Plants

[papa gator89]

I plan on building an enclosure for my baby yellow and red foot tortoises, I was wondering what real plants are safe to put inside it?

 

[pfara]

There are lots of tort-safe plants you can use. Redfoots need high humidity and therefore you'll need humidity loving plants, too. Some houseplants I use: bromeliads, spider, pothos, norfolk pine, prayer, lipstick vine, and christmas cactus. So far, I have yet to kill spider plants, pothos, christmas cactus and bromeliads. I can't give you an answer on the others that I listed because I've only had them for about 2 months. There are many other plants you can use so have fun with your tortoise garden

Oh, and when buying plants from your local home improvement store, allow some time for the chemicals to break down and leach out before introducing them to your enclosure.

 

[papa gator89]

How long does it take the chemicals to dissipate and how do you get rid of them?

 

[pfara]

How long does it take the chemicals to dissipate and how do you get rid of them?

Honestly, I'm not sure. Some people say 3 months, others 6 months, and some 1 year. For the spider plants, I watered the soil heavily then took the spiderlings off of them to plant. I also try to speed up the decontamination process by repotting into "clean" soil. I try to remove as much of the old, existing dirt that the plant had. It's a tricky process because the plants are already stressed enough with trying to acclimate to its new home. I just like to hope for the best since I'm still a novice with houseplants.

 

[papa gator89]

Ill ask my friend, he is a florist. Once I get the answer I will let you know on this thread.