Live Plants for my Setup?

I really love the look of planted vivariums and I even have one myself so know when you read the rest of my post. :)

Plants and ball pythons just don't mix well. You can use hardier plants but eventually they will get trampled and ruined, especially if your snake is a busy body and crawls all over the place. My suggestion to you would be to move your ball python to a simple tank or tub setup, and get a really cool display animal to put in a planted tank. That is really the only way the planted viv is worth it in my opinion. My ball pythons are hiding most of the time, so it would be like looking at a tank full of plants.

I feel like if you are going to go through all the trouble to set up a planted viv, you might as well get a nice animal to put in there that will appreciate the plants rather than destroy them. A green tree python, amazon tree boa or a crested gecko would probably do much better in a planted environment.

Agreed, plants and BPs don't generally mix well.

However, a few of my more robust plants in my gecko vivs would likely survive a ball python, and here's a few suggestions:

1) Epiphytes anchored to a background or non-climbing surface

2) Bird nest ferns. I have two that are pretty dang robust, and I think that they'd be a fine viv addition for a ball python.

There are no guarantees that these wouldn't get destroyed by a ball python, but they might make fine accents. The general rule is have few plants, but make sure they are big and robust. I've kept small to medium sized carpet pythons in planted vivs with little to no issues with plant destruction. However, there is a huge difference between a 500g carpet python perched up high and a 500g ball python crawling all over the planted ground.

You might want to contact black jungle terrarium supply and see if they can't offer some specific suggestions.

I don't use any chemical fertilizer in my vivs, that's asking for trouble. I use a fairly nutrient rich soil mixture instead.

That's a forty gallon.

I use a fertilizer stick that is nothing more than Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium. It stabs into the little planter that the plants are rooted in. I then bury the planter in the substrate. I wouldn't use a fertilizer with any additives though.

One day I will get a rack system but for now the tank is what I have and keeping it the way I do is my choice and my preference over a bare tank. While I know a hiding ball is a happy ball the fact is they do come out and I just prefer to give mine a little world to explore. My ball comes out each night and explores for about an hour then goes back to hiding.

I do agree that it really is mostly for me. I have stated in other threads I really enjoy keeping naturalistic tanks and the creative process I get to go through to make little worlds for my snakes. It is more work but I don't mind doing it and the end result makes me happy and I feel provides a nice environment for my snakes.

Dracaena, Pothos, and Ivy are all hardy low-light plants. I had those in a live vivarium I had set up for a baby ball years ago, and they did well. I imagine there are indoor ferns that would also work well.

Dracaena is a great one as it is tough and if anchored will the snake cannot harm it (aka lucky bamboo although it is a grass not a bamboo at all) it is super easy to keep. I would be careful of chemical fertilizers I may actually use something natural in very small amounts if anything at all.

I actually believe a 100% hiding ball python is unhappy. If a snake NEVER comes out of a hide and is almost always hiding it is likely stressed by the enclosure. Always out roaming the same is true. There is a happy medium here the best indicator of stress is feeding a feeding snake is not stressed. If your snake is feeding regularly and consistently it is fine regardless of the activity.

Live plants look GREAT in a terrarium with small lizards or frogs. They'll look nice in a tank with a baby ball python, but as your snake grows you'll eventually end up with a tank full of crushed dead plants. If you want a more 'natural' looking cage I'd go with plastic plants and interesting looking pieces of dried wood (which will be difficult to clean)

I was wondering for a while how live plants would do...and then I moved up to a 40 gal and put in some plastic ones and my guy seems to take extreme joy in either climbing up and popping out of the ivy, or knocking over his fern and lying on it, as if to just say "hehehehehehehe". -_-

While we're on the subject of "naturalistic" enclosures however, I thought I'd point out these guys: http://www.designsbynature.net/ I've been drooling over some of their backgrounds, and they'll cut them to just about any size you want so if you haven't seen them and want a more interesting 3D background check them out.

- Live plants and heavy bodied, ground dwelling snakes don't mix. :D

- Those backgrounds look really cool, true, but I've found that scrapbooking paper makes awesome backgrounds that you can personalize. :D In my homemade cages, I glue the paper to the wood then cover with clear vinyl. Works perfectly and looks great. :)

I am into snake as well, I have 2 of them and as far as I am concerned I don't like putting much plants in their tank because it consumes their place and might harm them. A little will be fine, but don't overdo it