Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hello amphibiaphiles,

i have some green tree pythons and some questions only froggers could answer. i am getting them 24 inches cubed, custom glass aquaria from oceanic. i want to completely plant the substrate with a few different plants but if i am going to have substrate then it has to be completely covered. i know of dicranum (pillow moss), sellaginella uncinata (peacock or rainbow moss), sellaginella krausianna (gold tipped moss), and sellaginella plana. java and plana i believe need too much moisture. the snakes require 75-100% in daily fluxes and a temp gradient of 77-88 farenheit. the bottom of the cage near the plants will be cooler id guess about 72-74 F. any suggestions? i would prefer dicranum and know where i can buy large quantities. does anyone have experience with this moss and what does it reqire (wattage, light type, humidity, temp)? also if i remove feces within a few hours do you think the uresis or calcium would damage dicranum?
thanks
steve

Hey, sounds like you've got some serious ambition to make a snake setup as detailed as you are. Here are my experiences with the different species of plants you mentioned:

Dicranum is unlikely to be a good choice. It is very calcium sensitive, and just sensitive in general (not to mention rather slow growing in my experience).

Any of those Selaginellas are likely to work well (uncinata or kraussinia), although plana is probably bigger than you want. The other two grow quickly, and make a nice 2-3" carpet that would tend to hide any "poo piles."

Java would probably work if you had an area that you could keep constantly moist to get it started--like a water feature. It tends to sporulate like mad if it's happy, and then it spreads all over your tank. It should be plenty happy at 75-100% humidity.
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Homer W. Faucett III, esq.
Purveyor of Trivialities and Fine Nonsense

I really like the uncinata (peacock moss)...it's very attractive, grows fast, and is very amenable to viv culture. I had another Selaginella that was rotting like crazy in the same environment...don't know what species it was.

---Prem