Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just put some grass seed into my anole vivarium to make it more natural for them, and help them feel better being in captivity.

I was wondering what, if any, side effects there would be to applying the same thing to ball pythons. Grow some good grass, about 4 inches, and move them into a tank/rubbermaid with it. I've seen it done, about a year and a half ago I encountered some pictures of a ball python community tank that used real grass, looked nice.

I think on the plus side it'd be more natural for them, better looking, good humidity, and easy to do.

Some cons might be bugs living in it, hard to clean, and fertilizer used might be harmful.

What do you all think. I've been considering using a kitty litter dish to hold some soil and growing some grass, then putting it in. I think I saw a pic here of someone who did something similiar.

What do you all think? I'm of course going to see how it goes with my anoles first.
Grass Thread

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Ball-Pythons.Net

wouldn't you have to add UV lights and trim it?
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0.1 "Tremper" looking Albino Leopard gecko (Lex)
0.0.1 tiger crested gecko (peachs)
1.1 Feral cats that we adopted (Fuzzy, and Bear)

Personally, I'd have to wonder if it's a good idea as you would be making your environment less sterile and introducing bugs, parasites, etc. I can tell you that off all our snakes at our state zoo, those kept in the more 'natural' setups with real branches, wood, plants, etc have more problems healthwise. We have our larger snakes in an 'artzy' type display with no real natural items and they have always been the healthiest of all our snakes.

Also, wouldn't it be much more difficult to find and remove urates and feces?
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Check Out My Albums

1.0 Ball Python
"Aragorn"
1.0 Kenyan Sand Boa
"Gimli"
1.0 Mexican Black Kingsnake
"Indigo"
1.0 Saharan Sand Boa
"Frodo"
0.1 Rough-Scale Sand Boa
"Arwen"

0.1 Australian Cattle Dog/Pointer
"Kira"

Yeah, poo would be harder to find. I guess this truly is an arboreals only idea.

That stuff about how the zoo animals do better in less natural conditions is interesting tho.
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Ball-Pythons.Net

Yeah it is. The 'artsy' tanks sometimes are controversial because they aren't natural looking, but the intent is to try and display snakes in a way that their beauty is emphasized and give non-snake lovers a chance to see how spectacular they are. Once people find out how healthy they are due to their sterile environment it gets them thinking. It's really a beautiful display. If anyone is ever in Indiana you must stop in and see (Indianapolis Zoo - Drop Dead Gorgeous Snakes exhibit).
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Check Out My Albums

1.0 Ball Python
"Aragorn"
1.0 Kenyan Sand Boa
"Gimli"
1.0 Mexican Black Kingsnake
"Indigo"
1.0 Saharan Sand Boa
"Frodo"
0.1 Rough-Scale Sand Boa
"Arwen"

0.1 Australian Cattle Dog/Pointer
"Kira"