# Madagascar biotope selections



## Dane (Aug 19, 2004)

I recently acquired some U. phantasticus geckos, and I'm working on a euro-style corner tank for them, but I'm having trouble finding more than a handful of native Madagascar plants. Can anyone suggest some available plants that are common in Uroplatus habitats? The tank conditions will be 70-90% humidity, 70-75*F, with moderate to high lighting.


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## dendrobateobsessd (Jan 24, 2009)

I personally don't have a clue about what some native madagascan plants are but you could try Geckos Unlimited, there are a lot of really helpful people on that site. Without their advice my crested gecko would have probably died by now.


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## Jellyman (Mar 6, 2006)

Try contacting the Omaha Zoo. They are currently creating an entire building that will be themed as Madagascar!!


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## stemcellular (Jun 26, 2008)

Email Devin Edmonds.... [email protected]. He is traveling at the moment but could probably give you a very good idea as to biotype.


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## Frogtofall (Feb 16, 2006)

I googled, "Flora of Madagascar" and this was the first link that popped up. Seems interesting...

Flora of Madagascar


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## insularexotics (May 3, 2005)

You should check out Tropiflora.com's cargo report. They had a few different plants from Madagascar.
Good Luck!
Rich


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## harrywitmore (Feb 9, 2004)

Here's what I have but I haven't done much besides orchids.

Cloud Jungle Epiphytes - Plant Catalog


I think that a number of the Sansevieria are from there as well as a wealth of Euphorbia. As for ferns I think many Asplenium are from there.

The Angraecum are awesome if you can include one.


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## JoshH (Feb 13, 2008)

Bulbophytum orchids
Nepenthes madagascariensis
hmmm.........


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## Dane (Aug 19, 2004)

insularexotics said:


> You should check out Tropiflora.com's cargo report. They had a few different plants from Madagascar.
> Good Luck!
> Rich


I was just reading that this morning! There was a cool looking Caudiciform that I'm planning on using.


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## d-prime (Sep 29, 2008)

In nature, these animals wont be found amongst greenery. They are designed to live amongst leaf litter and twigs, hence their camouflage. If anything use bamboo.


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## Dane (Aug 19, 2004)

d-prime said:


> In nature, these animals wont be found amongst greenery. They are designed to live amongst leaf litter and twigs, hence their camouflage. If anything use bamboo.


Doesn't mean that the tank has to be devoid of plant life. I did a fair bit of research on successful enclosures, and most of them featured several types of green plants. I think it might be difficult to maintain enough humidity in an environment of just leaves and branches as well.


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## NathanB (Jan 21, 2008)

there are some sweet begonias too, not very easy to find though


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## harrywitmore (Feb 9, 2004)

d-prime said:


> In nature, these animals wont be found amongst greenery. They are designed to live amongst leaf litter and twigs, hence their camouflage. If anything use bamboo.


I don't think there are any Bamboo species suitable for terrariums. You may mean to use dead bamboo though. There are a number of Ceropegia that are from Madagascar. They need medium humidity but do need pretty high light levels to do well.


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## Haroldo (Mar 14, 2006)

I can appreciate what you're trying to do here, but there is going to be a difficult balance between plant selections and optimal conditions for the animals. Namely, most Uroplatus do not like bright lights. So you'll have to be mindful of that. Get in touch with Lawrence Erickson of gekkotas.com or Neil Miester. They both do better with phants than anyone I know.

Nice hardscaping so far!


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