Conversion to live plants!

[Alaina]

Hiiii!

I'v a communal tank with all ugly plastic plants in it atm, and im weighing up the pro's and con's of live plants.

Thought id ask on the phibs section because you guys seem to do it more than other keepers and could give me some sound advice about it.

Does it cost much for live plants, are they beneficial to my gecko and my frog, and will it stress them out having such a dramatic change?

And does anyone have a link to a site that has a toxic/safe plant list?

Any info would be lovely

Alaina x

[tenman]

Vivarium Plant Pricelist

seems to be a good place to start...

[Ron Magpie]

There's a list thread in the caresheet section above about safe/unsafe plants. In my experience, the animals don't seem that bothered either way between plastic and real, although my treefrogs do seem to roost more readily on 'real' plants, but no way of proving it lol.

If you order from some of the websites, it costs, but a lot of the plants available in florists/garden centres/supermarkets are cheap and can be used- again, refer to the list. You would probably want to rinse them off in clean water and maybe repot, to avoid chemical treatments used in cultivation. What gecko and frog have you got?

[buddah]

Originally Posted by Alaina

Does it cost much for live plants, are they beneficial to my gecko and my frog, and will it stress them out having such a dramatic change?





Alaina x

i used to have plastic plants in all my vivs and was worried if it would shock my geckos, but now i have 2 fully planted vivs and i would not go back. at first they was a bit slow 2 explore their new viv they just stayed close together and didnt move from were i put them all that night, but as soon as i droped some crix in the next mornin they were off they seem far more happier, layed eggs within weeks of going in and the coulors seem far more vivid aswel. plus i was forever cleaning the plastic plants and the enclosure but now its "almost" self cleaning i added springtails to the soil and add a few woodlice from the garden every few months to keep them clean. but it also depends what geckos and frogs you have as to how far you can go , but some natural elements to their enviroment has to be alot better for the animals well being. As for price you can pick plants up realy cheap, when ever i was out anywer i would look at the house plant section and managed to get a lot of good bargains, but also dartfrog.co.uk i found to be an excellent source of tropicals and unusual plants i would definitely recomend you give them a look.

[Ron Magpie]

One more thing I forgot to mention; live plants help to keep the humidity up.

[Morgan Freeman]

You'll end up become as addicted to the plants as you are to your pets. Well, I did.