Zoo Enclosures

[ADZz_93]

i was at the zoo the other day, and a lot of the enclosures had live plants inside them, which looked really good. does anyone know what sort of plants they are, and the process that they go through to get rid of mites ect. from the soil and theplant itself.?
cheers

 

[ADZz_93]

bump, anyone?

 

[nocturnal_pulse]

i am not sure about the zoo but here are some for sale....

LIVE ARID ZONE PLANTS FOR YOUR REPTILE ENCLOSURE - eBay Other Supplies, Reptiles, Pet Supplies, Home. (end time 02-Oct-09 21:08:01 AEST)

LIVE ARID ZONE PLANTS FOR YOUR REPTILE ENCLOSURE II - eBay Other Supplies, Reptiles, Pet Supplies, Home. (end time 03-Oct-09 09:52:46 AEST)

 

[Serpentes]

You can rotate the plants from outside in the sun to inside the enclosure. The harsher conditions outside kill off many bugs. If something becomes a mite issue there are treatments for the plants. The plants in zoo enclosures don't usually have a long lifespan, and are rotated as necessary.

 

[Midol]

Couldn't you just use lighting which provides both heat to the reptile and sustainence to the plants?

 

[ADZz_93]

anyone know the names of plants you can put in enclosures safely, and what do you do about the soil?

 

[CGSwans]

anyone know the names of plants you can put in enclosures safely, and what do you do about the soil?

I'm guessing this was Melbourne Zoo? Email them directly, they will refer the question to their Reptile department and you should get a response. They should be able to tell you the exact plant species used in specific exhibits.

 

[garycahill]

The Melbourne Zoo rotates their plants, as Serpentes has already posted.
The UV from the reptile globes are too harsh for plants generally.
Also their range of UV is very restricted, so they need to be near the light if they are going to get any benefit.
You can use just about any plant if you rotate them, but I don't know why you would want to introduce bacteria, fungi, etc, etc, into your enclosure.
The Zoos employ people who work all this kind of stuff out.
I would just stick with fake stuff which is easy to keep cleen, but that's just my opinion.

 

[ADZz_93]

good idea, will do that. Thx

 

[ADZz_93]

i only have fake plants in my enclosures, im just curious