Great Plants for Tropical Terrariums

[JohnEDove]

Family Araceae, Genus Dieffenbachia. Also known as dumb cane due to the fact that a small amount of the sap from these plants causes a swelling of the vocal cords rendering one unable to speak. Large doses will cause swelling of the throat cutting off the airway leading to death.
Not a plant I would choose for a terrarium less than about 5 feet tall since these are large growing plants.

[froggsong]

It does NOT look like my dieffenbachia, but it could be another type. Mine is just like the ones at Home Depot that grow at least 4 feet, but mine is only about... 15 inches? somewhere around there. I prune it every couple of weeks, cut off the top, makes it bushy. I'll take a pic of my plants and post so you can compare. It might be an hour or so though, I'm supposed to be cooking dinner.

[JohnEDove]

I think there are 3 species of Genus Dieffenbachia.

[froggsong]

I took some pictures last night, I'll upload them as son as I can. Have to do pet store rounds this evening.

[smaug]

Thanks alot for the info.I looked them up quite a bit last night and I dontthink mine is a Dieffenbachia.ill check out your pics when you post them,thanks again.

[froggsong]

Ok, here are pics of my plant. It is a little trampled, and a little scorched in a few places, but it doesn't really hurt it much... Seems it will grow through anything...

Here is one of the larger offshoots, it needs to have the ends of the leaves trimmed off where they are scorched:




Here is the same one above and you can also see the smaller babies:


This is the original plant that I have had for like 4 years (something like that, it was in my first terrarium) and my CWD Rikutu:




Here is a good shot of what the darker leaves look like:


When I bought this plant, it was called a prayer plant, when I got my dragon and was looking for different plants I could put in his cage that weren't toxic, I found out that this was dieffenbachia, based on my internet research. Now I only ever see this plant sold as dieffenbachia in the stores (Home Depot, Lowes, the local greenhouse). I was planning on removing the plant from the enclosure because it is toxic, but it is only if the sap is ingested and my dragon doesn't chew on it, so I haven't taken it out. It may not be a good plant for a plant eating reptile, but for frogs and reptiles that don't eat plants I think it is a great plant. As you can see, although mine is always reaching for the top of the enclosure, it is easy to keep it small with minimal effort. It is also very hardy, and you can even cut off portions of leaves and the leaves will still grow. Cutting off the top makes it bush out instead of growing tall. This plant is also able to hold my large banana frog on one leaf. One plant will also make many many plants if you separate it once every few months. Hope I was helpful!

[smaug]

Thx for the pics,They look very healthy ,,and big!I can make up my mind if thats what I have or not.

[froggsong]

Glad to help.