spanish moss dying!

17 years ago

Hello; About a year ago I found some live spanish moss in Florida and brought it home. I put it in my lizard's terrarium(70-80% humidity, 70-80 oF,150 watt heat lamp on top of cage) I hung the spanish moss on a piece of wood just to the side of the heat lamp and now it is dying. I watered it every day but it doesnt look like rot; the spanish moss is really stiff. I put it in a "Test tube" full of water and took it outside the cage to soak, as I thought it needed water being under the heat lamp for so long. Any ideas on how to help it???

Oh, and the animals I have in the cage are: one gray tree frog, one green anole, one green tree frog, one "long tail lizard". I added this info because I thought It may be important as to why it could be dying.

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Comments (5)

treehaus
17 years ago
The humidity sounds good, but it could be too warm near the heat lamp. I'm not exactly sure what you mean when you say that the Spanish Moss is really stiff - is it brown as well? If so it may already be dead. It could have been burned if it was too close the heat lamp. Is there air movement within the cage? (a fan or something?)
User
17 years ago
Imperative that SM has air circulation. Humidity and water are not as vital as air movement. A terrarium is not the the kind of place to grow it. Outside in bright light, hose it down once a week or so.
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tropichris
Original Author
17 years ago
by stiff I mean- you know how spanish moss can usually move esily in the breeze (yes I do have a small fan on top of te cage, which has a screen top so it gets plenty of circulation), well it is not moving in different parts like in the wild. It is just moving if it gets sprayed by water, and when it does move, it moves the entire plant at the same time, unlike the healthy sm in the wild...Oh, and I heard that it can grow here in Maryland...Is this true?
hotdiggetydam
17 years ago
Light and air is all SM needs...
flabrom
17 years ago
Tillandsia usneoides, Spanish moss, is not a terrarium plant. It is a part of the grayish leaf Tillandsia group and none of them tolerate dampness or high humidity in enclosed environments.

The reason they survive in Florida is due to air circulation. I am afraid your fan does not provide enough relief in enclosed conditions. If you are looking for terrarium bromeliads and plants, try Tropiflora. There is a Terrarium page on their site under the Cargo Report.