Live Plant Setups

[Zephyrsue]

Hello!

I will be getting my first fat tailed gecko in 2 - 3 weeks; I am very excited and he is completely adorable! He is staying with his breeder a bit longer to grow out before I can go pick him up. He is my first reptile and I want to do my best by him.

My question is in the tank setup. I see that some people like to keep live plants in with their geckos and I am interested in this as I come from an aquatic background and keep fresh and saltwater fish and love making their aquariums appear as natural as possible. I was considering what kinds of plants I might like to keep in the terrarium with my gecko (he is going into a 20 gallon tank, I believe) and kind of want something functional. Has anyone ever successfully kept herbs or perhaps strawberries? I am using a coconut fiber substrate and am keeping the tank between 50 - 70% humidity (it does rise up to around 80 when I mist but quickly drops back down) and the hot side of the tank is at 90F with the cooler side around 72.

 

[acpart]

The problem I have had with plants in the AFT tank is that the "soil" isn't too deep and the geckos like to wander and sometimes dig stuff up. I have had some luck with haworthia planted directly into the enclosure. Lately I've been using plants in pots and placing them in the enclosure. I have a succulent and an African violet in my AFT enclosure. I remove the violet when misting and twice a week I put about 1/2" of water in the dish that the pot sits in since I've heard they need to be watered from below. I position the light so it's directly on the succulent and not on the violet. I make ceramics, so I've been able to make attractive earth-toned pots as well.
You could also attach some air plants to places in the cage and those will enjoy the misting.

Aliza