Natural Tank Conversion

[Doyle_the_Skink]

Hey! I'm in the process of trying to turn my enclosure into more of a vivarium for my Bluey (live plants, helper bugs, etc.) and am wondering if there are any plants I should avoid or look for in particular. I'm ALSO wondering if there are any companion animals/insects that Doyle might not eat/mind having around as tank buddies. Will post pics as I work on it

[kayla990]

Hello! I'm presuming you have an Indonesian species? As setting up a bioactive tank for a Northern would be pretty tricky! We've found that there are a lot of risk plants, so we found the list to be quite short (sources such as ASPCA has been pretty useful to give an idea of individual plant toxicity). I'll do a quick list of our findings, though some may not be suitable for very high humidity conditions:

Plants considered safe:
- Bromeliads (avoid types such as Aechmea as they have a large flower or pollen ratio. Need to be mounted on something such as a hard background or driftwood for drainage).
- Peperomia spp. (Peperomia Carperata is doing good, Peperomia Obtusifolia should also be considered safe but may be stomped on!)
- Majority of 'Spider plant' spp. (Chlorophytum Lemon for example)
- Pilea Glauca (though generally safe, can be irritable if consumed too often).
- Pilea Peperomiodides
- Aeschynanthus Japhrolepis (gets huge..! may not be too suitable for a viv, similar to aeschynanthus marmoratus)
- Hoya Carnosa Tricolor
- Calathea Rosea
- microsorum diversifolium (while I didn't find any info on toxicity for this one, I'm not sure if the underleaf could be irritating)
- Hibiscus (Bluey's are known to eat the flowers)


Common plants considered toxic:

- tradescantia quadricolor (wandering jew)
- Ficus pumila (Ivy; most types)
- Aglaonema (chinese evergreen)
- Scindapsus Pictus Argyreus (or any Pothos spp)
- Sansevieria Laurentii (Mother in law tongue)
- Cordyline spp. (mixed information on this, better to just avoid)
- Passionflower (while generally considered safe, there are some types that are toxic such as Passiflora caerulea or Passiflora foetida. Make sure to thoroughly research if you choose this route).
- Majority of succulent species


Something to start with anyway

I'm ALSO wondering if there are any companion animals/insects that Doyle might not eat/mind having around as tank buddies

Currently we've just got springtails, as figured the larger clean up crew would get eaten (such as pillbugs/isopods). However another user on here has found success with using them I'd also check out resources such as TheBioDude, SerpaDesign or Lizardlandscapes for further info.

All the best!

[splashy07]

They're just going to dig it all up. Simple is better for blueys. But hey, would love to see it when you're done.

[kayla990]

They're just going to dig it all up. Simple is better for blueys. But hey, would love to see it when you're done.

Haha that too! So.. if you do try it, make sure you don't use expensive plants ^__^

[K4p1nkrunch]

List near bottom
http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutritionframeset.html