How to add safe live plants to ball python enclosure

[Starscream]

Spines on anything would bother me because I would think they could poke their eyeball on it. Like, I know they essentially have a scale over the eye, but I still just personally wouldn't put anything with spines in the enclosure. Also, aloe will likely start to look awkward without bright outdoor lighting, and will also grow huge and need to either be replaced or have to keep being cut down, or the main plant removed and leaving the "pups," which will also probably make it look awkward.

The soil: if you leave the plants in pots, what I would do is, remove the plant and rinse off ALL of the dirt from its roots. Then replace the soil in the pots with sterilized potting soil (you can microwave or oven the potting soil; get organic, too, I guess, but I still kind of side-eye those little slow-release fertilizer balls). Hardcore option: make your own potting soil; look up a recipe from online based on the type of plant. The soil I use for my more desert-y potted plants is usually different proportions of coconut coir, sand, worm castings, and rocks. For less desert-y plants: a mix of compost, perlite, sand if needed, coconut coir. You could probably do worm castings instead of compost, but should be able to find either. Also, microwave any soil you're about to put in the enclosure.

If you are planting them in the enclosure's substrate instead of pots, use a bioactive mix instead of the above. For fertilizing them within the planted enclosure, I can think of a few natural fertilizers you can make yourself or buy. Worm castings and kelp meal are usually at garden stores. Some plants that like more acidity can be fertilized with coffee grounds. For any of these, I would dig a little hole around the plant and put the fertilizer there, then cover over it with soil. That way, the nutrients will absorb into the roots and not cause a mold hazard on top of the soil. If you are doing bioactive, the soil would just be moderately moist, so you probably wouldn't have to water the plants too often, because it'll be like its own little terrarium. I would choose "houseplant"-y plants that don't need bright outdoor lighting and can tolerate different conditions. I can probably offer more suggestions once I know what the setup will be like, too.

I would add that you want soil that doesn't have manure in it; not only will it take too long to break down and may cause scale problems, but this will attract fungus gnats and other annoying bugs like crazy. Even if you do bake your soil to get rid of nasty critters, fungus gnats will find it, which is why if you want to plant things directly into the enclosure, I would recommend bioactive; that way the clean-up crew (isopods, springtails, worms, etc.) has a better chance to out-compete the gnats before they go too crazy.