Plants?

[Wolfus_305]

Hi there,
I had my ball out yesterday and he had so much fun moving through the plants that were on the table for watering. It seemed like he was so amazed to have his own little jungle. He has a nice big habitat and I was wondering if there are any types of real plants that are safe for me to put in his habitat for him?
Thanks so much
Kenn

[Durtis]

just about any type of heavy plant with strong limbs would be good. ball pythons can flatten most smaller plants so the bigger the better

[Wolfus_305]

Okidoki
Thanks!
Kenny
P.s. Is there anything in particular that's not good for them... just to be on the safe side since most things that I do somehow end up going wrong?

[LadyParvati]

Philippe de Vosjoli has a whole chapter on plants to use with snakes in his book,

The Art of Keeping Snakes

About the only plant type that should definitely be avoided for safety reasons related to the snake is cacti with spines, esp. for pythons, it seems. Their skin is thin enough that the spines can tear it, plus, you wouldn't want to try to extract your snake from a spiny cactus! (WINK)

I also wouldn't want to use anything toxic to _me_, as the snake will crawl all over it; then when handling the snake, the toxins would get on me (or whoever the handler is).

Sansevieria (aka snake plant, mother-in-law's tongue) work well and can tolerate being climbed on. Jade plants fall apart. Remember the snake will grow, and it will climb on/crawl over whatever you put in. There are lots of other plants that will work, too; if you get the book (maybe your local library?), you can read the notes about advantages/disadvantages of quite a number of plant genera in relation to snake keeping, including which plants work best with which snakes size-wise.

Have fun!
Sandy

[Wolfus_305]

Thanks so much! Does anybody know where I can buy these plants? I called a few stores and they think I'm insane... "NO we don't have that here!"...Me: "Are you sure? Could you double check" *click*

[LadyParvati]

If your local stores don't have them, you can find online sources. Get a look at the photos online--sometimes stores don't know they have Sansevieria because the scientific name is rarely used. The name the stores use can depend upon the varietal; mother-in-law's tongue and snake plant are only two of _many_ names for this genus, of which there are possibly several dozen species! One source says there are around 60 of them:
Water When Dry: Sansevieria trifasciata 'Moonshine'

A great set of photos are here: SANSEVIERIA species and cultivars
However, the photographer gives only scientific names at that site.

Even if you can't find Sansevieria specifically, take a look at the store plants. Reject spiny cacti and ferns (too fragile) and other plants that you can easily push down with your hand, and reject anything that's too big. What's left? Is there anything you might want to try? Don't spend a lot, because whatever you _think_ is going to work may not.

Here's what I've had the best luck with so far: Pothos (doesn't seem to be a problem when the snake crawls over it so far), Sansevieria sp., and ZZ plant (Zamioculcas Zamiifolia ). You can see info about ZZ here:

ZZ plant - Zamioculcas Zamiifolia

ZZ will eventually be a problem unless you have a tall vivarium--it gets 2-3 feet tall or more. However, I'm using some small shoots to begin with. It has bulblets underground & is easy to divide, so I just cut some young, small shoots off a potted plant & stuck them in the vivarium; so far, it's ok, but it will outgrow my BPs vivarium.

Oh, I also have hen & chicks (Sempervivum tectorum). Info here:
Hen and chicks - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

That's only been in for a couple months & is hanging in there. Another tough plant with no spines.

Good luck!

[Wolfus_305]

Thank you so much! I really appreciate all your help!!

[LadyParvati]

You are very welcome! Have fun!