Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Can anyone tell me if it is safe to keep a Philodendron plant in with my Cham? Is a philodendron the same as a Pothos? Thanks in advance. I have checked a few safe plant lists but was unable to determine if a philodendron would be safe or not.

You may want to watch out with your chameleon if it is a veiled as philodendrons are reputedly toxic if ingested (although the closely related Monstera deliciosa is reputedly has toxic levels of oxalic acid but that never seemed to faze my Iguanas.) If you are housing one of the non-herbivorous species they are fine. As for the second part of your question, Pothos (eppiprenum Pinnatum-or aureum depending on the source of your taxonomy-)is related to philodendron they are both closely related genera in the Arum family. Philodendrons are basically native to central and south America. The genus Epiprenum is native to south-east Asia, Australia and some of the Pacific islands. Pothos is somewhat edible to herbivorous lizards although it is a little noxious to them so they tend to pick at the new growth and eventually kill it off. This species is consumed by monkey tailed skinks in the solomon islands. BTW you should see how big pothos grows when it is not in a pot. The leaves are the size of shovel-head and they grow on the sides of trees up to 60 ft or so. The same goes for some of the philodendrons although they tend not to get as long.

I have had a philo in my male tamatave's cage for about 6 months now, and it is going strong, has grown alot, you can run the branches thru-out your cage to give them alot of clinmbing,hiding, drinking spot's. i m going to transplant it soon ,and put it outside, i have takin cuttings from it and will have several more philo's soon. Just hope they grow as readily

How can you tell the difference between Philodendron and Pothos? I bought what I thought was a Philodendron a long time ago, but the Pothos I got the other day looks very similar. They are both a lighter green varigated with white.
It'd be great if the Phil really was a Pothos, then I could use it!
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~Mel

mine was labled as a philo. the only differences i've noticed, are the pothos have a white/yellow "striping" in the leaves, where my philo the leaves are solid green.I'll try to get a pic posted of my philo later this evening.

My plant in question has the yellow/white striped leaves. I got it so long ago I don't remember if it had a tag saying Philodendron, or I just thought it was. Does anyone know if Philo have varigated leaves, or just solid?
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~Mel

It can be a bit confusing sometimes but the plant with the variegated leaves is almost definately "pothos" (Epipremnum pinnatum var. aureum) which is sometimes called devil's ivy and mistakenly referred to as heart's leaf philodendron. There is a species of philodendron (philodendron scandens subsp. oxycardium) which is also called the heart's leaf philodendron. This variety of philodendron looks very similar to pothos but the foliage is not variegated and is somewhat translucent. The new growth is reddish brown unlike the yellowish green of pothos. the leaves of both species are shaped the same and are the same size. The confusion comes with nurseries using trade names (if the plants are labeled at all) and not including scientific names although admittedly taxonomy doesen't matter to most people buying houseplants (only geeks like me and usually I can identify most of the plants I see although sometimes I would love to see just the genus name on the label so I can research the plant at home.) As i said unless you are keeping the plants with veileds who might eat them you are safe with either species. Btw if you think the labeling with pothos and philos is bad, try succulents sometime. If you don't know what it is lots of luck because the never label them and those can get really confusing due to similar apperances.

Am I correct in saying that if you own a Veiled to avoid the Philadendron? Pothos = Good for Veileds and Philadendron would be acceptable for say a Panther Chameleon? Thanks again! I own a Veiled and he has a Pothos but I was just curious about the Philadendron. Thanks a million!!!

You are right on, from all literature I have ever seen on the subject all parts of phillodendrons are toxic, therefore I would avoid keeping it with your veileds if you are worried about them eating it. Pothos should be fine as I my Iguanas used to eat it no problem and it is in fact a natural food for prehensile tailed skinks in their native habitat. there is the possibility that veileds may not eat the phillodendrons at all,find it distasteful, or that it may not affect them at all if they do eat it,but it is probably better to err on the side of safety.