would it be ok

ever since i got mitch ( my bp) 5 months ago i always wanted to make his tank as natural looking as possible. anyway i came with an idea of putting live grass in his tank. like you know those grass patch thing you can get at home depot for you lawn i was thinking of buying one the size of his tank. the tank he is in now is a 40 gallon breeder ( hopefully i dont need to get a bigger one) with forest bedding substrate 2 peices of wood from my yard ( been disinfected), some fake plants a hide on each side a bowl and a UTH.

so would it be ok to put grass in his tank?

What type of grass? Are you prepared to deal with possible bugs that may be transfered into the enclosure?

I will see if I can find a list of approved greenery for reptile enclosures(some can be poisonous, put of deadly fumes,etc).....and I would definately pick up a can of Provent-a-mite before putting anything that may transmit bugs into the enclosure

i didnt know grass can be poisonous. i was also thinking about the prevent o mite thing but i dont know where to get it. do you know ? thanks for looking. i going to do a search also. thanks

I think even if you discover/decide that it's perfectly safe to put grass in there, it's not likely that the grass will survive being trampled by the snake every night. (Although while the snake is young, it might not be quite so destructive toward live plants as a fully grown bp can be.) Also, in such an enclosed environment, I think you'd find it challenging to strike a balance between keeping the grass "watered" and having it be too wet for your snake to lay on.


For a natural looking enclosure, I would stick with a substrate that looks like soil, such as the compressed, shredded coconut husk. That stuff looks just like dirt, but it's not "dirty" at all. And it holds moisture nicely without getting sopping wet. Then a few fake plants and/or a branch or two...a decorative "wallpaper" background taped to the backside of the cage....and voila! you've got yourself a forest/jungle dwelling bp! :P :D

Provent-a-mite: http://www.pro-products.com/miteandtemp.html

If you want to 'dress up' your enclosure....why not get some artificial plants?...alot less worries and hassle ;)

thanks JLC. i see your point i keep forgetting he wont be this size forever. his tank is peety good looking as it is so maybe i will add a nice back ground and call it a day.

Daniel. i got a couple in his tank now. that he likes to hide un der sometimes. im just going to add a back ground in stead to avoid all the stress and worries i will cause.

To spruce up the viv for our enjoyment, we added some silk plants behind our viv -- bought several silk plants from a craft store and mixed an arrangement stuck into florist foam, which sits behind the glass.

Inside are two plants from the reptile store; Cleo sometimes hangs out on the one on the right like a confused tree python. :P

http://www.onlinethingy.com/files/cleoweb/cage2.jpg

Remember all the extra stuff you put in has to be disinfected, and I have no idea how you would disinfect grass. ;) :D

Cassandra do you have more pics of Cleo's viv? I have the same tank and I'm always looking for new ideas. I also have that same water bowl. The thing is huge and takes up the whole middle of the cage but it works pretty well in keeping up humidity.

I actually found some really nice "really real" looking squares of fake grass at my local Michaels store, which is an arts and crafts store. They have a TON of plastic and fake plants, flowers, ivy, grass, you name it to "dress-up" a snakes cage, without worrying about real stuff. i go there all the time to get stuff for my snakes, and last time I got lucky because they were having a sale on all plastic greenery!

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Originally Posted by Damian7

Cassandra do you have more pics of Cleo's viv? I have the same tank and I'm always looking for new ideas. I also have that same water bowl. The thing is huge and takes up the whole middle of the cage but it works pretty well in keeping up humidity.

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Sure...other pictures are in this thread. =)

We've modified it a bit since we took these pictures. We have since replaced the half log hide with another identical rock hide and add a t-stat to the cool side UTH. We also have hooked up a day light and moon/night light to a timer for 12 hour cycles.

thanks cassandra for the pics. how big is that tank you keep you bp in? it looks like the same size as my 40 gal breeder tank.

It's a 20 Gal long.

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Originally Posted by cassandra

Cleo sometimes hangs out on the one on the right like a confused tree python.

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Nothing confusing there. Its pretty normal behavior for a baby snake ;)