# Sturdy Fern and other plant questions



## The_Greg (Sep 10, 2007)

Hi all,

I'm building a tank to be used for some Rough Green Snakes (surprisingly hard to find CB ones.. I have to wait till late august for hatchlings)

And would like to put a fern (or non brom strong small plant) in there with them. Are there any recommendations for a sturdy plant that could support the weight of a small snake? I understand that as adults, my rough greens probably will be able to trample a fern, but something that could last a while while they are hatchlings and sub adults. They are small arboreal snakes, so they will be climbing on it. For a size gague, hatchlings are around 10 inches, and adults get to around 34 inches, and no thicker than your ring finger I'd venture to guess.



Also, my frog tank has never looked the best, quite honestly. I feel that I'm either over or under watering it with too hot or too cold temperatures, and the plants never look great. After killing two oak leaf creeping figs, i've finally got one going, but veeeery slowly. My cathalea ornata (spelling?) is finally doing alright, but only has no more than two leafs at a time. My moss is green but not growing, and the only thing really going is the pothos like plant on the bottom. What can I do to stimulate the greenery here? spray some miracle grow on the tank or something? What conditions do best for the plants? The most success I've had was pouring about an eighth of a gallon of distilled water into the thank to be held by the hydroton.. my plants did okay then, but not fantastic either. 

Heres the tank at one of its best times.. I've since then trimmed down that pothos like plant that was crawling all over my brom and to the right side of the tank.









Thanks for the input


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## Occidentalis (Jul 11, 2009)

Kudos on waiting for CB Greens! I've seen so many parasite ridden lethargic ones sitting there waiting to die in random pet stores. 

When I've found greens in the wild, they are usually at a field edge in and around shrubs or stumps. For a natural hide, you might consider a "pile of wood" with lots of gaps and stuff for them to get down in (assuming you aren't planning on getting them out and handling them a lot).

As far as plants that are twiggy and able to support their weight... you might try ficus, or letting some sort of vine crawl all over lots of strategically placed sticky wood. 

As far as getting the plants to grow better, looks like you might need more/ different lighting. What are you using?


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## The_Greg (Sep 10, 2007)

thanks for the kudos! Its so interesting to me that, for being a snake native to the states, there is SO little information out there on them. I've heard opposing opinions on everything from "they'll eat pinkies" to "they are terrible pets that last no more than 2 weeks in captivity". Rarer than the information on them though, are captive bred ones. I understand its easier to capture them from the wild, but I had to research around 7 hours of searching and asking questions to find each of the three suppliers that claim to have hatchlings relatively soon.


ANNNNYways...

Would anyone know how manageable a 'ficus too little' would grow to?

I'm also in the market for an eager viney plant, as my backgrounds always end up bland and plantless ( would also use it to climb the sticklike plants i'll have in my snake tank)

Picture of the snake tank so far, all fake plants SO FAR...


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## Occidentalis (Jul 11, 2009)

Haha that ficus picture makes me laugh. It looks so manicured. 

As far as a climby plant, its hard to stop wandering jew and pothos. I just found the wandering jew sticking out of a power filter on a fish tank has grown into the couch. 

I can sort of invision a nice hollow quarter stump or something, mounted in your terrarium upside down with all the little roots sticking out and allowing for a good climbing spot. Finding the right piece would be hard though. 

I've recently started seeing "African Branch Wood" at some stores, and think it would work wonders for what you are looking for. I've never seen a picture online or a supplier online, though. If you're planning on coming to Michigan, I know of only two stores that have it.


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## The_Greg (Sep 10, 2007)

no michigan trips soon. I've been recommended twice now to wandering jew, how large are the leaves?


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## Occidentalis (Jul 11, 2009)

It depends on which wandering jew you end up with. I purple varigated stuff that has leaves about 3 x 2 or larger, and what I believe is "Bolivian" with lots of small leaves.

Here's a pic of it growing all over the back wall of my 10 gallon.

Before it grew in ( I dont even see it in there, but the purple stuff is on the top of the log on the left) :









And after (You can really see it best along the righthand side):


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## DKOOISTRA (May 28, 2009)

First, i know nothing about snakes, but, i do have a couple leapord geckos.
when i built their tank, i wanted some plants, but figured theyd trash whatever i put in there. i ended up puting in some succulants, they dont get big and bushy, but they seem pretty durable, even under a heat lamp. i put a little water in every other week and its good to go. i did cast some cups into the back drop, with some gravel in the bottom of the cup. they get trampled all the time and have held up well.


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## Occidentalis (Jul 11, 2009)

As far as heavy bodied snakes, like boids, yes, they trash the heck out of everything. I had an Argentine boa completely flatten a huge ficus in 5 minutes, and didn't try that again. I think, though, that the slender build and aboreal nature of the Rough Greens would prevent them from doing too much damage. I haven't kept _aestivus_, but I have kept _vernalis_ in a planted tank that had a small tree, and they seemed to utilize it with no problem.


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## The_Greg (Sep 10, 2007)

From what I understand, the Vernalis is much more of a ground snake. Did they ever venture on top of the tree in there? 

Also Occidentalis, what is that small viney/stringy fern looking thing growing in the last picture on the leftish bottomish side? is that a somewhat durable plant?

Also looking into succulants


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## Occidentalis (Jul 11, 2009)

The_Greg said:


> From what I understand, the Vernalis is much more of a ground snake. Did they ever venture on top of the tree in there?
> 
> Also Occidentalis, what is that small viney/stringy fern looking thing growing in the last picture on the leftish bottomish side? is that a somewhat durable plant?
> 
> Also looking into succulants


I wish I knew, I've been meaning to post it in the plant ID forum recently. It grows well in the viv but doesn't stand up to any pressure. It's very thin stemmed and breakable. Seems okay with the frogs, but I think anything bigger would trample it very quickly. 

The _vernalis_ did cruise around in the shrub thing I had in there. It spent most of its time coiled near the base of it though, if my memory serves me correctly.


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## iljjlm (Mar 5, 2006)

I have an Amazon Tree Boa in a vertically orientated 40 Breeder. Here is a list of plants that I have in there.
Sansevieria trifasciata (snake plant)
Phalaenopsis seedling (moth orchid)
Neo "fire ball"
Tradescantia zebrina (wandering jew)
Humata tyermanii (white rabbit's foot fern)
Dracaena sanderiana
Philodendron species
Hoya kentiana
Hoya carnosa

Some of these will get somewhat large, but just pull them out when they do. Hope this helps some.

Dave


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## harrywitmore (Feb 9, 2004)

The_Greg said:


> From what I understand, the Vernalis is much more of a ground snake. Did they ever venture on top of the tree in there?
> 
> Also Occidentalis, what is that small viney/stringy fern looking thing growing in the last picture on the leftish bottomish side? is that a somewhat durable plant?
> 
> Also looking into succulants


I can't seem to tell what you are asking about. I can see many different in the before picture.


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## The_Greg (Sep 10, 2007)

harrywitmore said:


> I can't seem to tell what you are asking about. I can see many different in the before picture.












outlined in red


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## harrywitmore (Feb 9, 2004)

Sorry, can't tell what that might be. Looks like a Microsorum frond above it though.


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## Occidentalis (Jul 11, 2009)

Here's a little better closeup of the plant.


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## harrywitmore (Feb 9, 2004)

Oh! That's not a fern but most likely Pilea microphylla, sometimes called Artillery Fern.


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