Trans-pecos eating insects?

I guess I haven't posted an update in a long time. The plant, so far, doing the best is a brittlebush. As a bonus, it sheds old leaves as it makes more "branches," and the leaves are nice and crumbly and I can just mix them into the substrate. There are a few other grassy-looking plants that make these little flowers, and I haven't yet figured out what they are (I bought a few mixed desert seed packets). And I have two creosote seedlings in there too. The beetles are doing fine and eat mostly vegetable scraps from my own dinners, but I have given them dead bugs I find around the house, which they also devour.

The substrate seems to be settling a little on the side I keep watering, so I think I will need to make some more soil mix and add it. Again, adding an olla for my watering needs will probably help this, too.

Oh and, about deciding between gopher snakes and trans-pecos; I have decided I'll go with a TPRS. I got to hold one at an expo and it was perfect, lol, too bad I was too responsible and stuff to not impulse buy it; it was a lovely light blonde one. Hopefully I can find a similar looking one when the time comes.

Can you post a picture of your setup please?

Keep in mind that silicone aquarium sealant can take a long time to dry, especially when put on thickly, as you might to secure rocks. It dries from the outside of the bead, leaving the inside moist & off-gassing for a week or longer. It's irritating & pungent until it's completely dry, so personally I'd plan to let it dry for a few weeks. ;)

Sounds like you're really doing your homework & I suspect you'll have a wonderful habitat when you're finally done. You have some great ideas & apparently the creativity to also succeed. :gj:

I lived a long time in the desert, & I can appreciate how frustrating it can be to grow some of the native plants. I never tried to grow creosote but I struggled to duplicate my large & magnificent bladderpod shrubs- they flowered a long time & kept bees & hummingbirds happy.

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Originally Posted by TofuTofuTofu

Oh and, about deciding between gopher snakes and trans-pecos; I have decided I'll go with a TPRS. I got to hold one at an expo and it was perfect, lol, too bad I was too responsible and stuff to not impulse buy it; it was a lovely light blonde one. Hopefully I can find a similar looking one when the time comes.

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I'm not at all surprised...TPRS are such gentle souls. Your self-control is admirable. :cool:

Oh boy, I hope these pictures work.

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...4/img_2250.jpg

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...4/img_2251.jpg

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...4/img_2252.jpg


The cage is 4' x 18" x 18" Carolina Custom Cages. The largest plant in there is a brittlebush. I'm unsure what the grassy things are as of yet. The few smaller ones are two creosote seedlings.

I spread the seeds on Halloween of last year, and many things sprouted in about a week. The brittlebush did the best in that corner and sort of took over. The other plants that sprouted either didn't do well in this environment, or I didn't water enough for them, or the lights were too bright or not bright enough, etc? I wanted a variety of seeds for this very reason, though, and will continue to see what tolerates this environment and my plant skills the best.

In terms of decor, I probably want to add another piece of driftwood as more of a climbing surface, but wanted to wait till the plants chose places to sprout and established themselves.

Wow, I'm so impressed! :bow: That looks fantastic. I think your future snake will be very fortunate.

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

Wow, I'm so impressed! :bow: That looks fantastic. I think your future snake will be very fortunate.

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Thank you! Once I get my snake (or maybe before, if I have an update on the setup) I will probably just make a thread dedicated to it, so other people can see how I made it and what materials I used, just for posterity's sake. I haven't seen a bioactive arid setup with native plants for a snake before, so I will likely have some experiences to learn from and share as well.