open (4 side vents, top cut out) and the soil is moist. What would a drainage layer do? Allow me to keep soil moist without upping humidity? if so then i need to go one down!

Thanks for the info and pics, they really help me see the range of foliage these little guys enjoy!

I think the drainage layer is to stop the soil getting too boggy as a result of the high humidity - would damage plant roots and may make the substrate unsuitable for egg deposition. Apparently it also provides a place for springtails and woodlice to hide (although I imagine this is more in the case of dartfrogs as I haven't seen any of my pygmies go for them). You can probably get away without the drainage layer provided you don't need to turn it into a bog to keep the humidity up.

[Edit] - you can raise the humidity with a small Bionaire humidifier if necessary, plums nicely into an exo-terra:
Dendroworld • Login

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What do you aim for with your humidity? I read that 60 is the bottom end and 80 the top end.

from my current reading i would say i should be fine aslong as i get some mosses, so i dont keep having to spray the soil directly. oh and are native british moses safe? how would you wash it?

Where is the best place to get some springtails or woodlice?

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My humidity averages around 70. I lightly mist a couple of hours after lights on, and a couple of hours before lights out. Once a day I switch the humidifier on for about 15 mins - my exo terras haven't been sealed on the front vents so they don't fill up with fog - I just get a hazy fog about 1/2" thick on top of the substrate. My temp averages 22.5 during the day, around 20 at night.

Springtails and Woodlice: Dartfrog - Livefoods

Notes on moss:

Dendroworld • Login
http://rbg-web2.rbge.org.uk/bbs/Resources/Fletcher.pdf

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1.1.0 Pitted Pygmy Chameleons (Rhampholeon temporalis)