Plants to avoid in your vivarium

[Rainfrog]

Sorry, it is hard to pick up sarcasm in type

[Groundhog]

Look, I read about half way down and went near apoplectic...

For I am the mighty groundhog, terrarium horticulturist extraordinaire

(I also tease alot

Seriously:

1) Personally, I would not put any nice plant in a tank with herbivores, other than their recommended food;

2) Asclepiads: Are fine. Hoyas and Dischidias can rot if overwatered, but are not dangerous--sheesh...

3) Aroids: Are fine. If you must plant with omnivore/herbivores, then stay bioopical. In other words, philodendrons, anthuriums with iguanids (new world), Epipremnum with Corucias (old world)...

(Seriously----I humbly believe only a %^$&* fool plants valuable plant material with vegetarians...)

4) Why biotopical? Because organisms evolve in tandem. This is why one cannot expose bearded dragons to English ivy--it will kill them. Conversely, it is why iguanas laugh at Dieffenbachia, or why rabbits and deer can eat poison ivy...

5) Euphorbiaceae: Are--you guessed it--fine. They are in fact highly recommended for setups with east or south African lizards (e.g., agamines, skinks, cordylids).

*And poinsettias, btw, can't do s_____ to new world herbivores...

**if you are worried about Uromastyx, read a %#^&*@ Uro book. Again, why the $%#^@ would ANYONE plant valuable plants with Uromastyx?!?

6) Virtually all Acanths, Begonias, Gesneriaceae, Moraceae (Ficus), Urticaceae (Pileas), bromeliads, gingers, marantas and orchids---ARE FINE!!!! (This means no dumbass questions about bromeliads with spines on their leaves...okay, do not use genus Bromelia)

7) Which brings us to cacti: Here, I do concede that there can be mechanical damage from spines in relatively small spaces. But the real reason we do not recommend cacti for desert setups is because we usually cannot provide the blazing high light. For "American" setups, small agave- types, sedum, sempervivum and Yucca-type plants are usually easier.

Hope this helps.

G

[mrollings]

Out of curiosity...I've read conflicting reports on philodendron with chameleons. Mine will eat plants - are they or are they NOT poisonous?

[mrollings]

Hi Groundhog; you seem to know a heck of a lot more than me...about both plants and reptiles. I've got two veileds and would like to put them in a vivarium - any plant suggestions?

[Groundhog]

Greetings,

I knew you meant Veileds; don't know any other chameleons that eat plants...

While I have heard they will eat pothos, I personally would avoid neotropical aroids.

How about some Ficus benjamina, some Ficus pumila and maybe a small Coffee plant? They can nibble on any of these.

Hope this helps.

G

[Groundhog]

Allow me to clarify something. The term "poisonous" is essentially a solipsism--it is like asking if something "good" or "pretty." Several plants store toxins or tannins in some of their parts. We eat potato tubers, but the leaves are posonous to humans. Now, is poison ivy poisonous? Well, yes--and no. It is poisonous to humans, but not to deer or rabbits.

Are red efts poisonous? Not to chickens. To get to the point here: it makes little sense to ask if a plant is poisonous to "pets" or even "herps." What plant and what herp? As mentioned above, Dieffenbachia is less posonous to iguanas--a neotropical vegetarian--than it is to toddlers. English ivy feeds deer, but will kill bearded dragons. Did you know that bearded dragons cannot eat fireflies?

I know that some veiled chameleons eat pothos (Epipremnum aureum), an Australasian aroid. But to play it safe, I would not use Asian or neotropical aroids with an Afrotropical animal. Leave the pothos for Corucias. Leave the philodendron for new world frogs. Use small trees and fast-growing vines for your veileds.

[mrollings]

Thanks be to the mighty "G"...just kidding. And yes, it does help.

[mrollings]

One more question....what would you recommend as soil or substrate? The general consensus seems to be to not use common potting soil (I get that), but when they recommend to fertilize every 4-6 months, they don't specify what KIND of fertilizer. Should I be looking for specific ingredients to mix my own soil, and therefore also make my own fertilizer?! I ask specifically because my veileds would probably nibble on the leaves (as you already know) but also when my female goes to clutch she may ignore the dish of sand I leave for her and choose to lay the clutch at the roots of the plants instead - and if there are any harmful ingredients in the soil this could be bad for both her and the eggs. It seems the more I ask the less I know...

[Athen]

to answer the question about fertilizing my knowledge of plants is pretty slim especially as compared to groundhog but i do know that plants live off of the nitrates in the soil and with my Vivarium set up i have it to run as a independant ecosystem and in my pond section of my WD tank i have fish who release waste into the water and as this waste breaks down it forms nitrates in the water and my water is circulated around my tank in such a way that my pump/ filter is buried in the gravel on the land side of my tank and as it leeches up to my substrate which is coco husk ( which i have found grows plants quite well i dumped some in my back yard after cleaning out my balls tank and found some grass i had planted about a month ago finally decided to grow in that section after a few days) the water carries with it the nitrates that were released by the fish... i hope this helped a bit and if anyone sees any flaws or knows more about this subject than me please let me know if i am incorrect

[Groundhog]

Athen:

I may know something about botany and ecology, but you are right on time about aquarium water chemistry All I would add is:

1) Do not uproot whole sections of plants--this can cause an ammonia surge. If something gets too big, just trim it back.

2) Do not overload on animals, and a well-planted tank can do a lot of biological filtration.

On this subject, I highly recommend Des Vosoli's Popular Amphibians

Hope this helps,

G