# Multi-Species Enclosure



## Python (Aug 10, 2016)

So out of curiosity, has anyone ever set up an enclosure with several different animals in it? I've recently set up a tank with a few small (V. carolinianus) scorpions, one roughly 3 inch centipede (S. sexpinosus), and a small, random beetle that resembles a death feigning beetle (possibly Hydrochus sp but not sure). So far, everything is running smoothly with absolutely no sign of trouble. I threw in some small crickets and most of them were devoured after a few days. All of these animals are wild caught, in fact they all came from under the same mattress that had been discarded at the edge of the woods near my home. I wasn't sure if they would eventually eat one another or ignore each other but it seems to be the latter. There are several pieces of bark in the enclosure and they all seem to have staked claims on them. The scorpions have all chosen to reside under one piece of bark with the beetle while the pede has decided to remain more mobile, exploring it's world at night while burrowing and hiding during the day. I'm quite interested to see how things play out over time. I expect someday to walk in and find one really fat little animal and several conspicuously absent ones but I have plenty of prey items for them and I believe they'll be fine as long as they remain well fed. Anybody else keep things this way successfully? I'm pretty sure there will be plenty of people who have nothing good to say about keeping them this way. I've got a pretty good imagination so I can play these arguments out in my head, therefore, no need to post anything negative. I'm just interested in the possible positive experiences or people who are curious to try it.


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## shining (Aug 10, 2016)

I've never tried it nor will I but I can say you could have success with it if...

The enclosure is big enough (to be determined by the specimens selected) and everyone is kept well fed.

I can imagine more success with arboreal scorpions given there is a substrate shark in the mix.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## WeightedAbyss75 (Aug 10, 2016)

Yeah, you'd need a huge enclosure for this kind of thing in regards to captive bred insects. Do you have a pic of the cage? It sounds awesome. I would try it, but I wouldn't want to end up with the worst case senario ( especially when you live near Chicago, there aren't many scorps amd pedes here  )


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## JumpingSpiderLady (Aug 10, 2016)

Sounds like a cool experiment! I'd love to see pictures.


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## Python (Aug 10, 2016)

I'll see if I can get some. My phone is my camera and it's pretty old so I don't know if it will turn out or not. Everything in there is so small and colored just like the substrate and the lighting is pretty poor so I'm not optimistic. I have a night time bulb on them for heat since they are nocturnal for the most part. I noticed this morning that sadly, the centipede that was roaming around last night is dead this morning. It was eating a couple days ago so I'm not sure what happened there. They seem to be less hardy than most of the critters I encounter around here. The little scorpions around here are bulletproof and will likely survive things that would wipe out most roaches. When I get home, I'll see about some pictures though even though it's not as diverse as it was yesterday.

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## DreamWeaver8 (Aug 10, 2016)

Sorry for the loss... I've actually been thinking of doing something very similar to this, like a multi-level food chain but I don't really know what would work with something like that, so i haven't really gotten too far in terms of species that would be usable


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## WeightedAbyss75 (Aug 10, 2016)

Python said:


> I'll see if I can get some. My phone is my camera and it's pretty old so I don't know if it will turn out or not. Everything in there is so small and colored just like the substrate and the lighting is pretty poor so I'm not optimistic. I have a night time bulb on them for heat since they are nocturnal for the most part. I noticed this morning that sadly, the centipede that was roaming around last night is dead this morning. It was eating a couple days ago so I'm not sure what happened there. They seem to be less hardy than most of the critters I encounter around here. The little scorpions around here are bulletproof and will likely survive things that would wipe out most roaches. When I get home, I'll see about some pictures though even though it's not as diverse as it was yesterday.


Could it be that it couldn't find food? The scorpions may be eating it all, and it is a big enclosure after all... sorry for the death, but I hope you continue with the idea. If it could work, that would be an awesome tank

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Python (Aug 10, 2016)

My setup was done kind of out of necessity. I went to get crickets from one of the chain pet stores and instead of 50 they gave me closer to 200. It was more than I could use so my extra tank wet to crickets. 
I would imagine that mixing species might be frowned upon but they have plenty of room, they were all caught together in the first place and they are well fed. I wouldn't normally mix them like that but now that I have and nobody has eaten anybody else, I wouldn't have a problem doing it again now that I've tried it. 
If you want to try it, I would recommend species of similar temperament and speed. Similar size would probably be a good idea as well. I think as long as they have plenty of room and lots of hiding places they'll do just fine. It's kind of like keeping different kinds of aggressive fish together. I'd be interested in hearing of other's experiences. Surely I'm not the only one to have tried it

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## Python (Aug 10, 2016)

There are only three little scorps in there and they were all eating the other day. I've only had them all for about a week and a half and there are plenty of crickets to go round. It was running from crickets last night, even the ones without jumping legs so I don't think it was hungry. I'm not normally a pede keeper but I am hoping to expand in that area. I have kept a few and they are fascinating animals but I'll probably stick with captive bred from now on. Time will tell I suppose


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## Arthroverts (Aug 10, 2016)

I've got a little tub that has 3+ Crytopid centipedes, a beetle, a small snail and various other little things in it. Python, your setup sounds pretty cool, so sorry your centipede died.


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## shining (Aug 11, 2016)

Python said:


> It's kind of like keeping different kinds of aggressive fish together.


When you put it like that it doesn't seem so bad.


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## Python (Aug 11, 2016)

The way I figure it, and I could be wrong, keeping aggressive fish together may be a bit more detrimental to the animals since fish are generally more active and have less places to hide. I think that since inverts are less active unless hunting and most keepers provide plenty of hides so they aren't constantly bothering each other. If they do happen to cross paths, which they will from time to time, they generally run away from each other. In the years I've been on this board I've seen many people who have kept different species together though it probably wasn't obvious at the time. Isopods of various types and beetles are frequently kept in enclosures to keep things clean, although they generally aren't viewed as prey items by the inhabitants of the enclosure. This isn't really a new idea at all but I'm guessing that it isn't a readily accepted means of keeping animals. Since beginning this thread and seeing the interest that it has generated, I may expand on this idea with larger enclosures, another taboo subject I've noticed. I've had a vision in my head for many years about a naturalistic enclosure that is large enough to be almost self sustaining, aside from water concerns. I think that if it's big enough and has enough hides to accommodate several animals, prey items thrown in would begin to breed and perpetuate themselves enough to sustain the main residents. The only problem with a setup like this is that the animals would always remain hidden. 

Just a little background on this idea. Many years ago, before I joined this forum, I first had the idea for this. Over the years I've tested various aspects to see how well they would work alone. To begin with, I started keeping everything on dirt. Not special dirt that I bought in a store, just dirt. Microwaves or ovens take care of most pathogens or parasites that are to be found in native soils. once I started keeping animals on dirt, the smells disappeared the cleaning schedule gradually diminished to almost nothing since everything degraded into the soil, and I also noticed that the clay content in our soil was perfect, once packed and settled, for burrowing. No collapses and the inside of the burrow hardens to some extent due to the humidity. Dirt was the biggest factor that I found in making a successful enclosure that would require little to no maintenance. Next was flora. I started trying to keep crickets alive longer since I live so far from a pet store and if I could get them to breed then I would have a fairly reliable source for all sizes of crickets on a regular basis. I figured, since I was keeping them on dirt, why not plant some grass in there for them to feed on. Cue the ryegrass. It grows in the dark on concrete in a dessert. The only maintenance I ever had to do was trim it with scissors when it got too long and mist it from time to time. This has me halfway to an enclosure that I can set and forget. A larger enclosure with planted areas and more hides than animals will help to keep a steady (maybe too steady) flow of prey items for the inhabitants to eat while at the same time keeping the humidity up and, if large enough, will actually create "dew" which will provide some water for the smaller critters to drink. All in all, I'm seriously thinking about actually starting this up, no animals to begin with of course, just to see how viable an option it could be. Let it run for awhile and keep an eye on the conditions inside and if things go well, introduce some critters.

Reactions: Love 3


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## JumpingSpiderLady (Aug 11, 2016)

Python said:


> The way I figure it, and I could be wrong, keeping aggressive fish together may be a bit more detrimental to the animals since fish are generally more active and have less places to hide. I think that since inverts are less active unless hunting and most keepers provide plenty of hides so they aren't constantly bothering each other. If they do happen to cross paths, which they will from time to time, they generally run away from each other. In the years I've been on this board I've seen many people who have kept different species together though it probably wasn't obvious at the time. Isopods of various types and beetles are frequently kept in enclosures to keep things clean, although they generally aren't viewed as prey items by the inhabitants of the enclosure. This isn't really a new idea at all but I'm guessing that it isn't a readily accepted means of keeping animals. Since beginning this thread and seeing the interest that it has generated, I may expand on this idea with larger enclosures, another taboo subject I've noticed. I've had a vision in my head for many years about a naturalistic enclosure that is large enough to be almost self sustaining, aside from water concerns. I think that if it's big enough and has enough hides to accommodate several animals, prey items thrown in would begin to breed and perpetuate themselves enough to sustain the main residents. The only problem with a setup like this is that the animals would always remain hidden.
> 
> Just a little background on this idea. Many years ago, before I joined this forum, I first had the idea for this. Over the years I've tested various aspects to see how well they would work alone. To begin with, I started keeping everything on dirt. Not special dirt that I bought in a store, just dirt. Microwaves or ovens take care of most pathogens or parasites that are to be found in native soils. once I started keeping animals on dirt, the smells disappeared the cleaning schedule gradually diminished to almost nothing since everything degraded into the soil, and I also noticed that the clay content in our soil was perfect, once packed and settled, for burrowing. No collapses and the inside of the burrow hardens to some extent due to the humidity. Dirt was the biggest factor that I found in making a successful enclosure that would require little to no maintenance. Next was flora. I started trying to keep crickets alive longer since I live so far from a pet store and if I could get them to breed then I would have a fairly reliable source for all sizes of crickets on a regular basis. I figured, since I was keeping them on dirt, why not plant some grass in there for them to feed on. Cue the ryegrass. It grows in the dark on concrete in a dessert. The only maintenance I ever had to do was trim it with scissors when it got too long and mist it from time to time. This has me halfway to an enclosure that I can set and forget. A larger enclosure with planted areas and more hides than animals will help to keep a steady (maybe too steady) flow of prey items for the inhabitants to eat while at the same time keeping the humidity up and, if large enough, will actually create "dew" which will provide some water for the smaller critters to drink. All in all, I'm seriously thinking about actually starting this up, no animals to begin with of course, just to see how viable an option it could be. Let it run for awhile and keep an eye on the conditions inside and if things go well, introduce some critters.


I love the idea, but it may be difficult to find the balance.  A few fish keepers have managed to have a very low maintenance setup with a low fish load and high plant load, but the plants have to far outweigh the animals.  And these were setups without predators.  I'd love to see what successes you are able to have.  Perhaps it's not so tough with terrestrials.  I couldn't say.  Either way, I'm eager to see what you come up with.


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## Python (Aug 11, 2016)

The plants will be merely to maintain the prey. The enclosure I have in mind will be large enough to accommodate some dwarf plants for show but also some forage grasses or something. I worked for a guy one time and he had a 150 gallon tank in his living room and he never touched it for any reason. The first time I saw it the top was covered with duckweed and what water hadn't evaporated was only about 6 or 8 inches deep at the most. He had fish in there he didn't know about. Mostly Cory cats and a few tetras but they were all looking healthy and happy. The point is, he never touched it at all for several years. Of course I can't do that but the theory is sound. Under the right conditions, a low maintenance diverse enclosure is possible and I think that the various projects I've worked on over the years might just allow me to build something that not only looks awesome, but functions almost by itself as well. Of course I'll have to butt in and make sure things work properly but I should be able to let it ride for the most part

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## Arthroverts (Aug 12, 2016)

I am planning on doing almost the same thing Python, maybe a little a more reliant on me though. I cant wait to see where this goes.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Python (Aug 12, 2016)

Oh my enclosure will certainly be reliant upon me. I'm just hoping that I won't have to buy feed a whole lot once I get it up and running. I'm not sure how much I'll have to do to it but I know that it won't be completely self contained.


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## TarantulasWorld (Aug 13, 2016)

I can see the centipede eventually growing big enough to just be the only animal left in that enclosure.

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## Python (Aug 13, 2016)

The pedes we have around here don't get that big under the most ideal circumstances but they're often found side by side with scorpions, beetles, even earthworms. Of course they are predatory, just like everything else going in but they also seem to have preferences and if given the choice, they seem to prefer less defensive meals like crickets. If there is a steady supply, things should be fine and that is my intent.


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## Python (Aug 13, 2016)

I got some photos of the initial setup. I'll eventually setup something a little bigger as the inhabitants become more numerous. On to business... 

The substrate is two layers, the bottom is topsoil about 2 inches thick or so. then the top inch or so is shredded coconut fiber. I figure the coconut fiber could act as a sort of mulch, keeping the top layer fairly dry while the bottom layer remains somewhat moist. In the back corner I stacked sticks to make the top soil deeper and added sticks, shredded, broken and whole pieces in order to create lots of voids under the top layer of substrate. After that I layered pieces of bark on top of that to create cover with layers. The overall effect is like an underground high rise with tons of doors. Of course the back corner is only about 4 inches high or so but the effect remains the same. I also found that I had another pede in there when I went to take pictures. it's a rather large one, around 4 inches or so. I had apparently lost count when I put them in and that one had burrowed to the bottom and never resurfaced thus leaving me to forget about it's existence. I also found a rather small scorpion that I hadn't seen in awhile. I actually had thought it was bigger than it turned out to be but oh well, it is what it is. I shuffled a dead cricket over to it and it ate like a champ. There is also a wayward earwig and a small beetle that I haven't identified yet. It looks like one of those death feigning beetles but black instead of blue. Not sure what it is but it does play dead when I mess with it. I posted pics of a couple of the V. carolinianus in the gallery if anyone is interested. In all there are 4 in there but only two were interested in taking photos. That said, Sorry about the less than quality pictures, my phone is pretty old and leaves a lot to be desired. That's about it, except to say that water is provided by misting and a dish which at the moment is not in there. Eventually I want to come up with something that will provide water from an underground reservoir to keep the humidity at a reasonable level and so I don't have to constantly add water. I have an idea for that as well but that's for another day. Any ideas? Questions? Suggestions?


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## Scolopendra1989 (Aug 15, 2016)

Python said:


> I got some photos of the initial setup. I'll eventually setup something a little bigger as the inhabitants become more numerous. On to business...
> 
> The substrate is two layers, the bottom is topsoil about 2 inches thick or so. then the top inch or so is shredded coconut fiber. I figure the coconut fiber could act as a sort of mulch, keeping the top layer fairly dry while the bottom layer remains somewhat moist. In the back corner I stacked sticks to make the top soil deeper and added sticks, shredded, broken and whole pieces in order to create lots of voids under the top layer of substrate. After that I layered pieces of bark on top of that to create cover with layers. The overall effect is like an underground high rise with tons of doors. Of course the back corner is only about 4 inches high or so but the effect remains the same. I also found that I had another pede in there when I went to take pictures. it's a rather large one, around 4 inches or so. I had apparently lost count when I put them in and that one had burrowed to the bottom and never resurfaced thus leaving me to forget about it's existence. I also found a rather small scorpion that I hadn't seen in awhile. I actually had thought it was bigger than it turned out to be but oh well, it is what it is. I shuffled a dead cricket over to it and it ate like a champ. There is also a wayward earwig and a small beetle that I haven't identified yet. It looks like one of those death feigning beetles but black instead of blue. Not sure what it is but it does play dead when I mess with it. I posted pics of a couple of the V. carolinianus in the gallery if anyone is interested. In all there are 4 in there but only two were interested in taking photos. That said, Sorry about the less than quality pictures, my phone is pretty old and leaves a lot to be desired. That's about it, except to say that water is provided by misting and a dish which at the moment is not in there. Eventually I want to come up with something that will provide water from an underground reservoir to keep the humidity at a reasonable level and so I don't have to constantly add water. I have an idea for that as well but that's for another day. Any ideas? Questions? Suggestions?
> 
> ...


That looks great, I hope you update with pics of the pseudo-ecosystem! Should be pretty interesting especially with predators like pedes in the mix but I have faith and optimism in it tho


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## Python (Aug 16, 2016)

It'll probably be awhile before I upgrade. I'm going to let this one run for awhile and see if anything gets eaten that shouldn't get eaten. I'm not sure whether I have a mix of sexes but if I do, I'm hoping that some breeding takes place. These little scorps are tiny and my eyes aren't what they used to be so I just let them do what they do. So far there's been no problems between predators but the prey don't seem to be enjoying it very much.

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## Scolopendra1989 (Aug 16, 2016)

Python said:


> It'll probably be awhile before I upgrade. I'm going to let this one run for awhile and see if anything gets eaten that shouldn't get eaten. I'm not sure whether I have a mix of sexes but if I do, I'm hoping that some breeding takes place. These little scorps are tiny and my eyes aren't what they used to be so I just let them do what they do. So far there's been no problems between predators but the prey don't seem to be enjoying it very much.


I'm sure they'll all come around unless you forget to feed one day... *gulp*


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## Arthroverts (Aug 17, 2016)

Live plants could keep the humidity up. I am planning on keeping a small berry or vegetable plant or two in the terrarium to feed cockroaches as prey items. Mealworms could be left in the enclosure, they surface from time to time, and if they are not eaten they turn into darkling beetles, which are another food item. To collect water, you could put plastic wrap over the top of the cage, and then put a stone on the wrap so that it sinks down, like a upside down mountain. Thus, when water evaporates, it collects on the wrap, and once drops form, they drip down and off the "Mountain Peak" back into the substrate or a water dish. I have yet to try this though. The beetle might be a black death feigning beetle in your enclosure. What are you planning on keeping?
Thanks
P.S Your terrarium looks awesome!

Reactions: Helpful 1


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## Python (Aug 17, 2016)

Thanks for the compliment. I'm not exactly sure what I'll put in it. I know that I'm going to put some ryegrass in it tomorrow. That stuff will grow in the dark on a concrete slab with no water. It's a cold weather grass but it grows fast and is low maintenance. I think I'm going to use crickets for prey items simply because they help keep the grass mowed. The plastic wrap with a weight in the center is an old survival trick, it basically makes a solar still and collects all the water in a centrally located vessel but I'm not going to get that involved. I'll just mist it every so often.I hope to find some breeding taking place since I won't be bothering them very much. Time will tell


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## Python (Aug 17, 2016)

This is my new tank. Around 30 gallons or so. The left side is set up for a L. mactans, unbred female. The right side has the usual scorpions, one centipede and quite a few crickets at the moment. Behind that is my cat. She's just making sure nothing gets out of line. She's not quite right. I've planted it with ryegrass so once that comes in I'll start to do some landscaping to keep the grass out from under the widow and away from the right side of the tank. I want crickets to breed in here but I also want the other animals to be able to catch them and as thick as ryegrass is, I don't know if anything will be able to fight through it. The top right now is solid lexan, no vent holes whatsoever, but the top gets raised enough to keep fresh air flowing. I'll update again when the grass grows in.


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## lunarae (Aug 18, 2016)

I have four enclosures with various species living together in them (Plan on making 3 more). Granted mostly it's isopods/springtails/mites. Microfauna really. But In one I have a predatory beetle and a wolf spider chilling together so far rather comfortably. In another I have our A. versicolor and it's pet dubia roach (Has yet to eat it, been like that for about a month or two, had two in there but one died of old age and the isopods feasted, two days and that thing was gone), and then I have one that is more an experiment then anything else. I have a formicarium with black carpenter ants, and it feeds into an outworld tank that's planted and has a nice sized colony of isopods and springtails living in it, as well as now a colony of black pavement ants. Both ant colonies started from queens this year so they are very small. I'm actually seeing if they can live together on this small scale while both are really small since they seem to outside for the most part. So far so good on that, I always make sure there is plenty for them to eat. I will have to expand and separate them I know once the black pavement ants start to grow in numbers. which will be easy cause the one formicarium only feeds into the outworld where the other colony is through a single tube. That's the key I think with any mixed set up is ensuring there there is enough food to go around. Otherwise it's not going to work and they will look at one another as a food source. But if food is plentiful and they can have their own 'territory' space chances are they'll leave each other alone. It's just a matter of what species you're using and the space really. I mean going out and bug searching as I do. I can flip one small rock that's less then a foot in diameter and see centipedes, numerous spiders and other critters that all have taken residence in that small little area and they seem to be comfortable so close to each other. Predator species from what I know, will avoid other predator species unless there is nothing else because the risk of going after a predator is higher then going after a prey species.

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## Python (Aug 18, 2016)

That was my thought too. I figure, if I'm finding these things under the same rocks/logs/plywood/etc. then I should be able to keep them in a large enough enclosure, ensure they have adequate amounts of food, and watch them thrive. So far, the only time I've seen the centipede is when I've completely wrecked the place transferring everything over to the bigger tank, I had almost forgotten it was in there. The scorpions I see fairly regularly, wandering around at night hunting. The beetle became the first casualty. I came in and checked it this morning and apparently it wandered too close to the widow side and now it's dangling in the web. Once the plant growth comes in I intend to dump crickets and isopods in there, the one as a food source and to keep the grass cut and the other to clean up the various messes that might randomly appear. I think the widow might be the only indiscriminate killer in the tank which is why I isolated her on one side by herself. Once the grass comes in it should provide a barrier to all but the crickets. I sprinkled the seed pretty heavily on one side of the tank before I had thought about putting the widow in so I'll have to pull that out as it grows to prevent pushing her web right to the lid. That shouldn't be a problem, but we shall see. Right now everyone is resting comfortably (except the beetle which is resting in peace) but updates will follow with more pictures.


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## lunarae (Aug 18, 2016)

Python said:


> That was my thought too. I figure, if I'm finding these things under the same rocks/logs/plywood/etc. then I should be able to keep them in a large enough enclosure, ensure they have adequate amounts of food, and watch them thrive. So far, the only time I've seen the centipede is when I've completely wrecked the place transferring everything over to the bigger tank, I had almost forgotten it was in there. The scorpions I see fairly regularly, wandering around at night hunting. The beetle became the first casualty. I came in and checked it this morning and apparently it wandered too close to the widow side and now it's dangling in the web. Once the plant growth comes in I intend to dump crickets and isopods in there, the one as a food source and to keep the grass cut and the other to clean up the various messes that might randomly appear. I think the widow might be the only indiscriminate killer in the tank which is why I isolated her on one side by herself. Once the grass comes in it should provide a barrier to all but the crickets. I sprinkled the seed pretty heavily on one side of the tank before I had thought about putting the widow in so I'll have to pull that out as it grows to prevent pushing her web right to the lid. That shouldn't be a problem, but we shall see. Right now everyone is resting comfortably (except the beetle which is resting in peace) but updates will follow with more pictures.


If you don't have it populated with them, one thing I would make sure you add is isopods (rollie pollies) and springtails to help as a clean up crew, eat up all the dead plant matter and left over bits from the other insects when they eat and such. Microfauna will be pretty important for it to thrive well if your going for mixed ecosystem.


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## Python (Aug 18, 2016)

I had planned on putting some various cleaners in there. Isopods for sure, but whatever else I can catch as well. Everything in it will be wild caught except for the crickets and I may find something to supplement that with. Time will tell but the big thing right now is to make a top for it that does what I want it to do. Half plexiglass and half screen I think will be fine. Keep the humidity up while allowing for a heat/light source without melting anything. I'm just going to have to see what parts I can scrounge to make a Frankenhood.


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## DreamWeaver8 (Aug 18, 2016)

Just a suggestion but you might want to add the isopods/springtails in before the grass grows too much as the microfauna will help aerate the soil and help plant growth.


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## Python (Aug 18, 2016)

The only plants I'll have in this tank will be ryegrass and that will grow in the dark during a drought on a cinderblock. The souls I'm using is top soil mixed with sand. It doesn't pack down very well. I was going to use local soil but I got lazy and got some store bought dirt instead. It has no additives other than fine sand so it's safe. I'll be getting some isopods soon enough. I work 2 jobs so from 7 am to 10:30 pm my day is planned out till the weekend rolls around.


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## Python (Aug 24, 2016)

Just a quick update, I've had 2 scorpions give birth in the last couple of days. I'm hoping things go well but they stay hidden most of the time. We shall see


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## Python (Aug 27, 2016)

I got a picture of one of the little moms in this tank. I've got two V. carolinianus that have given birth now. 













IMG_20160826_225633042_HDR



__ Python
__ Aug 27, 2016
__ 1



						Vaejovis carolinianus. One of two females with young in my multi species tank.

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## DreamWeaver8 (Aug 27, 2016)

Congrats!  Are you planning on moving the mother and her young in a different enclosure?


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## Scolopendra1989 (Aug 27, 2016)

Python said:


> I got a picture of one of the little moms in this tank. I've got two V. carolinianus that have given birth now.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I've always thought it was cute how mother scorpions carry their young on their backs

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## Python (Aug 27, 2016)

No. I'm going to leave them and see what happens. So far they've been in there about a week with no problems to speak of. I've put in small crickets and fruit flies to feed whoever is in the mood for small crickets and fruit flies. The grass started getting out of hand so I cut it until the cricket population gets high enough to keep it under control. I overseeded a little while ago with Bermuda grass seed. The ryegrass grows well, it's grown about 6 inches since I put it in, but it's not very thick and I think Bermuda will look better anyway. I left the ryegrass there in a smaller area, then clipped the grass with scissors. Hopefully the crickets I put in will be like little 6 legged brush goats and keep the vegetation from overtaking the tank. The tank is a 29 gallon I believe so room is not really a concern. There is plenty of debris to hide in and the grass only enhances the hiding capability for the animals. It also provides a barrier between the two sides so I have the option to put some things together that may not normally be kept together. My goal is to see how different species do when kept together.


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## DreamWeaver8 (Aug 27, 2016)

Good luck with the babies.  I have a similar desert enclosure and one maybe two of my females look ready to pop but I'm most likely going to remove them when that happens.  Keep us updated I love this thread


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## UltimateDracoMeteor (Aug 27, 2016)

I'm trying to set up a desert enclosure with hissing roaches, death-feigning beetles, various other desert beetles, and a desert millipede. So, yes, but I haven't tried anything with predatory bugs yet.


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## Python (Aug 27, 2016)

Horror story... The lid for this particular tank is a piece of lexan cut to fit with no holes in it. This not only keeps the humidity up which in turn helps water the grass, but it also keeps out the cats who love to sit and watch the goings on inside. Well, I took the lid off for awhile to drop the humidity level a bit and since I have this tank in the corner between the couch and the wall, the cats can't get to it while I'm in here. Unfortunately, I went to the bathroom during a commercial and when I got back, 2 cats were INSIDE the tank! My girlfriend was on the couch but didn't notice the cats jump up there so they were happily digging away at the corner in the debris pile where all the animals happen to live! The habitat was destroyed, so back to the beginning. I've fixed everything now and I found everybody alive and none the worse for wear. 4 scorpions, some small millipedes, isopods, crickets and a 3 1/2" centipede that I haven't seen since I put it in there. In the process, I found that I am now up to 3 mother scorpions, although one only has 2 babies on her back, as best I can tell anyway. They are terribly tiny. Everything is fine now but the tank is back to bare ground while I wait on the next batch of grass to grow. The lid is now a more permanent fixture and the cats are now on very thin ice.


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## UltimateDracoMeteor (Aug 28, 2016)

Python said:


> Horror story... The lid for this particular tank is a piece of lexan cut to fit with no holes in it. This not only keeps the humidity up which in turn helps water the grass, but it also keeps out the cats who love to sit and watch the goings on inside. Well, I took the lid off for awhile to drop the humidity level a bit and since I have this tank in the corner between the couch and the wall, the cats can't get to it while I'm in here. Unfortunately, I went to the bathroom during a commercial and when I got back, 2 cats were INSIDE the tank! My girlfriend was on the couch but didn't notice the cats jump up there so they were happily digging away at the corner in the debris pile where all the animals happen to live! The habitat was destroyed, so back to the beginning. I've fixed everything now and I found everybody alive and none the worse for wear. 4 scorpions, some small millipedes, isopods, crickets and a 3 1/2" centipede that I haven't seen since I put it in there. In the process, I found that I am now up to 3 mother scorpions, although one only has 2 babies on her back, as best I can tell anyway. They are terribly tiny. Everything is fine now but the tank is back to bare ground while I wait on the next batch of grass to grow. The lid is now a more permanent fixture and the cats are now on very thin ice.


Oh man, at least they're safe.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Python (Aug 28, 2016)

After a brief hunt today, I've added a Hemiscolopendra marginata, quite a few small termites (to help feed the smaller critters), some adult female crickets that started laying eggs as soon as they hit the ground and a small orb weaver that appears to be an argiope of some sort (too small for my eyes to tell). The pede I put in is a beautiful blueish green and maybe a couple inches long. I forgot that awhile back when I was setting everything up the first time, I added several grubs of unknown variety and I suppose the larger pede has been feasting on those as I haven't seen the grubs but when I've seen the pede it's nice and fat and healthy. One question, I've tried feeding termites in the past but I have no idea whether it was successful or not since I can't tell if any are missing. Has anybody here tried feeding termites? Did it work out ok? I rolled a log that was full of them and I brought home a couple hundred or so. I have no idea if they will breed, maintain their numbers or simply die off. They're about half the size of a grain of rice so I hope the baby scorpions can eat them if they come across them.


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