vivarium plants-poison-HELP

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wild caught

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Mar 7, 2006
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first off, i know absolutly NOTHING about plants lol. but, i wanted a new plant for my crested gecko/tree frog vivarium.

i bought an azalea from loewes, its perfect, thick branches and nice leaves, no flowers. id cut the flowers off, looks better without them.

before i put it in the tank (thank god) i looked it up online, and found out they are poisonois if an animal eats them.

im assuming its not safe in the tank. a cricket will eat the leaves and the frog will eat the cricket, or they will lick water off the leaves or something? ?

will this definetly be a problem?

im bummed because it looks awesome and was $1.oo, but im just thankful i looked it up before putting it in the tank.

thanks guys.
 
The problem is here is avarian toxicity versus mamallian toxicity versus reptile toxicity. I think there is a list somewhere of all the reptile-safe plants.
 
Hey
I'm glad you like plants! You're right that Azaleas (And related species, such as Rhododendrons) are toxic. While I would not be worried about the cricket, frog, etc... I am more worried about the Azalea's own requirements. They are not the best plants for indoors as they need bright, indirect light to do best, and they do *NOT* like heat.

There are many other suitable species that would work for you. Citrus trees are under-used but make wonderful terrarium inhabitants, for instance.
 
I forgot to mention this: if you want some plants for your Crested Gecko/Tree Frog set up, you can't go wrong with Wandering Jew, dracaena, and ZZ plants.

Those guys are really easy to find, and a lot of Crested Geckos love the dracaena.
 
I'd like to add that the plants BloodyIrish suggested would be better for a slighty drier environment - If it's a tree frog setup, it will need to be quite moist, and a whole different group of plants would be more suitable for that - such as Pothos, Spider Plants, Baby's Tears, Ferns, Christmas cacti, and so on.
 
Non-toxic, but you'd have to look up specific care, or our inhouse botanist to instruct you lol. I know cresties don't need it overly humid, just a spray a day kind of thing... so not that moist, and allowed to dry out, and isn't kept at much above room temp. if that helps sant.
Anyway heres the list...
Bromeliads (Guzmania, Vrisea, Neoregelia, Achmea)
Dischidia (Ovata, bengeliansis)
Ferns (lemon button, maidenhair some others)
wondering jew
Ficus pumilia (many varieties available)
mother inlaws tongue (for the phelsuma)
begonia sp
some orchids (depending on size) ludisia do well in vivariums
Some types of tropical cactus rhips???
Moss (java ricicia)

Inch plant is good, quick grower (supposedly an inch a day ) is as cheap as anything. Nice white flowers too.
 
in-house botanist. I like that... lol
Temp is always a good factor to figure into the equation as some plants love heat, others hate it - Room temp is always best when dealing with most plants. Davo's suggestions are great (And the Christmas cactus is one of those tropical "cacti")

I guess we'll have to wait to hear about more details on this specific set up and we can get you all set up!
 
santoury;1146282; said:
I'd like to add that the plants BloodyIrish suggested would be better for a slighty drier environment - If it's a tree frog setup, it will need to be quite moist, and a whole different group of plants would be more suitable for that - such as Pothos, Spider Plants, Baby's Tears, Ferns, Christmas cacti, and so on.
Click to expand...

I water my Wandering Jew and ZZ plants all the time and moist for a couple of years and they do fine. Although I can see your point with the dracaena.

Wandering Jews (sold as Inch Plant) are virtually unkillable anyway, same with the Golden Pothos (also can be sold as Devil's Ivy). They grow in anything and don't mind lot of water and pretty tolerant of underwatering to a point.
 
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