Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Does anyone have any tips for this? The ficus in the Jax enclosure has been holding it's own for a few months, but it's beginning to thin out and lose lots of leaves. The hibiscus in the Carpet's enclosure is not happy, and it's only been in there for a few weeks. It's losing some leaves and lots of the leaves are turning yellow. Is it not enough water or what?

I can't figure out how everyone else keeps the plants happy without taking them out all the time and disturbing the chams happy set up. I have vines and such all intertwined (is that a word?) in the plants, so there is no way it will be even close to the way it is once I take the plant out and put another back in.

So, what do you all do???

Thanks!
Kristen
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1.1 pygmy leaf
1.0 carpet
1.0 jackson
0.0.3 red eared sliders

My hibiscus plants started to go downhill also. They did really good for 2-3 months and then started losing leaves and had no more flowers. I had one that had perfect flowers and nice leaves for like 4 months, then got really skinny really fast. Nothing had changed. The Hibiscus is more of an outdoor plant, or at least a BRIGHT light plant (brighter than most cham cages) and the ficus seem to do ok indoors, but if you can get them a few days a month outside they will do alot better. I had a ficus that was indoors for almost a year and I had built some outdoor cages and put it in one of them for about a week and a TON of new leaves started. It hadn't grown a whole lot in the year it was inside, but the time it got outside helped it alot. I also have a 7 foot hibiscus tree that is potted in my garage that I take outside 4-5 days a week for some sun (with a cham in it) for a few hours each time and it always has flowers and is doing good. Lately my cages have been getting ficus trees (some species of ficus do better than others indoors, I'm not sure which is which) and I've also been putting Ivy plants with vines in the cages also. They look great and hold up well indoors. The hard part is holding them up high so the vines can drape down.
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Tyler Stewart
Las Vegas NV

I agree with Tyler about the sunlight thing. I keep my Jax and Veiled in Ficus trees outside during the summer and in my garage during the colder months. When outside, my trees keep growing and I have to trim the tops because they start growing sideways when they hit the top of the enclosure.

You can try placing the cages by a window that gets sun in the morning so the trees can get some natural sunlight. Your Chams might also enjoy the sun, and might even like to look out the window like mine do.

I have also found that Ficus are thirsty plants, well, at least my one is. I have to water it every 3 days or it will start to drop leaves on me, picky plant... But once I water it, it perks right back up the next day. You can also try giving it some liquid fert. and see if that helps. Also check that your chameleons lights are not burning the trees, that would also cause them to die.

Hope this helps
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Kaitlyn

0.1.0 Jackson Chameleon (Kokoro)
0.1.0 Veiled Chameleon (Eclipse)
0.1.0 Leopard Gecko (Sway)
1.0.0 Ball Python (Mitch)

The big ficus in the Jax enclosure is doing ok...not great, but it's hanging in there. The hibiscus in the Carpet's enclosure is what is hurting. I just looked, and most of it's leaves have fallen off, so now there are just a few sticks. Not a great thing for hiding places now...LOL!

I guess I'm going to have to get another one and swap it out until this one perks up and starts growing some leaves back.

That is just such a pain since I have vines and such intertwined...but I just won't do it that way again.

Thanks!
Kristen
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1.1 pygmy leaf
1.0 carpet
1.0 jackson
0.0.3 red eared sliders

they need nutrition just like any other living thing

Any fertilizer that may have been in the soil when you first bought the plant gets "leached" out by regular watering. Also, plants tend to get "leggy" when they do not get enough light and have to "reach" for it. Typically, any plant (especially house plants) that flowers needs good light and proper fertilizer.

The hibiscus should be one of these two species since they are more adapted to indoor situations: Hibiscus rosa-sinensis or H. schizopetalus. Hibiscus needs a fertilizer with high potash content (what the heck does THAT mean??) It is actually simple. Buy a soluble (one you mix with water) fertilizer (Peter’s is a good brand). There are always 3 numbers on the label: 10-10-10 or 5-7-5, etc. What this means is the ratio of Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium (potash) – in that order. This is an industry standard and ALWAYS is the same. If the plant gets leggy just prune it back to just below a leaf node (where the leaf comes out of the stem) or just above a crotch (“v”) and it will stimulate it to branching out and making a more bushy plant. (Hibiscus, not Ficus)

Is your Ficus a F. benjamina or F. elastica (aka rubber plant)? The benjamina is the one with smaller leaves and they often have “braided” or twined trunks it is also prone to scale insects that congregate under the stringy bark. They also ALWAYS have some leaf drop but will grow back.

The easy all round solution is to get Peter’s with a higher 3rd number OR one with all the same number (20-20-20). Follow the directions.

As for general watering….more plants die due to too MUCH water than not enough. My suggestion is to get a couple good books on indoor plants to add to your cham book library.

Hope this helps!

lele
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0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 green anoles (Jaida, no name)
0.1 brown anole - Jamaica
0.2 house geckos - (still no names)

No...I wasn't sure you could put anything on the plants with the chams in there.

I definitely don't have a green thumb, so I have a tendancy to kill plants.

Think about this...you have to feed and water the food, feed and water the plants and feed the food to the chams. Cham's are alot of work even in just caring for the things that you need in order to care for the cham.

Kristen
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1.1 pygmy leaf
1.0 carpet
1.0 jackson
0.0.3 red eared sliders

I think as long as your cham cant get at the dirt around your plant (have a screen or rocks over it) then its ok to fertilize it.

All it takes is a cupful or so every week maybe every month (follow fertilizer instructions). Just pour some in the plant and you're good to go. Easy!

I just buy my trees from home depot they carry a one year warrenty so I know Im set for a year.

I worry that my chameleon will somehow ingest some of the fertilizer. I mean the labes say in big letters DO NOT INGEST, so why take the chance that you cham will somehow be affected by it.

Do you know of any organic fertilizer that could be used? I mean i can go out to my friends barn and mix in some horse droppings with my ficus's dirt, buy I 'm not sure my mother would like the smell...
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Kaitlyn

0.1.0 Jackson Chameleon (Kokoro)
0.1.0 Veiled Chameleon (Eclipse)
0.1.0 Leopard Gecko (Sway)
1.0.0 Ball Python (Mitch)

I've often had the same question. My strategy nowadays is to buy hardy plants, keep them as watered as they need to be, and just replace them when they die. I've had really bad luck with hibiscus and ficus, so I don't bother with those anymore. I use a lot of ivy (pothos and grape currently) because they hold up really well indoors, can withstand a range of watering schedules, and grow pretty well. Unfortunately, my veiled likes to munch on the pothos leaves, so they wind up getting eaten before they die. Scheflerra has also worked out pretty well for me.

I'm always experimenting with new plants to see how long they'll survive in the enclosure. When I find a plant that's pretty hardy, I keep it. However, I don't expect any of my plants to last more than a few months.

Just a comment about the fertilizer. I have seen the sides of the fertilizer packages and it says "DO NOT INGEST". If your chameleon got a hold of any of this it would be bad. My solution is compost or some other organic fertilizer. Also, if you keep/breed feeder insects(especially silkworms), thier poop as well as their exoskeletons make excellent fertilizer. Just my two cents or whatever the saying is. I had a question that is realated to this and this seems an oppourtune time to ask it. I have a bunch of marbles and I wanted to know if I could use the marbles to cover that dirt in my chameleons plants . I heard some reptiles are attracted to shiney objects, would my chamleon try to eat the marbles? Should I just stick with river stones or mesh? Oh, what about pea gravel? I know it is small and if my chaeleon ingested it, it would mean trouble, but would a chameleon really try to eat a rock? THanks, jrbl

I don't know about marbles, but I wouldn't use gravel, if a cham shoots and misses it might accidentily swallow some gravel and that would be a real big problem. I think the best bet is a screen covering or some nice large (too big to eat) river rocks. Good Luck!

I was just planning on using those fertilizer spikes that you put in the soil and that feeds it for a month or so...that way the fertilizer and cham should never come in contact. does that sound reasonable?