Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just moved my Cal king into a 75 gallon tank, and I need ideas! The tank is a glass aquarium with a screen top. I know that a lot of people who use screen tops have problems with humidity, and so I plan to use some live plants (in addition to a large water dish). I have a...black thumb, so I have to use plants that are pretty hardy. I was thinking of using a common type of ivy (i.e. English ivy), but does anyone have any ideas as to what other plants I could use? For the sake of simplicity, I'll be leaving whatever plant I use in a pot. Is potting soil (enriched with MiracleGro) toxic? If so, what should I use instead?

Here's a picture of the setup as it is. I'm using aspen as a substrate. I'll add more furniture soon, but I wanted to ask around and get some opinions as to what I could do to enrich the environment

"I just moved my Cal king into a 75 gallon tank, and I need ideas! The tank is a glass aquarium with a screen top. I know that a lot of people who use screen tops have problems with humidity, and so I plan to use some live plants (in addition to a large water dish). I have a...black thumb, so I have to use plants that are pretty hardy. I was thinking of using a common type of ivy (i.e. English ivy), but does anyone have any ideas as to what other plants I could use? For the sake of simplicity, I'll be leaving whatever plant I use in a pot. Is potting soil (enriched with MiracleGro) toxic? If so, what should I use instead?

Here's a picture of the setup as it is. I'm using aspen as a substrate. I'll add more furniture soon, but I wanted to ask around and get some opinions as to what I could do to enrich the environment"

Okay, for starters, I wouldn't recommend using English Ivy. Even though snakes aren't herbivores, it is a poisonous plant and I wouldn't suggest it for a terrarium. You could use Algerian Ivy or Pothos very easily, with the same effect. Pothos is an extremely hardy plant... I haven't managed to kill off my mother's pothos houseplants in the two years I've neglected them. ^_^

Miracle gro potting soil is mainly not suggested for amphibians, but I don't think it fares well in a glass terrarium either. I bought some of the Miracle Gro Organic Soil from Walmart (pretty cheap too) which consists of peat moss, sphagnum moss, leaf mulch, and natural fertilizers. I mixed it in as a substrate in my tank with coconut husks, more peat moss and sphagnum mixture, and orchid bark, but you could use it in your pots. Pothos will grow very well in just a container of water, so if your water dish is big enough, you could just root a clipping or two of it right in the water. I also have two types of Dracaena in the back of my tank. He likes climbing those. I've arranged some "frog moss" around the tank (pretty sure it's just regular sphagnum) to keep moisture in certain spots, like over the heater where my pothos might dry out. I've got a drainage layer of rocks in the bottom, but that's because my entire tank is my "flowerpot."

What type of hides do you have for him? You could also secure moss to the tops of the hides if they're wood. Moss definitely helps keep the humidity up.

I've really studied up on creating natural terrariums. ^_^ I think I have as much fun doing that as I have watching and spending time with my herps.

Pictures of everything, including a couple of his burrowing holes. He loves having this much substrate. ^_^

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Holly

0.1 Lavender California Kingsnake (Lizzie Borden) (missing )
1.0 Florida Kingsnake possible mix (Eddie Gein)
1.0 Bearded Dragon (Charley Manson)
1.0 Orange Marmalade Cat (Oliver)
1.0 Egyptian Arabian (Bagan)

2.0 Toddlers (Justice & Trevor)

Right now I have a half log hide on one end and an artificial rock cave at the other end. The whole thing is still kind of bare as I haven't purchased the rest of the furniture. The aspen is deep enough for him to burrow in so that he isn't stressed by being exposed.

I have some English ivy that I rooted, so that's why I asked about that. As far as the moss you used in your setups - is that the kind you can buy at Petsmart?

For heat, I'm debating on using either a heat lamp w/ a 75 watt bulb or a heat pad. I'm leaning more towards the lamp because I can't lift the tank (in the event of a problem with a UTH), and it's easier for me to use the lamp.

Holly, do you happen to know the full scientific (genus and species) and common names of the plants you use? If not, can you point me in the direction of an "approved" list of terrarium plants?

Thanks for all of the help.

Orocosos

I could list all the poisonous plants and the recommended plants if you want, but the main book I use was purchased at Petsmart. Natural Terrariums by Philip Purser. He's got a list of all poisonous plants, all plants that are terrarium safe, and suggestions on how to make an awesome setup.

Yes, the moss is the "frog moss" from Petsmart. I bought it initially when I rescued a gecko from where I work and brought him home to make sure he was healthy before letting him loose in my yard. It stays green in the tank though, unlike many other types of moss I've tried that turned yellow, no matter how often I sprayed it with water.

The UTH's are definitely recommended for kingsnakes, since they need belly heat more than ambient heat. I do have a couple of UV lights above the terrarium, but since he stays burrowed all day, whether they're on or not, I only have one of them set to come on for a couple of hours per day, otherwise I've noticed that too much of the concentrated UV light will burn the plants. My UTH I bought at Petsmart sticks to the bottom of the terrarium and came with little rubber "feet" to put on the corners of the tank so that it has air underneath. I've got it on a thermostat so it doesn't get too hot and it has worked out just fine. I check it constantly to make sure the heat is just right.

The specific plants I've used are:

Scindapsus Aureus "Devil's Ivy" or "Pothos"
Philodendron Scandeus "Heartleaf Philodendron"
Dracaena "Dracaena Combo"
Dracaena deremensis "Pineapple Dracaena"

The pothos was taken from clippings of my mother's houseplants (but pothos is available at all kinds of stores), the middle plants were purchased at Lowe's, and the last one was bought at Winn Dixie. I washed off the plants thoroughly before adding them, to make certain they didn't have any insecticides or critters on them, and I washed all the original potting soil off the roots, before planting them in my terrarium.
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Holly

0.1 Lavender California Kingsnake (Lizzie Borden) (missing )
1.0 Florida Kingsnake possible mix (Eddie Gein)
1.0 Bearded Dragon (Charley Manson)
1.0 Orange Marmalade Cat (Oliver)
1.0 Egyptian Arabian (Bagan)

2.0 Toddlers (Justice & Trevor)

Humidity is a bigger problem for ball pythons etc. then it is for cal kings.

That being said - when I kept my Okeetee in a tank w/ screen lid, he did have some bad sheds - putting newspaper over the screen seemed to resolved that.
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x.y L. getula californiae (Cal. King)
x.y L. getula nigrita (MBK)
x.y L. getula floridana (Brooksi)
x.y Pantherophis guttatus guttatus (Corn)
0.1 Pituophis catenifer catenifer (Pacific gopher)
0.1 Heterodon nasicus (W Hognose)
x.y.z Elgaria multicarinata multicarinata - (Cal. Alligator Lizard)