# Are these plants poisonous to my arthropods?



## Simandoalover (Dec 11, 2019)

I am putting different plants into terrariums with cockroaches, millipedes and a blue death feigning beetle and I was wondering if any of the following plants are poisonous to them

Pepperomia
Cyclamen
Hedera ivy

Adiantum
Cypress
Begonia.
3 that I couldn’t identify (seen in the pictures below)


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## Vanisher (Dec 12, 2019)

I have not heard of any plants that are poisonous to arthropods, UNLESS the arthropod is a planteater. But they usally avoid eating poisonous plants. And furthermoore, whats poisonous for us is not always poisonous for them. Keeping plants alive in terrarium is the main problem here. If it is tank with lots of lighting it will work though


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## Simandoalover (Dec 12, 2019)

Ok thanks. I have plenty of light throughout the day in the terrariums and have kept plants alive in them before, but I have already planned what will go where depending on the amount of light the terrariums get.


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## The Snark (Dec 12, 2019)

Nice selection. I think the first unidentified, multiple stems, is in the Dracena genus. The second, pink variegated, and the foofy leafed on the right in the 4th photo look like they are begonias.
You might want to rethink the ivy. It's going to be heading for the sunlight at up to a half inch a day.


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## Simandoalover (Dec 12, 2019)

Thanks so much, I think your right about the plants they look very similar to the ones you said. Also thanks for the warning about the ivy.


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## The Snark (Dec 12, 2019)

@Simandoalover Check out what they do with the Dracaena Braunii I think you have: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/401946335485466009/
AKA Lucky plant, Quan Yin plant.
Yours appears to be in the immature state. They will start developing bamboo like properties of nodes and culms as they mature. They aren't true bamboo but in the Asparagus family. Under ideal conditions they can be pseudo bonsai-ed very rapidly. I've heard them called Bonsai on steroids.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Feral (Jan 5, 2020)

I think the first pic is a "parlor palm"/Chamaedorea elegans. They can work well if your enclosure has a enough height and has some decent light. (In fact, all these plants need decent light.) Is the second pic a "polka dot plant"/Hypoestes phyllostachya? Think so. If so, vivariums/vertebrate people use these commonly, too. The third one... I have no clue!

For vertebrate enclosures, ivy/Herdera is usually avoided because it can be both toxic to eat and be topically irritating. I am unsure how inverts would react to topical exposure. I considered using it in one of my invert enclosures, but since I wasn't 100% sure of its safety for inverts, I ultimately decided 'better safe than sorry' and avoided it.

Personally, I wouldn't use cypress because of both the danger of the plant's irritating oils and because it is way too big for an enclosure.

Cyclamen can be tricky with parameters and also have that pesky dormancy thing. Plus, cyclamen can be irritating to vertebrates. Though I don't know how inverts would react, I personally would pass on that one.

So... The adiantum/maiden hair fern (check size on this plant), begonia (if it's a Rex), peperomia sp., parlor palm, and polka dot plant are all commonly used with vertebrates and can do well in vivariums with proper conditions. So with a creature that doesn't eat plants like a tarantula, I would personally consider them safe as long as they were otherwise clean (i.e. free of insecticides and harmful fertilizers and pests, etc.). But I would, personally, nix the Ivy/Herdera, the cypress, and the cyclamen. And I can't comment on the last mystery plant/third photo. My two cents, HTH! Good luck and have fun! (And keep us updated with pix!) So great, building enclosures is always so exciting! Yay for you!


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## AuroraLights (Jan 27, 2020)

I have had a Hypoestes in my millipede vivarium for more than a month now and everything seems okay. I think one of the millipedes nibbled the end of a wilted leaf but they haven't touched any of the living ones.


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## Dorifto (Feb 1, 2020)

I never had any problem with the hedera helix and the chamaedorea elegans. Both are very easy to keep.


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