Best plant

Whats the best plant for scorpions? I tried using a couple of flowers, but they die if I don't turn on the tank light.

Sanseveria's should work for you, they're some of the toughest plants.

If you don't like how plain they are you could try:
-Palm Neanthe Bella
-Irish Moss
-Mini palms
-Pilea

ShredderEmp said:

Whats the best plant for scorpions? I tried using a couple of flowers, but they die if I don't turn on the tank light.

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What scorpions are you referring to, desert or tropical species? An Emperor would not do well in the same habitat as a desert plant, and a desert plant would soon die if kept in a suitable habitat for an Emp or Asian Forest Scorpion, while a desert scorp like a Dune or Desert Hairy wouldn't appreciate the humidity that a tropical plant thrives on. Most of the low-light plants are tropical, due to having evolved in the rain forest where the tree canopy keeps out much of the light. Peach lilies and Pothos, as well as most Philodendrons, do well in moist, low-light locations, but keep in mind that all plants with the exception of some of the parasitic species do need light., so if the tank is kept where there is very little light, the plants are still going to die.

pitbulllady

pitbulllady said:

What scorpions are you referring to, desert or tropical species?

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Face palm. I have a Pandinus imperator right now but I plan on getting more with the same requirements or little dryer, but probably not desert species, maybe 1 or 2.

ShredderEmp said:

Face palm. I have a Pandinus imperator right now but I plan on getting more with the same requirements or little dryer, but probably not desert species, maybe 1 or 2.

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In that case, you do NOT want Sanseveria(aka "Snake Plants", "Mother-In-Law's Tongue"), as those are desert plants adapted to a xeric environment, which would quickly succumb to the humid environment preferred by Emps. You will want something that likes a moist, low-light environment, like Peace Lily or Pothos, Selaginellas(excellent cover plant), Bromeliads and Tillandsias, tropical plants that can do well at normal household lighting, for the most part. The problem with putting plants in with a scorpion that lives in one of the more intermediate environments, neither tropical or desert, is that most of those plants are going to require much more light, preferably sunlight or artificial sunlight, so you will still have to use the tank's lighting. If you want to go that route, provide the scorpions with plenty of daytime hiding places and put the lights on a timer, to switch the lights on during the day and off at night, so the scorpions can experience a natural circadian cycle, as well.

pitbulllady

pitbulllady said:

In that case, you do NOT want Sanseveria(aka "Snake Plants", "Mother-In-Law's Tongue"), as those are desert plants adapted to a xeric environment, which would quickly succumb to the humid environment preferred by Emps.

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I've used them, the only problem I had was that they grew too fast.

It took them about 2 months to outgrow my terrarium:laugh:

@Pitbull: I think pothos plants are pretty good. Do you know if I would have to take special care of them, or can I just put them in and then have them run wild, like in the rainforest.

My idea would be having them go from mid level to top level, and have plants everywhere, and then the rocks and hides he goes in/under would create a bare spot that I would like to see him to ambush prey on unless he doesn't want to.

ShredderEmp said:

@Pitbull: I think pothos plants are pretty good. Do you know if I would have to take special care of them, or can I just put them in and then have them run wild, like in the rainforest.

My idea would be having them go from mid level to top level, and have plants everywhere, and then the rocks and hides he goes in/under would create a bare spot that I would like to see him to ambush prey on unless he doesn't want to.

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You'd have to periodically prune a Pothos to keep it from taking over, if it's in optimum conditions, and those plants are pretty darn tough! There's no special care of them that I know of. I've known them to live in just about any condition, provided that they are kept watered. They will let you know when they are "thirsty" by drooping and leaf-curling.

pitbulllady

The best part about pothos is they sell them everywhere and require little to no light. Perfect for spider or scorp cages since I never use lighting.

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I kinda want them to take over, haha, I think that would look cool, and represent African rain forests pretty well too!

ShredderEmp said:

I kinda want them to take over, haha, I think that would look cool, and represent African rain forests pretty well too!

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Why not an African violet then? They are also readily available and pretty tough. Many other Gesneriads to fit that bill as well. Although, as stated, even Pothos will want some light. The more compact you want the plant, the more light it will need (of course up to the point it has too much light, which depends on what plant you ultimately choose). Why not run a light during the day when you are out of the house and then turn it off when you get home or in the evening? It's not like the scorps live in a place where no sunlight ever occurs. If you don't have a light of some kind I would say plants of the family Plasticaceae are going to be the most rewarding

Tarac said:

Why not an African violet then? They are also readily available and pretty tough. Many other Gesneriads to fit that bill as well. Although, as stated, even Pothos will want some light. The more compact you want the plant, the more light it will need (of course up to the point it has too much light, which depends on what plant you ultimately choose). Why not run a light during the day when you are out of the house and then turn it off when you get home or in the evening? It's not like the scorps live in a place where no sunlight ever occurs. If you don't have a light of some kind I would say plants of the family Plasticaceae are going to be the most rewarding

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Maybe I'm wrong, since African Violets just give up and die within minutes of contact with me, lol, but I thought that they DID require specialized lighting, and have that issue with getting water on the leaves. Everyone I know of who keeps these puts them under special lighting and has to make sure that they don't get a drop of water directly on the leaves. All the African Violet collectors I've known seem to put a lot of time, energy and money into making those plants happy. I do think that many other Gesneriads would work, though, especially the trailing, more succulent-type species. Another plant genus that would fit the bill, requiring low light and high humidity and providing natural cover for a scorpion, would be Selaginella. Lately there have been several species offered at our local Lowe's, and I actually found a very large specimen at a nearby Wal-Mart for just $3.00, as the Wal-Marts are having to clear out their garden centers to make room for Christmas displays...in mid-September. In bright light this species,(S. martensii turns all sorts of bright colors-reds, pinks, purples, gold and greens, though in lower light conditions it is green with a bluish tint. Here's what it looks like up close:


Here is what it looks like hanging up; some of the tendrils are about six feet long:


These are recommended vivarium plants, and seem to be hardy as well as attractive, so it would be on my short-list of things to put in a vivarium if I was setting up such an enclosure for a scorp or frogs.

pitbulllady

pitbulllady said:

Maybe I'm wrong, since African Violets just give up and die within minutes of contact with me, lol, but I thought that they DID require specialized lighting, and have that issue with getting water on the leaves. Everyone I know of who keeps these puts them under special lighting and has to make sure that they don't get a drop of water directly on the leaves. All the African Violet collectors I've known seem to put a lot of time, energy and money into making those plants happy. I do think that many other Gesneriads would work, though, especially the trailing, more succulent-type species. Another plant genus that would fit the bill, requiring low light and high humidity and providing natural cover for a scorpion, would be Selaginella. Lately there have been several species offered at our local Lowe's, and I actually found a very large specimen at a nearby Wal-Mart for just $3.00, as the Wal-Marts are having to clear out their garden centers to make room for Christmas displays...in mid-September. In bright light this species,(S. martensii turns all sorts of bright colors-reds, pinks, purples, gold and greens, though in lower light conditions it is green with a bluish tint. Here's what it looks like up close:

Here is what it looks like hanging up; some of the tendrils are about six feet long:

These are recommended vivarium plants, and seem to be hardy as well as attractive, so it would be on my short-list of things to put in a vivarium if I was setting up such an enclosure for a scorp or frogs.

pitbulllady

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Really? My mother keeps them on several of her window sills, Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden has them growing semi-epiphytically in the oolytic limestone walls where they are regularly misted several times a day by automatic sprinklers. The director of research here has them growing in his office en masse- no windows, just regular overhead hospital fluorescents that are changed when ever maintanence decides to change them. Didn't realize it got more complicated with violet culture, I thought that was what is so appealing about them as house plants. The local grower here that does them for all the garden shops and the fall and spring festival does them in a plain old green house too, watered above with the rest of the plants she cultivates and she has really gorgeous and diverse violets. Certainly they don't like to be drowned but they do get regular rain fall where they are native, right? I used to grow a few with my dart frogs with out any problem. Hmm, I just never considered them picky. Now I'm scared lol.

For Gesneriads, Episcia do really well in terraria. A lot of the "lipstick" types do too as do Nematanthus, the Goldfish plants. Several of those are diminutive and are very attractive. We used to have a Gesneriad specialist in the botany dept. here, they have a really selection of former research plants in their teaching collecting greenhouse. It's a cool family, from itty bitty little things to trees.

+1 on the Sellaginella for fairly humid tanks for sure. They are very pretty as ground covers.

There is a little plant that might be found in a pet or fish store, it's native and fairly widespread in the SE USA, Micranthemum umbrosum. Can be found near water, sometimes even as emergent aquatic or fully aquatic. It's pretty and compact in very low light, often used in aquaria but in the wild is more common in moist areas close to water, at least here in Florida.

I really am interested in the Gesneriad family, having seen the "lipsticks" and "goldfish" plants and one nameless succulent type at Lowe's with lots of diminutive white flowers a few months ago, that I really wish I'd grabbed. With the exception of the first two I mentioned, and the African Violets, of course, they just are not often seen offered for sale anywhere around here. I really wish I could afford a greenhouse, seriously, and could afford to heat it in winter(we get colder winters here in SC than you do down in FL), because my plant collection is outgrowing the space I have(not to mention individual plants just growing, period). I used to have a huge classroom when I was teaching Art, that had windows almost on all walls, and looked out onto a big central atrium, and I kept my plants in there(to the envy of my less-than-green-thumbed co-workers), but I am in a regular classroom now with two dinky windows, so I have little space for the type of plants I keep, which need indirect light, but not LOW light. I'd really love to branch out(no pun intended)into more of the carnivores and exotic ferns/club mosses, as well as expand my Rhipsalis collection. I'd almost be scared to think of what would happen if I ever got a little bit of money and an opportunity to visit some of the big FL nurseries and commercial greenhouses!

pitbulllady

As a fellow plant enthusiast I completely understand. Florida is a wonderland for people like us. My greenhouse is one of my most favorite investments. Even here in Florida there are huge benefits to greenhouses, primarily in the humidity department if you can believe it.

Gesneriads are really wonderful. I've seen them all over the tropics in situ, some of them are quite amazing to behold in stature alone. If you haven't seen it, this website will make you drool:

http://www.gesneriads.ca/

Many are easy to cultivate. There are some cooler growing genera. I think there are many Sinningia that have a cold dormancy, which is why I don't get to have any here Florida does have some disadvantages. Our sun and humidity will kill just about anything that is even slightly heat sensitive. And it's still too cold to reliably cultivate something like coffee outside. Anyway, let me not hijack this thread with my plant-fanaticism lol.

I know this is an old post so im not even sure someone will see this. But if someone does is a foilage (succulent) plant OK in a asian forest scorpion tank?

Inkedkeeper said:

I know this is an old post so im not even sure someone will see this. But if someone does is a foilage (succulent) plant OK in a asian forest scorpion tank?

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Depends how much light you're planning to give it (it will need a fairly large amount) and how deep the substrate is.