Well then, I suppose we will have to agree to disagree.
That said, I do agree that my original response to the question was overly simplistic, and should have been elaborated upon.
But yes, I do firmly beleive that this paranoia clearly exists on your part. Let's face it, a snake keeper's knowledge of what is appropriate in terms of plants and their toxicity is generally far less than an avid dart frog keeper's, as dart frog keepers deal with various species of plants every day, in every vivarium.
But before I go into that further, let's have a look at some of the many toxic substances in snake tanks that are completely acceptable to snake keepers.
Now, there are a number of things that are present in many sound snake tanks, that have caused no ills to peoples snakes, but would absolutely kill an amphibian. First, many snake keepers use *newspaper* exclusively as a substrate. The ink rubs off fairly easily in your hands, and many snake keepers have noticed how much has rubbed off on their snakes. Now, interestingly enough, the ink in newspapers is not FDA approved, and not fit for use around food. On top of that, I managed to find a study that analyzed toxicity of black newsprint inks applied topically to mice and rats, and it yielded some interesting and surprising information. The link to the study is here:
http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/ntp/members/tox17/tx17full.pdf
Here is an excerpt from the study: "carbon black, used in some newspaper inks contains polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs); (Mr. Beliczky) noted that the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) lists some PAH's in oil as human skin carcinogens."
Here is another: "Microscopically, local toxicity at the site of application was observed in mice of all treatment groups and was characterized by acanthosis and inflammation. In summary, results of these studies indicate that topical administration of black newsprint inks and mineral oils produces local toxicity at the site of application in mice."
The report also discusses reduced body weights in female rats, and increased kidney and liver weights in both sexes (this is not a good thing).
So now, may I ask you the same question that you asked me; "If something's toxic to a snake, then why PURPOSELY add it to their enclosure?" Now you know that newspaper inks *are toxic* but yet I am sure you realize that they have worked, and still do as a substrate in snake tanks for a large number of respected breeders and hobbyists. If I were to come onto a snake forum and condemn these snake keepers for continually exposing these snakes to the toxic and potentially carcinogenic chemicals, I simply would be flamed off of the forum. Why? because snake keepers have come to understand that newspaper is a conventional substrate for their snakes, and has worked and continues to work. This is clearly the case with a substanital portion of mildly toxic plants used in terrariums. Now you can clearly see my frustration when someone who likely has far less experience with plants in terraria and vivaria says that mildly toxic plants are completely inapproriate under any circumstances, and that any keeper using any sort of plant that has been deemed toxic in any way is negligent.
On that note, newspaper is hideously toxic to amphibians, because they absorb many of the chemicals in the inks through their skin, again showing that amphibians are far more susceptible to toxins in the environment than snakes, but amphibians experience little to no trouble with most plants.
Other "toxic" substances found in snake tanks that are common and have been safe for use by snake keepers include but are not limited to: bleaches in paper towels, chlroine and chloramine in water. These three chemicals are deadly to frogs. These chemicals are also toxic to humans, but let us not forget, that they are such at *specific levels*
People tend to over-react when they hear the buzz word "toxic." It is a common, and reasonable knee-jerk reaction which is understandable. That said, toxic is a completely relative term, especially when it comes to tropical plants. Toxicity is all about levels of consumption. For substantial number of house plants deemed toxic, you would have to eat 3 or 4 entire plants for any sort of negative effect. Many of the mildy toxic plants on peoples "toxic plant lists" are merely high in oxalates, which interfere with calcium absorption... and the levels found in a number of these plants are labelled "toxic" mainly because their use would be inappropraite in a salad, or in a terarium which houses vegetarian or omnivorous animals, and eating a few plants in their entirety may cause discomfort. Frankly, the notion that a flicking snake tongue could ingest anywhere near the necessary amounts to induce even the slightest bit of discomfort is simply ridiculous. That said, a there are a few plants with irritating sap such as Dieffenbacchia and rubber plants that are generally an inappropriate terrarium plant. However, for many plants deemed toxic, this is not the case. Remember, many on these lists are merely mildly toxic if ingested in substantial amounts.
Therefore it can be concluded that many mildly toxic plants are more than safe for use in a variety of vivaria due to the fact that *high amounts* of them need to be either ingested, absorbed thorugh the skin, and even higher amounts need to be ingested through tongue flicking, or even from absorption through the vent to cause any harm. And again, it should be noted that people should choose plants that are appropriate in terms of size and mechanical structure that suit the animal the will be housed with. A pretty little orchid, an african violet, of a small philodendron will get crushed when housed with a medium sized boa or what have you. So, to the original poster, just use common sense if you wish to add plants to your snake tank.
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