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Planting in terrestrial tank

A

aimee

Guest
Hey
Just wondering if anyone can advise me on what types of plants would be suitable to plant in a sallie setup?
I have a spare 4ft tank at the moment and have decided to use it as a display tank for my 4 sallies. Had them for about 6 months now and fancied them being in a proper setup for a change. (currently living in a basic papertowel setup)
The tank has a inch/ 1 1/2 layer of compost soil and mixed with bark. A small bowl of water to mainly help with humidity at one end. I will be putting small logs, branches, moss and leaves/other materials in to provide damp places and places to hide. I am quite used to keeping this species as I have lots of other amphibians too but I have never had any experience in what types of plants can be tolerated by them.
I am not good with scientific names of plants, just the common ones will do! I was thinking of something like small ferns and long grasses? I don't want anything that requires a lot of maintenance, or plants with flowers, ie daffodils ( Not that i plan on putting daffodils in there with my sals)

Any ideas are greatly appreciated
Thanks
 
U

uwe

Guest
Hi Aimee,

ivy will properly suit your set-up. Easy to maintain. It needs liek your animals not much sun.

see you

Uwe
 
J

jennifer

Guest
Uwe is right, ivy of any kind is good. Ferns are also good. My favorite is a plant called pothos (or devil's ivy).

If possible, do not plant the potting soil that the plant comes with, it may contain pesticides or those little syrofoam balls that come in potting mixes. Rinse off the plant as well as possible before planting it. One thing I like about the pothos is that it can be started easily from cuttings, so there is no need to transplant the entire plant.
 
A

aimee

Guest
Hey
Thanks for the responses.
So Ivy it is then! Is this expensive from the shops? I have parents who are plant fenatics but I don't think we have any ivy growing wild in the garden. I will try and get some fern too, any other plants ok to use?
Thanks!
 
F

francesco

Guest
Aimee
make sure you put enough plants to absorb all the waste from the salamanders otherwise you'll have to change the soil once every few months.

You wouldn't expect it but salamandras tend to do quite big escrement especially when they reach adult size
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Ciao
 
A

aimee

Guest
Hi
Thanks Francesco - I will bear that in mind!
Well I have moved them into their new tank and they seem quite happy. At one end I custom built a mini pond using a washed and cleaned bin liner bag and rocks. The sallies have spent a lot of time either in or around the pond. I think this is quite unusual as they only go to water to breed? (they are barely 2 years old)
To compensate the lack of ferns and ivy, I went foraging in my garden lastnight and pulled up quite a few stray grass clumps, so there is a bit of grass to keep the sallies happy. Also threw in a few flower pots and odd bits of leaf litter/bark/branches to keep them occupied.
Will post pictures soon. Any other ideas that would make the tank more interesting/better habitat for them? The humidity is good too as the pond helps keep the tank moist and damp but not to the extreme...

(Message edited by Kangol1365 on September 27, 2003)
 
A

aimee

Guest
Heres the pics as promised. The first one is of the first half of the tank. The second is of the sencond half of the tank, and the last one is a picture taken inside the tank from the first half. If you look closely you can see one of the salamandra in the bottom right hand corner of the pic.

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morg

Member
Joined
Nov 7, 2002
Messages
661
Reaction score
20
Location
Doncaster England
Nice looking set up Aimee.
Although some people advise that water is not needed for fire salamanders unless breeding is expected, I have found that all the fire sals I have kept love a dip in the water.
Some will also use the water section as a toilet which makes keeping the tank clean much easier.
 
F

francesco

Guest
Aimee
I would add some moss in the terrestrial part so they can hide under it
 
J

juraj

Guest
Hi
Small individuals of ferns work very well. For example Adianthum, Pteris, Asplenium etc. :

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F

francesco

Guest
They're my favourite subspecies, they'll accept anything I give them to eat. The other they I tried giving them dog pellets and they ate them! Bernardezi are similar in behaviour while I find terrestris much more nervous.
 
C

chris

Guest
Aimee,
Great setup. I too would suggest some moss and ferns.
Chris
 
I

iain

Guest
Are terrestris really that shy? I am gonna get some fire sallies soon cant decide which type.
iain
 
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