Dart Den

i want to get a plant that is called Calathea for my viv. Is that one safe for frogs. Also are all ferns ok. If i get any plants from a store is there any prep i have to do before i can put it in my tank.

Since BlackJungle and other dart frog vivarium sites sell it, I would assume it is safe.

In my opinion it gets a bit too big for most vivs. But it will grow.

Rinse the plant well with clean water, including rinsing off as much of the soil as possible. Repeat. Repeat again, if you are obsessive. Plant in tank. Rinsing will remove surface pesticide residues and other nasty stuff.

How large is your tank ? they get pretty big.

A lot of ferns get too big for most vivs as well. If you order from Black Jungle or Josh's Frogs you can get plants specifically for vivs and that are the right size. A lemon button fern, for example, is just the right size for my viv. Fran

I have seen larger plants get potted in the vivarium with small pots. That way if they start to get too large you can remove it easier. Instead of having to rearrange everything and potentially killing the plant if it needs to be removed.

and there's always my fav option - trimming. A little scissor work every now and then....no worries.

Philsuma Wrote:and there's always my fav option - trimming. A little scissor work every now and then....no worries.

Great advice here...I think larger-leaved plants look better because they offer better perspective on the size of the frogs. If all the plants are small-leaved, the frogs look way larger than they really are. Yeah, if left alone, lots of large-leaved plants grow too big for a viv, but scissors are an easy remedy for that.