Setting up planted desert vivaria

[DragnDrop]

If you want to stay 'realistic', don't plant use cacti. They evolved exclusively New Wold plants (though one species also appears naturally in the Old World). Any cacti in the Old World were transported there, not native plants. Old World equivalents are the Spurge family, or Euphorbiaceae. The Namib Desert is so dry, most of the moisture comes from fog rolling in from the ocean, plants have a particularly hard time living there so they're alnmost foreign to the native animals. Some plants to exist there, very specialized and able withstand the extreme drought and temperature range each day. Since your gecko's instinct doesn't cover spiny, you have to really be careful what you use. I'd stick to growing softer succulents, no tough skinned or sharp edged ones like cacti and Sansevaria. Sansevaria can also have a toxic sap.... not good to use with a gecko that would be inclined to lick almost any liquid it finds.

[GekkoGeck0]

Admittedly, it's difficult to stay realistic when attempting to capture P. rangei's native habitat in captivity. I would one day like to try my hand at realistic vivaria, but with this it's more for aesthetics than realism.

Spiny/rough is definitely out, same with the Sanservarias and anything with the potential to scratch or puncture his delicate skin. Thanks for the head's up about the toxic sap.

I have been looking at spineless cacti, but I am considering ways to keep him from coming in contact with them if they prove to present a problem, but I may end up just having to remove them and just have them as houseplants, there's no point in essentially destroying the point of a planted vivarium in the attempt to keep the animal from coming in extended contact with the plants. It's no problem either way, but I do want to try this out.

Succulents are definitely in, as soon as I can find some nice species that are compatible with the temperature and humidity ranges of his enclosure.

Thanks very much for the knowledgeable reply, I appreciate it.

[Kyle Barker]

lithops, lophophora, many astrophytum are a few genus' that have spinless species. teh first 2 are completely spinless and soft, perfect for gecko cages....but htey are rather small ground cover type cactus. perhaps thats good for a terrestrial gecko tank?

the later has a bunch of stuff to them adn are pretty neat cacti. you can get some that are pretty much smooth, some that have spines, some have "hair" etc....tehy are a bit pricey though.

same as with reptiles cacti species also can have morphs. soem cacti have a spineless morph or close to. some species that are of "monstrose" mutaion are pretty much spineless. one called a ***** plant, or somthing liek that is a columnar cacti that is completely smooth....very neat looking....who knows what your going to get when you do a google for that though lol.

these guys have pretty good prices: http://cactus-heaven.com/index.phtml

i have ordered from tehm a few times and realyl liek their service. took usually about a week to get my seeds here.

another neat site with lotsa pics (not really good for this cage, but if your into cacti you may enjoy) http://www.columnar-cacti.org/

[GekkoGeck0]

Rather small ground cover type cacti are what I am mainly looking for. Lithops still looks great, but I'll have to find a way to boost my lighting before I attempt anything with them.

Lophophora are perfect, along with a few of the Euphorbias. I was looking at Sedum morganianium, but with it being a trailing plant and so long, I don't think it would work well, although it's nice and soft. I also found this, looks almost like a miniature spineless version of saguaro cactus: http://www.shoalcreeksucculents.com/...&list=category

There are many nice plants at that store, but hard to find care information for some of them.

I've taken a look at Cactus Heaven. Since I'm just starting to get into this, I don't recognize many Latin names for the cacti and succulents, so I'll have to get a little more reading in before I go ahead and order seeds, since I don't want to have to go back repeatedly every time I learn the name of a new species.

[Kyle Barker]

those are pretty neat. thats a good site. keep in mind cacti are cites so plants will cost lots.

i may order some seeds myself from them.

[GekkoGeck0]

Most CITES certificates that I've seen on cacti sites are reasonable prices. It's the phytosanitary certificates that cost a fair amount, especially for smaller seed/plant orders, although I'm not sure if Canada requires phytosanitary certificates for importation.

The site I gave you a link to charges $30 for their certificates, and I doubt that's in Canadian dollars.

Tomorrow I'm heading down to a garden centre for pots and soil. Perhaps I'll find something nice I can bring home.

[Kyle Barker]

ya for sure. canada does need them. phyto and cites. or you can wing it and go snail mail...most get through that way.

there is also a cacti club/society in vancouver that hold shows and sales. they may at least know where theres a similar thing near you. can always find tons of good plants for good prices at those types of things.
http://www.cactus-mall.com/dpsv/

[GekkoGeck0]

I went to a garden centre yesterday to pick up cactus soil and pots, and found this little sweet thing:




I'm not exactly sure what plant it is, since they just order assorted succulents and don't get Latin names for them, but I think it might be Echeveria pulvinata. Seems right, anyway.

As for the cacti club, I'm in Winnipeg and haven't been able to find any clubs for cacti or succulents. There's orchid clubs, bonsai clubs, herb clubs, but no cacti clubs.

[Jordan B]

This was created by Deven from Terra5Designs. This guy is amazing.
http://www.geckosunlimited.com/forum...opic.php?t=197

Jordan

[GekkoGeck0]

It's beautiful, very naturalistic.

[Kyle Barker]

neat little plant. im not up on my succulents...

if thats one of the looks you like, you may also try jade plants. tehre is a nice creeping variety. dont know the name or what, but my grandma has soem growing at teh base of her larger more tree like jade plant (its a larger bonsai). tehy are quite nice. like a less dense more tree like slower growing creeping fig.

[GekkoGeck0]

I'm not up on any plants, never mind succulents. *grins* I brought it home figuring that if it wasn't suitable for his enclosure, I'd just enjoy it as a houseplant. Google really helps.

I did see jade plants on the tray with this plant as well. They're quite nice, although I'm not sure if I'm going to use them inside the enclosure. I'm germinating some cacti now and those are getting top priority. Once they're settled, then comes the fun of picking what else gets to live with them. The little Echeveria was just too cute to pass up, though. Looks like a little desert oasis with it being beside the water dish.

Part of my regular maintenance with the tank is soaking the cool side of the tank with 1.5 litres of water when the sand is dry, keeping the cool side wet, and moist sand underneath the dry on the hot side. With plants still in their pots buried under the sand, will that soaking draw up into the pots and give the plants sufficient water? Or should I water the pots themselves at the same time?

[pythonmdk]

some things I've used with beardies are jade, christmas cactus, succulents and snake plants, desert rose is great to but I saw you wern't interested in them.

[Kyle Barker]

depends on the species. it would probably be fine for most common cacti. either way it doesnt really matter....cacti give you LOTS of warnings before they are going to die. lack of water is usually a yellow colouring in my experience.

i would be more worried about too much water actually....but tahts an easy fix. just put in say 1-2" of 1/4"ish sized rock.

[GekkoGeck0]

Well, for now, the only two species in the tank are Echeveria pulvinata and Lophophora seedlings. I'm still deciding on some Astrophytum or Ariocarpus. I was going to go with some Euphorbias but they have a toxic sap.

I think I'm catching the plant bug; I was thinking of picking up a plant stand and some lighting to try my hand at Lithops.

Thanks for all your advice and help, Kyle!