
Ideally, you should place about 3-4 types of plants in the chameleon cage, each of them server their own purpose. However, even you know the best plants for chameleons, they also can cause you some confusion when you just want to put together a chameleon cage.
This post is my advice about what plant I use in my chameleon cages and also where to place them in the cage to get the best effect.
#1 Center plant
At first, you take an appropriately sized plant and put it in the middle of your cage. Using a center plant is the simplest way to get foliage in your chameleon cage. It creates the tropical appearance for the cage and also make the good cover for your chameleons.
There are some plants that you can use as center plants are: Ficus trees, Schefflera, Pachira aquatic, Radermachera sinica.
#2 Trailing plants
Trailing plants are what should be placed to the sides of the cage and allowed to trail downward. They should not be lack in any chameleon’s cage setup as they will create hiding places and there are plenty of drinking surfaces.
I would like to recommend use trailing on the sides of the cage. This is because if you hang them from the top, the pot may take up a lot of of space that could be used for perching branches and creating gradients.
Some types of trailing plants are Epipremnum aureum, Chlorophytum comosum, Cissus, Nepenthes, etc.
#3 Wall cover
If your purpose is creating a little tropical environment in the tank and mimic the natural habitat for your pets, then wall cover plants is the best way to do it. These plants help maintain the humidity, good aesthetics and also break up the artificial cage barriers. You can use any type of the center plants in miniature, placing them in small pots along the inside of the cage and allow them to grow up along the wall.
Schefflera, Pachira, Nephrolepis exaltata, Ficus pumila are ideal for this.
#4 Accent plants
Actually, these plants are not really necessary for chameleon. They simply help with the ambiance and for your enjoyment. The aesthetic is up to your taste but these are some common type of them such as the bright colors of a bromeliad, the attractive pattern of a polka-dot plant, or the bizarreness of a carnivorous plant.