Live plants in the terrarium

galeogirl

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Not to worry, Botar, this is Oregon, we have medical marijuana laws here. So long as you've got the little card, you're free to grow hemp in your vivaria, your backyard, your living room, etc.
 

Arachniphile

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lol.. No worries... Out of your jurisdiction... I checked... ;)


To stay on topic... Silks are best.. no chance for infestations, poisonings, or other catastrophies....
 

Botar

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Would that be silks over plastics as well, or are you grouping the two together?

Botar
 

Arachniphile

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Depends on the look you want I guess at that point. Plastics are ok I would think as long as they don't have a pungnant smell to em. If you can smell strong plastic smell then I would pass. Would prolly condense in the enclosure... Other than that I don't think the spider will really care....
 

Vys

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Ack, plastics :) 'S like having a plastic christmas tree, in my mind


EDIt: although, I can surely see how it is very practical indeed if you have plenty of enclosures
 

Wade

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I suspect most of the time the pests from live plants are coming in with the soil, even if you rinse it off, little bits remain. Fortunately, however, many plants can be propogated from cuttings, and grown in just plain water. Pothos vine is a fine example of this, snip a length of it from an existing plant and stick it in a bottle of water and it will put out roots and grow quite well. Then, it can be either transplanted into the terrearium, or the water bottle could be burried in the soil. I THINK pothos is a variety of philedendron???

Disclaimer: I don't use any plants in my T cages at the present time, although I use them extensively in many reptile enclosures.

Wade
 

Ultimate Instar

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Black Jungle is very popular among the poison dart frog groups, but they can be a little pricey.

There are a few problems with live plants:

1) You do need to provide adequate light. I've had a helluva time trying to keep moss alive but I have a brown thumb.

2) You have to worry about overheating the cage with lights. The froggers recommend using compact fluorescent lights. The ballast section can be put far away from the tank so the heat is minimized. I really haven't compared prices, but you can get compact fluorescents from http://www.ahsupply.com.

3) Watch out for bugs in the plants. I got an obnoxious slug infestation. I even got a dragonfly which is a pretty tough predator. I think it took out a frog. I did NOT have a bug problem from Black Jungle's plants; the local nurseries are another story.

You might want to check out the Black Jungle website, http://www.blackjungle.com. They have some nice examples of display cages as well as a lot of info on setting up vivaria and how to take care of plants.

Karen N.
 

schlinkey

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mebbe i'll just see what happens with the moss..if it dies, ill toss it out then buy some philodendron.. saw peperomia, but it was quite the large plant :)
 
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Vys

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Ah..slug, infestion? A Dragonfly?? That sounds just..out of this world :D

Anyway, pothos vines aren't true philodendrons, but they are as you say hardy and very good for shady T-enclosures !
 

schlinkey

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Ok i bought a philodendron and a peperomia plant today :) hope they'll grow big n' beautiful in my enclousures :)
 

LaRiz

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my thoughts...

Originally posted by Gail
I don't want to rain on the parade here but ever since I had an avic enclosure become infested with white nematode worms because the pothos I planted in there apparently had them in it's roots, I use only silk plants. The t's really don't seem to mind - they always look good and I don't have to worry about providing any light for them. Hummm... maybe I'm just too lazy to take care of live plants and the t's too :D

Gail
Gail and Botar,
I always use Pothos myself. Two different species. There really is no maintenance as Pothos are tough. Having problems with stowaways in the roots? Don't use the roots. Just cut off a section of a vine and put it in there. Roots will spring into action, usually from the bottom of the leaf, and root into the substrate. If they die, which would be unusual, just take them out.
I'm a potho freak when it comes to tarantula enclosures. Maybe I think, air quality is improved (?), nothing to base that on though.
john
 
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