I have dealt with The Fern Factory (do a Google search) with good results. Their new website is just up, and they presently show three different varieties in various sizes available. They also have supplies. They do ship. Let us know how the contest progresses.

I have no idea if they sell them in NC or not, but I saw some on e-bay. Why don't you phone a nursery or two in your area and ask if they carry staghorns.

I guess it can depend on where you live. Here in Arkansas, we have no shortage of water. Being the seventh rainiest the state and all. I've looked at my local water municipality's website, and our water isn't heavily fluoridated or chlorinated. Just the bare minimum that's legally required to treat it, I guess. But I've been using it for years on my staghorn ferns with no harm done to them. Other plants of mine still don't care for our tap water. For them, I use the rainwater that I collect and store throughout the year. Unless they're getting rained on directly, I always spray them down with the hose. That being said, she should still increase air circulation after watering to help dry it out. This should be done for any epiphytes.

It looks like it's drying out too much. Indoors the air is usually pretty dry which means you need to be attentive with watering. That said, if it's kept too wet you can get root rot which shows up the same way as being too dry. When roots start to rot it restricts the plant's ability to take up water.