Plants?

[bushyballs]

Hey guys, I am a relatively new ball python owner, and I am loving my snake. I'm not as hardcore as most of you, currently I have no interest in breeding. I'm more of an aquarist, and noticed so far that most pictures are of the snakes themselves, and not of their homes, for reasons that I understood after having read more of these forums. My one problem is that my cage looks pretty monochromatic and boring. I have aspen bedding with a hiding rock, a water bowl, some climbing vines, and a little ruins statue. I really want some live plant life in the cage to liven it up and bring some other colors. I can provide a picture if needed. I have considered fake vegetation, but that really doesn't appeal to me. I have some questions.

Is it natural for bps to have vegetation in their cage?
What plant species, if any, work well for cage growing? I would really like some vines or something that could grow over the ruins and climbing things.
Does anyone else have planted cages? (pictures would be awesome)

[el8ch]

Welcome to the Site!

I'm not sure I can be of too much help on this one, but I have read threads about live plants in Ball Python setups and from what I hear Ball Pythons can be somewhat destructive. Also you would have to consider a substrate that would sustain plant life. I am familiar with plantation soil being a bedding that is used for natural growth, but I've used it with my first snake and would not really suggest it. Although fakes plants may not be your choice, I believe that if you want a natural looking aquarium setup they would be your best bet... Just my opinion though

I'm sure someone more knowledgeable will post, and correct me if need be. Cheers...

[fr3nchvanilla]

Hey! There's a few threads on here about creating a Living Vivarium for your Balls Here are the links, hope it helps answer your question!

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...ght=live+plant

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...ghlight=plants

[Munizfire]

the snake might strangle weak plants

BUT if i'm visualizing your tank as you want it to be, it would look awesome

[babyknees]

Most of what I've read has suggested NOT using live plants. I've never tried using live plants with any of my animals but they are rather destructive of the fake plants so I can't imagine what would happen to the live ones.

[MasonC2K]

The draw back to live plants in the clean up and maintenance. I am way too lazy.

[bushyballs]

Thanks for the replies guys.

For the concerns about maintenance: I like to do a little maintenance around the cage every once in a while, so I don't mind that at all. If I find a plant that works out, I plan on trimming it and keeping it to a reasonable size and making sure it looks natural, without overtaking the tank.

I was out on some errands, and on a whim purchased an ivy from a local store to try out in the cage. I only bought it because it was really cheap, like 2 or 3 dollars. After perusing the replies on here, and reading up on other terrariums with snakes I learned I had bought Hedera helix (English Ivy or Common Ivy). The list of toxic plants (from one of the links fr3nchvanilla posted) lists this as poisonous to pets, only if ingested though. I'm not really worried about Nagini chewing on any of the leaves, and none of my friends are dumb enough to eat the leaves so this is a minor concern for now. I may try to replace it with a different plant in the future if it even survives and, if I find a suitable alternative.

Below are pictures of the tank before and after placing the ivy in. I haven't really done anything except plop it right in. I like having a pot instead of replacing the actual bottom of the tank with something other than aspen, so I am going to try to integrate it into the tank somehow, with rocks or something.

(I know camera quality is terrible, but these pictures are just to give you guys an idea of what the enclosure looks like)




After doing a little more research, I came up with a couple alternative non poisonous vines I could add. I'm going to see if any of my local stores have these, after I experiment with H. helix.

-Lygodium, or climbing fern
-Hedera algeriensis, or Algerian Ivy

Once again, the ivy I have now probably won't stay, I just want to see for myself what kind of damage Nagini will do to it overnight and over the course of a couple days, and if the lighting conditions and humidity are OK to grow plants. My theory is that the plant vines will be able to latch on to the existing fake vines that are in the tank, and Nagini won't be able to do much damage, but I just have no idea. Nagini is a relatively small snake now, so hopefully if I can get a plant established before she grows a lot it will flourish and be strong enough when she gets bigger. I will keep you guys updated on how my epic plant saga plays out.