ready for ArachnoCon eye candy

[Galapoheros]

Not much to say about it I guess. I just prepared a 10 gal for an animal that could possibly come from the ArachnoCon meeting. If not, W. tx is close enough. If none of that works out, it will be time to order. No water bowl yet. Spring is still about 3 months away. I'm hoping the moss will settle in and spread a little. Still no mites on my stuff. That's a record. Anticipation! There is another smaller rock under the bigger one so it won't cave in. The peat came in the brick shaped product from PetCo. It is still soaking up moisture so it should be packed pretty well. I didn't completely break it apart. I let it expand horizontally towards the sides.

 

[P. Novak]

wow very niceeeeee!!! whered yuo get all the wood and rocks?

 

[Galapoheros]

I've got two HUGE piles of rock in my backyard. Too bad I can't mail them to people. I live in the Tx hill country. I've got an average of about 4 inches of dirt on my prop. with bedrock sticking out in some places. Rocks where all over it. Took me about two years at least to pile up all those rocks working off and on. It was also covered by juniper trees. I cut most of those down to let the oaks grow. So, I have allot of wood and rocks. I'm short on dirt though. I need to get out of here since I like to grow stuff. I would like a tropical sp. in the terr. But, whatever, I'll come up with something. Think I'll set up a couple of others. Three more. That's a good number. Don't want it to get out of hand.

 

[P. Novak]

dang i wish i can find rocks like that around where i live!!

nice setups!!!! and post pics of the other setups if you make em!!!

 

[Galapoheros]

I'll do that. Almost buggin season. Already getting fired up.

 

[Fini]

Really nice. I love the natural rock lodge.

 

[cacoseraph]

I'll do that. Almost buggin season. Already getting fired up.

it's going to be great!

i can't wait myself

of course in CA, we don't really have to wait... another board member on here lives real close to me and he caught a S. polymorpha (and a real pretty one at that) smack dab mid-January.

i believe he said he was stone flipping, but larger size stones when he found it

that's a beaut of a cage, man!

let's see.... in the mists of future times i see....
a Haitian Giant perhaps.... one of proportions befitting such a cage
*waves hands in smoke*
perhaps... a couple of Alipes....?
*waves hands in thickening smoke*
wait! what's this!?... not a centipede!?
*coughs in smoke*

hold on, i think i left something on the stove!

 

[cacoseraph]

I've got two HUGE piles of rock in my backyard. Too bad I can't mail them to people. I live in the Tx hill country. I've got an average of about 4 inches of dirt on my prop. with bedrock sticking out in some places. Rocks where all over it. Took me about two years at least to pile up all those rocks working off and on. It was also covered by juniper trees. I cut most of those down to let the oaks grow. So, I have allot of wood and rocks. I'm short on dirt though. I need to get out of here since I like to grow stuff. I would like a tropical sp. in the terr. But, whatever, I'll come up with something. Think I'll set up a couple of others. Three more. That's a good number. Don't want it to get out of hand.

see the rockpiles http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?p=592737#poststop

 

[bistrobob85]

Great setup, see you at the ArachnoCon Maybe i should get prepared too... can't wait, can't wait...

 

[Galapoheros]

Haaaaa! Nice specimens! Guess I better bring allot of $. Sounds like it could be pretty crowded. I've never been. Almost bought a little trop plant at Home Depot to drop in there. No plants I guess. Well, the moss.

Haaaaa! again. I didn't think that post would last. Enjoyed it while it lasted. This hobby ranges from age 8 to death......all ages. I saved the images in my head.

 

[Galapoheros]

see the rockpiles http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?p=592737#poststop

It's been real warm in Tx too. I've been finding C. vittatus but no pedes. They are so easy to find but I'm picking them up anyway. Your's still alive? Just found two last week. Been too dry for pedes to be near the surface. My trees are even starting to bud because it's been so warm.

 

[Ganoderma]

no idea what type of moss your using, but in my experience with moss in frog cges was it needs a lot to feed on. i tried growign it on coconut husk for a coupel years with pretty bad results. it wasnt untill i used fertilizers that i had any real success.

looks great though! congrats.

 

[Galapoheros]

no idea what type of moss your using, but in my experience with moss in frog cges was it needs a lot to feed on. i tried growign it on coconut husk for a coupel years with pretty bad results. it wasnt untill i used fertilizers that i had any real success.

looks great though! congrats.

That's been my experience too! I just couldn't get it to grow in the past. But I bought some Venus flytraps three years ago from Home Depot. I have about five of them and they are still alive and thriving. I planted them in straight peat. Moss has grown all over the peat. I used peat and sand in the terr. so I'm hoping the peat will be what helps it take. Still looks OK so far.



OK, I just took pictures of the moss in the terr and the sp. living with my traps. I aquired the moss in the terr from an area in the Tx hill country. It was growing on a rock (limestone/alkaline). I took the pics about 6 to 7"s from the mosses. They don't look the same. You've gotten me a little interested. The one in the terr is very course compared to the one in with the traps. I'm going to get a knife and cut about a three inch plug from the traps substrate and transplant it in the future critter terr and see what happens. Going to compare it to the other moss's health as time passes. Haha, I'm a Jack of all critter catagories but a master of none. I think the moss with the traps, came with the traps. The first pic is of the moss in the terr. The second is with the traps. It may sound trivial but I think mosses and other plants help balance a living environment, soaking up what might become toxic to organisms, as food. And producing O2. If it takes, maybe it will act as an indicator as to when to add water. I always use rain water for my bling blings.

OK, just did it. The fine moss on the left and the rough on the right. Let's see what happens. I cut out about a 2" diameter instead of three. Maybe I can maintain this for a year to see the results. I cut a little plug that looks like it's producing spores.

 

[Ganoderma]

getting maturing ones are always good, i had better success at that. it also seems to work way better if you use moss from shady areas. the stuff in sun seems to die a way faster.

fly traps naturally grow in that type of peat/crappy loose dirt bog type areas. so they would do great (but pedes would probably trample them prtty good id think). the moss i found didnt do as well IN the "dirt" as it did on wood/rock thats placed on the dirt. i always let it soak up water like a wick and that also gave me better success. i could also then fertilise without burning all the moss. let it soak up the nutrients. i had a few good patches going that i gave too much nutes too and they quickly, couple days, went brown.

if you can stand the look (i am a fan of short tight fine moss, looks so pretty) sphagnum moss will most cetainly grow good in there. get the stuff wet and it will grow almost anywhere. kind of slow though.

take er easy.

 

[Galapoheros]

getting maturing ones are always good, i had better success at that. it also seems to work way better if you use moss from shady areas. the stuff in sun seems to die a way faster.

fly traps naturally grow in that type of peat/crappy loose dirt bog type areas. so they would do great (but pedes would probably trample them prtty good id think). the moss i found didnt do as well IN the "dirt" as it did on wood/rock thats placed on the dirt. i always let it soak up water like a wick and that also gave me better success. i could also then fertilise without burning all the moss. let it soak up the nutrients. i had a few good patches going that i gave too much nutes too and they quickly, couple days, went brown.

if you can stand the look (i am a fan of short tight fine moss, looks so pretty) sphagnum moss will most cetainly grow good in there. get the stuff wet and it will grow almost anywhere. kind of slow though.



take er easy.

Good to hear your experience with the moss. I happened to be doing the soaking thing too. I've got it really wet in there right now. I ripped up the coarse moss off of a limestone rock. Ha, funny, I just bought a Venus Flytrap today when I bought the orchids. It didn't go in the terr though. I have five others outside in a pot. It went with the others. I'm trying to get seeds. They flowered last year but the heads all turned black...not fertile? hybrid.... I've had the other Flytraps for three years. A moss came with them and has taken over the surface of the sub. That's where one of the mosses in the terr came from. It's of the 'fine' verity and doing great. The other came from granite outcrops in central tx. I don't know what each kind is. Don't know the species. I don't know what live sphagnum moss looks like. I know ancient decayed mosses are acidic (peat bogs). The coarse moss was growing on an alkaline, limestone rock. Nature always balancing things out. Screaming, "moderation!".

 

[Ganoderma]

honestly i think the stuff on rocks will rot in the terrarium. maybe yo will have better luck than me but it always has for me. only the stuff from "dirt" or rottign wood has worked for me. well, moss from rocks has worked but that is because i took the rock home and left the moss on it....doubt you will be breakign any granite for some moss though eh?

sphagnum moss is that stuff you buy, usually dead, in nurseries to line you hanging baskets and such with. im sure you have seen it if you go to nurseries or even plant sections in stores. many people also use it for orchids. i think it has somthing in it to help keep bacteria or fngus or somthing away. but thats going back and my memory sucks.

it gorws a lot of places in wet cool forests expecially with salel. on the west coast in canada this is one hting you look for when picking certain mushroom species. i would constantly find pine mushrooms, sphagnum moss, douglas fir trees, and salel growing together. maybe that helps if your looking? not sure if texas would have it though.....

i would bet centipedes would LOVE it, but im not so sure you will. its kind of club moss like in size.

 

[Galapoheros]

honestly i think the stuff on rocks will rot in the terrarium. maybe yo will have better luck than me but it always has for me. only the stuff from "dirt" or rottign wood has worked for me. well, moss from rocks has worked but that is because i took the rock home and left the moss on it....doubt you will be breakign any granite for some moss though eh?

sphagnum moss is that stuff you buy, usually dead, in nurseries to line you hanging baskets and such with. im sure you have seen it if you go to nurseries or even plant sections in stores. many people also use it for orchids. i think it has somthing in it to help keep bacteria or fngus or somthing away. but thats going back and my memory sucks.

it gorws a lot of places in wet cool forests expecially with salel. on the west coast in canada this is one hting you look for when picking certain mushroom species. i would constantly find pine mushrooms, sphagnum moss, douglas fir trees, and salel growing together. maybe that helps if your looking? not sure if texas would have it though.....

i would bet centipedes would LOVE it, but im not so sure you will. its kind of club moss like in size.

Yea, I've seen allot of dead sphagnum, but I haven't seen "live" sphagnum. I don't think I have. No, Tx not a good place for live sphagnum I think. I think I'm seeing new growth from the moss I ripped off the limestone rock. It's the rougher stuff in the pic. But I don't expect it to last. It must like alkaline sub because it was on an alkaline object. Now it is on acidic peat/sphagnum(?). The finer stuff doing great. And the moss from the granite is doing well also. Looking forward to seeing how it's doing in 6 months. I'll take another pic then to compare the changes.