The UV will not harm your plants. I would get the tougher plants like pothos, Chinese Evergreen, maybe a baby palm, a tough ivy, ficus, etc. for a snake vivarium. Rinse off the roots, and also turn them upside down in some hot (110 degree) soapy water and wash the leaves free from pesticide residue, mites or other insects. Rinse them in warm water, then plant. For sanitizing wood to get rid of ants and undesirable insects, boiling for about 20 minutes will do the job better than anything.



You are unlikely to get any parasites from collected or purchased plants that will affect your snake, particularly if the snake is not native to your area. Parasites in general are relatively specific, so if your snake is not exposed to other snakes and is already free of skin parasites, it won't get them from the plants. Internal parasites won't be a problem from the plants or substrate. Your snake would have to ingest them, even if some stage of them were present on the plants, which is doubtful. Most require an intermediate host that the snake feeds upon.



You are unlikely to get much algae, since unlike our dart vivariums, which are usually closed completely without much ventilation to keep up the 80 to 100% humidity, you will have more ventilation. The algae won't harm your moss, and will be harmless if it does occur. I wipe it off the glass of my vivariums all the time for the sake of esthetics, but I doubt you will have this problem with a snake set up. I use straight white vinegar for cleaning the glass. The fumes are not toxic, but you can blow them off with a fan while you're doing it, because they do seem strong. Vinegar is a great sanitizer-doderizer and gets rid of calcium deposits from water splashes better than anything.



Please do post some pictures. I've always wondered why nearly all reptile cages have plastic plants and lack interesting features, especially those reptiles that don't burrow or tend to squash plants.



-----
Patty

Pahsimeroi, Idaho



4 D. auratus blue

5 D. galactonotus pumpkin orange splash back

5 D. imitator

6 D. leucomelas

4 D. pumilio Bastimentos

4 D. fantasticus

4 P. terribilis

4 D. reticulatus

4 D. castaneoticus

2 D. azureus

4 P vittatus

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