Natural plants

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Feb 06, 2005 2:30 pm

Do you know if there are some natural plants that could grow in the ForestBed? Obviously, something that would be non-toxic for hermies! I am not crazy about artificial plants, I would prefer real ones if I could.I thought about something simple: to sow some peas (from our kitchen) and sunflower seeds (from our birds's reserve). What do you think about that?

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Feb 06, 2005 3:20 pm

I know someone uses bromeliades. But i'm wondering what else we can use too. On the black jungle terrarium web site that have a bunch of plants that they use for the lizards and frogs etc.

Jedediah · Post by **Jedediah** » Sun Feb 06, 2005 9:13 pm

I have used bromeliads because they are not toxic and have sturdy leaves that the crabs can climb. They last for weeks in the crabitat, most other plants are destroyed after a few days Many plants (and vegetables) contain oxalic acids which prevents the absorption of calcium. It's not a problem if those plants are fed occasionally, but I wouldn't offer them all the time, since the crabs tend to eat the plants in their crabitat. Pothos Ivy for example is a good plant for lizard or frog tanks, but it contains huge amounts of oxalic acids. I wouldn't plant it in a crabitat or in the vivarium of a herbivorous lizard.I checked the plants on the black jungle website a while ago, here's what I found:- bromeliads are okay- aroids almost always contain oxalic acid - fernes are just too numerous to say anything about them in general. They are beautiful for rainforest terrariums, but I think the crabs would destroy them very quickly.- Selaginella is okay, but fragile - maybe it could be planted higher up, where the crabs don't walk over it so often- begonies have oxalic acid, too- orchids aren't poisonous, but fragile. I have some in my poison arrow frog terrarium and they are just beautiful. I think the epiphytic ones are good for crabitats, since they can be mounted on cork bark or branches where the crabs cannot reach them so easily- calatheas are okay and since they have tough leaves, should be okay for the crabs to climb- gesneriads seem to be mostly harmless, but I'd check the exact species before buying it - there might be a harmful species after all- ant plants: I couldn't find anything on them- peperomias are mildly toxic because they contain alcaloids. Rodents will die if they ingest a huge amount, so I guess I wouldn't risk it.- carnivorous plants are beautiful, but far to fragile for a crabitat- I'm not sure about the cacti and the aquatic plants, but I'd say the cacti are too fragile and for the aquatic plants it would be better to do research on the exact species.

KittyCaller · Post by **KittyCaller** » Sun Feb 06, 2005 10:05 pm

From time to time I plant flax seeds in the EE. They sprout and the crabbies eat the sprouts. I plant them exclusively for the hermit crabs though, so expect them to be destroyed. (And the crabbies happily oblige quite rapidly) But I'm really not sure about sturdy plants. Looks like Jedediah's got a good list for you though.

Jedediah · Post by **Jedediah** » Mon Feb 07, 2005 2:36 am

I forgot: peas and sunflower seeds will be okay, but won't live very long. If you plant them in the crabitat the chances are good that you won't even see the actual plant because the crabs dig up the germinating seed and eat it. Birds seeds are good, too. If you let them grow in a dish outside the crabitat, you get a "shrubbery" It will be trampled flat after two, three days but the crab do enjoy it.Spider plant is nontoxic and if you keep the mother plant and plant the scions in the crabitat, you will always have plants for the crabs. Only the blooms of spider plant are toxic.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Feb 08, 2005 2:45 pm

I have used spider plants in mine and after 3 days they are trampled to bits. Oh well, my momma plant is always putting on babies.

KittyCaller · Post by **KittyCaller** » Tue Feb 08, 2005 2:48 pm

Woohoo for shrubbery! I'll have to try the bird seed...hmm, you think gerbil food would work as well? It's got much the same stuff as bird seed.

Jedediah · Post by **Jedediah** » Tue Feb 08, 2005 7:43 pm

I've used hamster food as well. Any kind of seeds or grain works well. I haven't done a shrubbery in a while. I better make one unless the crabs shout at me: We want a...SHRUBBERY!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Feb 09, 2005 1:06 am

Can you run over how to grow a shrubbery one more time?Do you just sprout seeds on a wet paper towel in a ziplock like you do when you sprout seeds to plant outside? (Like beans?)I think they would love this...

Jedediah · Post by **Jedediah** » Wed Feb 09, 2005 5:30 am

You can do that, but you need to transfer the germinated seeds to soil or they won't grow.I usually just fill a plastic container with moist Forest Bedding and throw the seeds on top, maybe cover them with some FB. Everything else happens by itself (don't forget to water the seeds once in a while).Here's my crab shrubbery (two days later it had vanished):http://www.arcor.de/palb/alben/80/94180 ... 326565.jpg