# Has anyone ever tried to plant grass in the enclosure?



## isdrake (Jul 10, 2010)

Has anyone ever tried to plant grass in the enclosure? And in that chase, how did it go?

I don't know if this is a good or bad idea but since I use soil and humus as substrate I though it would experiment a little. I purchased a box of seeds containing some sort of "natural grass mix". I thought it might make the enclosure look more alive. I don't think it will bother the Tegu.

I planted the seeds a few days ago and it's already growing.


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## Jer723 (Jul 10, 2010)

how are you going to fit a lawn mower in the tank! lol :-D I hope it works well for you.

Jerry


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## chelvis (Jul 10, 2010)

wow. Do you have the tegu living in there as the seed is growing. I found everytime i tired to add grass be it seed, sod or mature plot grass he just dug it up. Around the basking spot it also got way to hot and the graass died.... long story short it didnt work but seems like urs in coming in nicely.


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## isdrake (Jul 10, 2010)

Jer723 said:


> how are you going to fit a lawn mower in the tank! lol :-D I hope it works well for you.
> 
> Jerry



Hehe. 



chelvis said:


> wow. Do you have the tegu living in there as the seed is growing. I found everytime i tired to add grass be it seed, sod or mature plot grass he just dug it up. Around the basking spot it also got way to hot and the graass died.... long story short it didnt work but seems like urs in coming in nicely.



She doesn't seem to dig on the open spaces. She always dig right next to things. I hope the grass will survive her.


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## Pikey (Jul 10, 2010)

as long as it grows you'll never have to change out the substrate. just pooper-scoop it. The urine small amount of poo will fertilize it and it will break down the ammonia & most of the droppings..... you have the beginnings of a self contained ecosystem


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## Jer723 (Jul 10, 2010)

Pikey said:


> as long as it grows you'll never have to change out the substrate. just pooper-scoop it. The urine small amount of poo will fertilize it and it will break down the ammonia & most of the droppings..... you have the beginnings of a self contained ecosystem



Thats awesome!


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## AlbatrossTrevelyan (Jul 10, 2010)

that picture looks like something out of a movie. lol.


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## isdrake (Jul 10, 2010)

Pikey said:


> as long as it grows you'll never have to change out the substrate. just pooper-scoop it. The urine small amount of poo will fertilize it and it will break down the ammonia & most of the droppings..... you have the beginnings of a self contained ecosystem



That sounds awesome. Do you know some actual studies of that or some examples of people who have managed to do it? It sounds too good to be true. But think it's impossible (or at least very hard) to create a real ecosystem... until proven wrong at least. 

But I'm sure the grass will help. Maybe I just have to change it twice a year?  That would be nice because it's a loooot of substrate.


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## Pikey (Jul 10, 2010)

i've done it on a smaller scale, i had a friend do it in a 4lx4wx6h. at the most you'd have to change it once a year, but more plants/less animals/bigger space less changing.......ie 8x4x4 1 tegu some grass, tropical leafy plants, small shrub or 2 and you'd be set for atleast 2yrs.


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## AWD247 (Jul 10, 2010)

I used to do this with my larger Black throat cause my enclosure was huge enough to maintain it with no problems, well I cant say 100% no problems, as mentioned above the you would think the self fertilization would work.. If your thinking of going this route your mistaken, with an area basically so small and enclosed theres no underground "filtration or escape" for urates and poop that are not picked up or utilized by the soil,. this ends up making alot of problems, lots of bacteria back up and build up, soon youll realize the growth of moss and mini mushrooms, also depending on if you protected your flooring you will also see the flooring hold moisture and moss, depending on your general daily up keep youll start to see the dreded white bugs everyone hates, even small black flies,.

Again, im not saying its a bad thing, everything I mentioned above is what will happen if your not doing your part with the up keep (basically what to keep an eye out for), its just something that neededs to be handled and maintained way more than the normal, its more than just scooping up the poops etc,. youll need to monitor the grass, soil, daily. Cutting the grass (as Jerry mentioned) is actually needed, keeping it cut and at the lenth you need will keep it growing properly, watering and uv is going to difficult sometimes, its hard ot keep the humidity and light the tegu needs let alone the moisture and light the grass will need without disrupting either or. (meaning too much humidity for the GU and or too much heat for the grass.)

It can be done, but if you run into the problems with small bugs then youll basically need to completely restart cause its not like you can throw bug killers etc in it without harming the GU.
Give it a shot, see how your maintenance works, keep a close eye, always check the soil at different levels, check and clean poops etc ASAP and all the way through the soil levels,. 
It took me about 3 tries to learn what worked and didnt, once you have your routine set and up keep, youll have a great natural enclosure.

Goodluck looks awesome so far


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## Pikey (Jul 10, 2010)

good point, I've grew up with my mom owning/operating a green house/garden supply shop, so I've just alway kinda been really good with growing stuff, plus i used 2" of gravel for every 6" of dirt above it, separate the gravel from the dirt with plastic window screen, i use this in frog/toad/small lizard glass tanks, or when you do bigger one i use pond liner to seal the bottom, or you could do a water reservoir/tub mounted underneath with a small pond filter pump.


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## isdrake (Jul 10, 2010)

Let's see if got this straight. My intention isn't to create a ecosystem. I will still change the substrate as usual. I just thought it might look better with some grass spots (I haven't planted grass in the entire enclosure). It's a purely aesthetic project.

I do not want to put down a lot of work just because of the grass. I can probably trim it a little and try to keep it alive (but the climate must suit the Tegu off course). But if it's to much trouble I will remove it.

I did have a little problem understanding the last two post (my English skills isn't that good). Will the grass cause me problems even if the substrate is changed as usual? Will it affect the enclosure in any negative way? Or will the grass only cause problems if I try to make a ecosystem?


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## Guest (Jul 10, 2010)

I am building my tegu pen and any advice would be greatly appreciated. It is 8' wide and about 35' long. I have a pond with waterfall and 4 big underground nests built from concrete blocks and concrete slurry and filled with some dirt and covered with a removable top. I also have large irragation pipes cut at different lengths leading into the nests so each one is serperate with distance between the openings. I was planning on leaving the large sassfarass grass that is along the house for the tegus to hide in. Is there any other plants that are non-toxic and capable of withstanding the wrath of a tegusaurusrex...? you can see my full grown female feasting on a large rodent.... <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.youtube.com/good420fun" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.youtube.com/good420fun</a><!-- m --> look for the tegu1 or tegu2 :cheers


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## Pikey (Jul 10, 2010)

@Isdrake nope it will be fine & for the most part you wont have to even trim it, your Tegu just walking around will keep it matted down. & dont change anything other than add a 6500K light or 2 to help the grass grow.

@Frank - do a google search (i had a list on my other comp) for pet friendly plants. you'll find a few big lists of what is safe, but Japanese Evergreens (like bigger bonsai trees) look good, are safe, and next to indestructible


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## Guest (Jul 10, 2010)

Thanks Pikey. Ill post some pictures in a few weeks when the habitat is complete.


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## isdrake (Jul 11, 2010)

Pikey said:


> @Isdrake nope it will be fine & for the most part you wont have to even trim it, your Tegu just walking around will keep it matted down. & dont change anything other than add a 6500K light or 2 to help the grass grow.



Okay thanks.  I will just leave in and see how it turns out. We already have four 6500K light tubes in the enclosure.


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## Pikey (Jul 11, 2010)

well then you should be fine, good luck. Keep us posted on how it works out...In my outside pen it was bare dirt grass starts to grow but dies because of the 3 tegus walking all over it.


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## Guest (Jul 11, 2010)

Nothing quite like the sun...no extra lighting or vitamin supplement required.


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## mastroj (Jul 12, 2010)

The problems arise when the tank get stagnant water. As in humidity builds up and sits in the soil, if the tank had somewhere for the water to go when it built up everything would likely sort itself out. A high humidity grass would do better but if its not imperative stick with what you have and if that doesnt work try something else.


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## Guest (Jul 13, 2010)

If you have the correct amount of plant matter than your tank will become its own ecosystem. I have a 20 gallon tank with about 5 different plants growing so big they are pushing the top off... inside the tank is 7 pacific tree frogs, 2 firebelly frogs, 4 firebelly newts, and a barking tree frog....as well as ghost shrimp and guppies.....i havent touched the tank in 3 years and everything is crystal clear and all are fat and happy.


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## DeCula (Jul 21, 2010)

Frank.Parent said:


> If you have the correct amount of plant matter than your tank will become its own ecosystem. I have a 20 gallon tank with about 5 different plants growing so big they are pushing the top off... inside the tank is 7 pacific tree frogs, 2 firebelly frogs, 4 firebelly newts, and a barking tree frog....as well as ghost shrimp and guppies.....i havent touched the tank in 3 years and everything is crystal clear and all are fat and happy.



That amphibian tank sounds quite interesting, I would love to see some pictures and hear some more about it. If you are so inclined, it would be much appreciated! I really like frogs, and always had a huge interest in enclosed ecosystems. In fact, I'd really love to design a self-sustaining (or as close as possible) enclosed ecosystem on a large scale, and I'm sure your personal experience would help out a lot.


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