Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi all,
I wanted to know if there is any type of plants I should NOT put in my tank. I have a yellow rat and wanted to put some live plants in the tank to help with the humidity a little and wanted to know the best plants to use.

Hey, it has been said ALOT on this and other forums....live plants and naturalistic setups are both unpractical and unsanitary. Ratsnakes,yellows in particular, are VERY active snakes if properly kept. THey will ruin any planting no matter how careful you are. Further, the soil HAS to contain microbes to work properly..which attract other insects which can be harmful to snakes if they are either ingested or parasitic. If you want to get some FAKE plants go for it,otherwise take a pic of the snake outside in the spring and keep it by the cage,lol. Jeff

Thanks for the advice Jeff!! I heard real plants help raise humidity levels so that's why I wanted to put one in but if it's gonna attract insects and all forget that! I just wanted to raise the humidity to help with sheds WITHOUT making the subtrate all damp(I am using aspen).Any ideas??

When the eyes go opaque... put a tub of damp sphagnum moss with an entrance hole at the warm end of the vivarium. I find ice cream tubs work great but it obviously depends on the size of the snake.

This will provide a humid area for your snake to go without the hassle of raising the humidity of the entire vivarium.

Dampen the moss ( but don't soak it ) every other day. I find that my snakes almost live in these when it comes to shedding time.

Steve.

I've got live plants in my large 3x2x2 foot carpet python cage. I am using 100% bagged soil from Lowes, with plastic window covering sheets to protect the wood underneath.

The plants will all die slowly, because of the snake trampling them. They will get torn, up-rooted, etc. If you like replacing them, go for it, but too much of a PITA unless it is a display cage. The only thing I have had actually grow, rather than wither, is bambo, but it is growing suprisingly slowly.

I am not good with plants, and am not a pro with snakes either, just a little insight to share.

Perhaps having soil as a substrate will help you with humidity?
Larger Water bowl?

75% of the plants in this pic (10months old) are dead now. The Jade plant was the first to go.

Later

Jon

Thanks for the replies everyone! I went and bought some moss from one of the local pet stores and rinsed it out pretty good in hot water,ringed it out,put it in a dish and stuck it in the warm end of the tank.