what's a good desert plant that can live with a B.Smithi?

[neubii18]

i just got a beautiful brachypelma smithi female,and i want to put a couple plants in her eclosure.i've never worked with "desert" planted vivaria,so i'm only familiar with pothos.would aloe vera be compatiple?what are some desert plants that are readily available and could survive in a smithi's enclosure?thanks!

P.S. i know that there are some threads on plants for enlosures,but i couldn't find any info on drier plants.

 

[Jaymz Bedell]

unfortunately most arid dwelling plants are adapted for very high light. some might squeak by in moderate lighting, but in general they prefer high light. B. smithi aren't native to deserts. the link below has some EXCELLENT habitat AND spider pics. it should give you an idea of their habitat. however recreating their habitat in captivity is a whole different ball game, that would require a lot of research and careful planning. enjoy the pics, the B. smithi pics start around half way down. found with google in about 2 minutes, but there were a few pics to weed through.

http://www.bluechameleon.org/2006%20Sept%20-%20Mexico.htm

 

[neubii18]

i am aware that they are not from the desert,but they are kept rather dry in captivity,so i am looking for plants that don't need to be watered a lot and are drought resistant,but still don't need a lot of light to survive.any ideas?

P.S.thanks for that link.that was fun to read!

 

[killy]

Any Mexico-indigenous cactus or succulent made outta silk or plastic.

 

[Sleazoid]

http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=170696&highlight=desert+plants

Only thing I could find.

 

[Jaymz Bedell]

Light will determine what you can and cannot grow. typically captive settings are low to moderate light situations. a lot of plants can tolerate much drier situations. keeping the plant in a pot sunk into the substrate will help to prevent over watering the whole enclosure. as for plant selections...everyone LOVES black jungle terrarium supply, and rightfully so. even I love black jungle. but for a plant selection that will make your eyes go buggy...glasshouseworks.com. they group their enormous plant selection into tropical/cacti and succulents/trees and shrubs, all listed alphabetically, and then subsections like terrariums/wardian cases, the black garden and so on. they even carry a few orchid selections. their plant listings are extensive. and once you find a plant there researching it shouldn't be difficult.

one plant I would recommend that tolerates drier conditions as well as very low light...Sansevieria trifasciata hanni. snake plants/mother in law tongue plants. low light, handles drier conditions, super easy to grow. and the various hanni cultivars stay small, with a couple of exceptions. other forms of Sansevieria trifasciata can get pretty large and probably would do better in larger vivariums. there are a few other species of Sansevieria that stay in the small to medium range, but they're not as easy to find and typically cost more. I'm actually planning to use a decent amount of the most common hanni cultivars in an upcoming Heterothele villosella vivarium I'll be working on soon.

and then there are the more realistic silk plants. no watering, just take them out now and then and give them a good rinse, let em dry, and then put em back in. you can get multiple sets and just swap them out, clean the old set let it dry and rotate it in next time you need to clean. no light concerns, no worries about watering, and some actually look fairly real.

good luck with your quest, you've got a ton of options, check out glass house works. I'm certain that at the very least it will give you some inspiration and ideas.