Skink-Safe Live Plants?

[tylociraptor]

Hi Guys! I've been thinking about natural decor for Mishas cage, offering her some nice hiding spots and something nice to look at. What experience have you guys got with planting in skink cages and what plants can I use that are safe, if she decides to munch on them?

Thanks!

[LarissaLurid]

I wouldn't put a live plant, it'd end up getting knocked over and ruined lol. Get a large fake fern or low to the ground plant for them to hide under. I have some like that in my Red Tail Boa's cage.

(One's in the middle of tank)

196117_10150924318816843_938641799_n.jpg

[tylociraptor]

My reason for avoiding plastic plants is because well, my boa once got mites from one and I have a serious worry about that. D:

[LarissaLurid]

My reason for avoiding plastic plants is because well, my boa once got mites from one and I have a serious worry about that. D:

Was it from a pet store or from someone who owned it previously? I think that'd be the only way mites would be on a plastic plant. I've never had that happen, the only time I got mites was when I rescued my RTB and kingsnake from the same ppl and they came with mites on them.

I really don't recommend live plants, this thread has come up in the past as well, take a look and it might give you some answers:

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=20447&p=397608&hilit=live+plant#p397608

This one also:
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=17009&p=361966&hilit=live+plant#p361966

Here:
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=15070&p=339470&hilit=live+plant#p339470

and here:
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=14306&p=329383&hilit=live+plant#p329383


The general consensus is always that live plants are a waste of time because they'll get ruined.

[LarissaLurid]

I mean unless you are willing to constantly be fixing the knocked over plant that's also been trampled and ripped apart lol. You'll be buying new plants quite frequently. I liked the idea myself in theory, but it's just not that great of an idea with how they are treated in my opinion.

[AnnaMonroe]

Two really awesome plants that you can purchase to make the enclosure look poppin' are Selaginella Ground Cover and Maidenhair Fern (12 in). Both are fake plants from ZooMed, I have them both and they are really awesome to put next to a hide. They even have moss covered rock bases! If you order online, there shouldn't be any mite issues :}
Also, there is a larger variety than those two choices so you can choose to your liking!

[Richard.C]

If cage is big enough some plants would be fine,couple of good books on the subject are design and maintenence of desert vivaria and the art of keeping snakes,the latters on snakes obviously,but the ideas are applicable to lizards to,both from avs and phillepe devosjoli i believe and both excellent reads on the subject

[fishingmax]

i THOUGHT THE QUESTION WAS WHAT LIVE PLANTS ARE IDEAL FOR BLUE TONGUE SKINK, NOT WILL SOMEONE PLEASE TALK ME OUT OF LIVE PLANTS.

[mb606587]

You will not get a response from anybody who had previously posted in this thread of 7 years ago as none of those posters have been active for years. In the future, please create a new thread rather than reviving old ones. Now as to your question, it really will depend on what species of skink you are keeping. For instance, a plant that would thrive in the tropical enclosure of a Halmahera Blue Tongue Skink with constant humidity levels at 90%, may not survive in an enclosure with a Northern and humidity at 35%. I think one of the more popular plants is pothos but that has been known to be mildly toxic to many animals if ingested so it would be one I would personally avoid, however others have used it and Monkey Skinks have safely adapted to eating it. Spider plants and dracaena have also been used. Many keepers are going to be hard pressed to answer this question because due to the potential toxicity of so many common plants and the known destructiveness of BTS in the enclosure, very few are willing to or have actually successfully managed live plants in the enclosure. What I have seen work well is pots of the pothos plant mounted to the back wall or side of custom built enclosures above where a skink could access the plant. Or you could try planting various herbs (basil, tomato plant, etc.), although I have my doubts as to how successful you'd be. But I would start by researching some of the native flora to your specific skink's country or region and check Josh's Frogs website as they have an excellent selection of ferns and plants specifically intended for use in a bioactive enclosure.

[kingofnobbys]

I don't think having live plants in the bluetongue's tanks is a viable idea.

If I were to try any it might be
>>>> dandelions ( flowers and leaves and seed heads are all edible - very healthy too )
>>>> nasturtions ( above )
>>>> clover (edible flowers and leaves)
>>>> or a piece of turf (from the lawn and allowed to grow so it's tall enough to be a nice place for the skink to fossick through and explore).