It’s recommended to provide your dart frog with plants and branches, offering hiding places for your frog to enjoy some privacy and feel safe. The more hiding places you provide, the more comfortable your frog is going to be.
The plants you select should be chosen based on their environment. Tropical plants excel in high humidity and the best choice for your dart frog enclosure.
Take your dart frog’s size into consideration when selecting plants for their enclosure. The heavier they are, the more likely they will crush plants.
In addition to this, using live plants in the habitat increases humidity levels, creates oxygen, and breaks down waste inside the enclosure.
1. Spider Plant
Species Name: Chlorophytum comosum.
Common Names: spider plant, spider ivy, ribbon plant, hen and chickens.
The spider plant creates clumps of leaves, growing in damp conditions.
These plants will turn pale when in an area where the soil dries out frequently, often losing their leaves.
They recover quickly and are not easy to kill, making them an ideal plant for your dart frog enclosure.
They grow high creating the perfect backdrop to your enclosure.
2. Silver Pothos
Species Name: Scindapsus pictus.
Common Names: satin pothos, silver pothos, silver vine.
Silver pothos comes from Southeastern Asia, Melanesia, and Australia.
It is a heart-shaped leaf with green and silver coloration.
This is a climbing vine and grows very fast, creating excellent ground cover in your enclosure. These plants can grow up to 12” in height and 15” in width.
They require partial shade with bright lighting to ensure the leaf color stands out in the enclosure.
They do well in slightly moist soil with excellent drainage.
3. Peace Lily
Species Name: Spathiphyllum cochlearispathum.
Common Names: peace lily.
The peace lily is a common houseplant that looks fantastic in your dart frog enclosure.
They do well in moist soil and a warm and humid environment where they grow clumps of leaves which stand upright, suitable for a background plant.
They can tolerate bright light and shade, so you can place them anywhere in the enclosure with ease.
4. Mother-in-Law’s Tongue
Species Name: Dracaena trifasciata.
Common Names: snake plant, Saint George’s sword, mother-in-law’s tongue, viper’s bowstring hemp.
The mother-in-law’s tongue is a beautiful plant that can be placed on the drier side of the enclosure.
They have flat leaves that grow to around 10cm in height.
They tolerate a variety of environments, though it doesn’t do well under very low light with wet soil. It can be dried out, as it has the ability to store water in its leaves.
5. Anthurium spp.
Species Name: Anthurium spp.
Common Names: anthurium, tailflower, flamingo flower, laceleaf.
This plant is actually a type of plant with clustered leaves that vary in shape.
They have small flowers, which form spirals, adding some color to your dart frog enclosure. They also develop small berries.
While it can irritate your skin and eyes, it can be a natural and welcome addition to your dart frog enclosure.
6. Heartleaf Philodendron
Species Name: Philodendron hederaceum.
Common Names: heartleaf philodendron, sweetheart plant.
The heartleaf philodendron or Sweetheart plant, is a common house plant, easy to grow, and looks fantastic in your dart frog enclosure.
These plants have glossy heart-shaped leaves that start out a bronze color before turning green.
The leaves grow to around 4 inches (10cm), offering excellent coverage and hiding spaces in the habitat.
7. Chinese Money Plant
Species Name: Pilea peperomioides.
Common Names: Chinese money plant, missionary plant.
The Chinese money plant is recommended for larger dart frog enclosures.
It tolerates high humidity environments but also does well in low humidity.
It needs a well-drained substrate that doesn’t allow the roots to be allowed to sit in the water for extended periods.
This plant offers excellent hiding in a natural way.
8. Creeping Saxifrage
Species Name: Saxifraga stolonifera.
Common Names: creeping saxifrage, strawberry saxifrage, creeping rockfoil, Aaron’s beard, mother of thousands, roving sailor, wandering Jew, strawberry begonia, strawberry geranium.
This stunning plant creates rosettes with runners, that allow it to create a carpet within your dart frog’s habitat.
This plant comes from Japan and China with scale-like leaves that grow quickly, covering the floor within a short period.
The creeping saxifrage does well under indirect, but bright light. It is exceptionally hardy and can tolerate wet conditions.
9. Mood Moss
Species Name: Dicranum scoparium.
Common Names: Mood moss.
Mood moss is fantastic in the dart frog vivarium. The moss is fascinating and gets its name from its appearance.
When it’s dehydrated it looks delicate and weak, but when watered, it is vibrant and fluffy.
It creates thick clumps with leaves that lean to the side, which looks windswept.
The bright green, great texture, and stunning appearance make this a great addition to your dart frog enclosure.
10. Janet Craig
Species Name: dracaena deremensis.
Common Names: Janet Craig.
This common house plant is popular because it is so easy to care for.
It has dark green leaves that are tightly compact.
It is slow-growing, though can grow up to five feet in height. It prefers moderate lighting, though it does do fine in bright lights.
The plant does well when kept on the dry side, without being allowed to dry out completely. It needs well-draining soil.
11. Pearls and Jade Pothos
Species Name: Epipremnum aureum.
Common Names: Pearls and Jade pothos.
This plant thrives in bright indirect light and low light levels.
It can manage in drier soil conditions and will need regular trimming.
It is one of the easiest plants to care for and will thrive for years in the enclosure.
12. Nerve Plants
Species Name: Fittonia.
Common Names: nerve plants.
Nerve plants are best suited for humid and damp enclosures where they can grow along the ground, creating a ground cover.
They do not do well in hot and bright lighting conditions, thriving in lower light conditions.
They need evenly moist soil and high humidity with ample airflow.
If allowed to stand in stagnant water, the roots will rot.
13. Hoya Heart
Species Name: Hoya kerrii.
Common Names: Hoya heart.
This plant has large leaves which offer excellent hiding places in your dart frog vivarium.
The plant needs good light to grow.
It is a very hardy plant that can store water between watering.
The succulent leaves can thrive in high humid areas, making it an ideal addition to your vivarium design.
14. Tillandsia Xerographica
Species Name: Tillandsia xerographica.
This is an air plant, which is low maintenance and beautiful.
The Xerographics is often seen in nature suspended from tall branches in subtropical trees.
They grow without soil and cling to the trees.
They have beautiful silver leaves that spiral around themselves as they grow.
They are also slow-growing, leaving you with a beautiful addition to your dart frog enclosure.
15. Pineapple
Species Name: Ananas comosus.
This is part of the pineapple family, native to southern Brazil and Paraguay.
Pineapples can add color and interesting decor to your dart frog enclosure, helping to attract fruit flies.
Some dart frog owners are concerned about these plants, feeling they are too acidic.
When used in a large enclosure, where you can cover the fruit, leaving just the spiky leaves, the plant can be a welcome addition.
16. sky plant
Species Name: Tillandsia ionantha.
Common Names: Blushing bride air plant, sky plant.
This is a very beautiful air plant that has grown in popularity.
It is a hearty plant that needs minimal care and attention.
Regular misting is needed to keep the plant healthy.
It enjoys direct sunlight.
You will need to soak the plant once or twice weekly, combined with regular misting.
Air plants don’t grow in soil, but still need hydration to survive.
17. Dieffenbachia spp.
Species Name: Dieffenbachia.
Common Names: dumb cane.
Ideal for the larger dart frog vivarium, this dumb cane plant enjoys moist conditions with bright light.
It loses color when in lower lighting conditions.
They have large leaves which are strong and sturdy, enabling them to handle the weight of your larger dart frog.
They are easy to care for and provides the perfect background in your frog’s enclosure.
18. Java Moss
Species Name: Taxiphyllum barbieri.
Common Names: Java moss.
Java moss is probably one of the easiest plants to grow, common in moist and tropical climates where it grows on river banks, tree trunks, and rocks.
It is almost impossible to kill this moss and it will attach to a range of surfaces including rocks, decorations, gravel, and wood.
The delicate moss has irregular-sized stems with oval leaves which overlap each other.
It grows underwater offering bright green leaves, which tend to be slightly smaller than the moss that has grown on land.
19. Creeping Staurogyne
Species Name: Staurogyne repens.
Common Names: Creeping staurogyne.
This is a very hardy plant that is beautiful green and not too big in size.
It has a bushy appearance, growing to around 10cm with small green leaves.
When it has low lighting, it tends to be more upright, offering a more wilted look when in bright light.
It can be placed in gravel that is well-draining.