Naturalistic vivarium for a fat tailed gecko

[lemonjello]

i want to make one when I get more money, as I blew it all off on my fat tailed gecko yesterday. What kinds of plants can you use? The subtrate will be compost, coir, and this reptile dirt stuff. Can you use philodendrons? Can you use any type of fern? Can there be a small pond? Thanks!

 

[dactylus]

Quite ironically, I used 'African violet' (Saintpaulia species), in a compost substrate. They're common, easy to get hold of, and thrived in the conditions.

 

[lemonjello]

Thank you! Can they live with bromeliads?

 

[RampantReptiles]

Yeah bromeliads are nice because they hold water in their leaves which doubles as a water dish
You can grow bromeliads in there but there are a couple of possible problems that can occur. If you stick them right into the substrate there is a possibility of root rot. Also I have had 3 bromeliads in coconut fiber and everytime I get one they have beautiful healthy flowers but within a few months the flowers loose their color and the flowers die. I tried adding fertilizer and it didnt seem to help. There are tons of people out there that make it work but I havent had much luck. If you can get it to work then more power to ya!

Philodendrons and pothos are good plants to use. Not sure about ferns but I imagine if you can get african violets to grow then some types of ferns would be ok. Have to find a fern that does well indoors.

You could get away with doing a pond but Im not sure if a fat tail would drown in something deep so thats worth looking into...

Any plants that are easy to grow or do well in water will probably do great in your settup. Just have to watch out for things that get big or tall, otherwise you might be pruning your plants constantly.

Some plants that I would suggest are:
Snake plant(easy grower but likes it a little drier)
Philodendrons
Polka dot plant
Earth Star(Nice colored leaf bromeliad)
Most kinds of draceana
Prayer plant?
Most houseplants except succulents...

There are more but I cant think right now... too tired. Anywho good luck and hope that helps!

 

[lemonjello]

Thank you! You have always been very helpful.

As for bromeliads, i do not want to do in-substrate planting because I do not have a drainage layer yet, so I think I will just put the pot in there and hide it behind a stick or something. With the pond, I only meant about an inch deep. for my birthday in august, i want to get a bunch of tropical plants and a forty gallon cage. But I have to wait till August.....*sigh*...... but maybe before then i can find a pretty good cage at a garage sale.

Where do fat tails come from, anyway? i have heard hey come from the desert and I haave heard they come from the rainforest. Wich is it?

 

[RampantReptiles]

Here is a linky about African fat tail geckos:
Fat-Tailed Gecko

I have a 45 gallon tank with some plants in it but no critters. I had a paludarium/terrarium setup for a while so I did a bit of research on plants before I built it.
I really want to put something in it but my boyfriend wont let me get any more critters. Just hate having cages sitting idley... not used!:shock: Also have a 20 high with plants, screen top, UV light and no critter/s

Oh another plant I thought of are some peperomia species.

Michelle

 

[RampantReptiles]

I want some of these!
JMG Reptile - White Out Fat Tailed Geckos

 

[Hking22]

Bromeliads can be mounted on cork bark

Yeah bromeliads are nice because they hold water in their leaves which doubles as a water dish
You can grow bromeliads in there but there are a couple of possible problems that can occur. If you stick them right into the substrate there is a possibility of root rot. Also I have had 3 bromeliads in coconut fiber and everytime I get one they have beautiful healthy flowers but within a few months the flowers loose their color and the flowers die. I tried adding fertilizer and it didnt seem to help. There are tons of people out there that make it work but I havent had much luck. If you can get it to work then more power to ya!

Philodendrons and pothos are good plants to use. Not sure about ferns but I imagine if you can get african violets to grow then some types of ferns would be ok. Have to find a fern that does well indoors.

You could get away with doing a pond but Im not sure if a fat tail would drown in something deep so thats worth looking into...

Any plants that are easy to grow or do well in water will probably do great in your settup. Just have to watch out for things that get big or tall, otherwise you might be pruning your plants constantly.

Some plants that I would suggest are:
Snake plant(easy grower but likes it a little drier)
Philodendrons
Polka dot plant
Earth Star(Nice colored leaf bromeliad)
Most kinds of draceana
Prayer plant?
Most houseplants except succulents...

There are more but I cant think right now... too tired. Anywho good luck and hope that helps!

Good drainage is always good to prevent root rot in all vivarium plants, but the cool thing about bromeliads are that they are "epiphytic" plants, aka air plants, which means they can be mounted on certain objects. So what I do to prevent root rot is I just mount the bromeliad right onto some cork bark, you can use a cork bark tube and bury half of it so the part with the bromeliad is not covered with substrate, or you can mount it on a cork bark panel to make a background. Just make sure you adhere some sphagnum moss on the bark first with a little bit of liquid nails or aquarium sealant, let the sealent dry, and then use a plant tie to mount the bromeliad onto the sphagnum moss, this looks great and very natural and my bromeliads always seem to thrive. As for the flower color of the bromeliads going away, yes bad drainage can have a detrimental effect on the plant, but a few other possibilities for color change is that the plant might not have been in bloom for that season, or most likely the lighting was not sufficient. Also bromeliads like at least 6500K of light. Another plant that is also epiphytic is the Tilandsia and does well mounted on cork bark. What is cool about Tilandsia is that most species of them are small and do well in a vivarium, also some species will flower in the correct conditions which is always a nice surprise. These plants however like to be misted but need time to dry in between mistings.
Thanks for reading, and good luck.

 

[RampantReptiles]

what do you mean about the flower not being in bloom for that season? I thought the flowers on bromeliads were supposed to last for years. What happens to my bromeliads is that they start to make babies so I figured that part of the flower loss was due to the plant focusing on that.
I didnt know about that light requirement.. thats good to know!
I havent had any problems with root rot. All my bromeliads grow really long, healthy roots even though they are in coconut fiber with little drainage. That might be my problem right there... I dont know. I gave up trying to figure it out months ago :?

 

[lemonjello]

Yup. that probably was your probblem. even in some desert terrariums there needs to be some drainage. With root rot, water smothers the roots, and they decompose. You could have not had enough benificial bacteria in there, too. The bacteria do wonders for them. You could try eco planting them. Anyways, I am going to get a bromeliad and an african violet tomarrow. Maybe a few others, too.

 

[Brian]

They are not really desert animals.

Fat tails do well with a number of plants because they are not destructive. Habitat photos I saw were not true rainforest either.

 

[lemonjello]

I did not mean that they are desert animals. I meant that all naturalistic terrariums with plants should have a drainage system.