# 2.5 Gallon Enclosure made for A. Versicolor



## lunarae (Feb 18, 2016)

So our little girl Sarah (We call it a girl even though it's to young to tell because that's what we hope it is) is getting older and now that she is big enough to manage in a larger enclosure and keep track of we upgraded her home. That and her other home was getting cramped, it was making feeding her a little difficult.

I used a 2.5 gallon tank. You can buy them at petsmart for like 15 bucks. Comes with a glass lid which my dad cut for me so I could do the side door thing. But I was fiddling with it to ensure it would open and close right and it fell and shattered.....needless to say I turned to plexiglass. I had tried using hot glue as I saw lots of people turn to this. Well That just did not work for me. Epic failure. I turned to Gorilla Glue in order to hold the bottom in correctly.

Of course the door was done by an amature. So it's not the best but it works excellent for what we need and that's good enough for me.

Inside I used eco earth for the substrate (I put rocks at the very bottom and seperated with an old baby cloth I had so if there was a water spill filling the bamboo for any reason it had somewhere to go and not keep the soil saturated, terrarium moss over some sticks I had collected and made sure were dried out well. I have live Lucky Bamboo in there. While it's toxic to a lot of animals, that's if they eat it. She does just fine because she's not going to try and eat the plant. I have rocks in the water with the bamboo to ensure neither she nor any prey can fall in there and drown. It is also a means of ensuring she always has water available. I also have the old corkbark from her original enclosure up at the top where she's re-established her web. I ordered some things for a vivarium I'm working on including springtails, I plan on adding some of them to her enclosure so that I can mist it a little easier without worrying about mold growth. 

So without further delay. Here are pictures of the enclosure itself and where it sits all day to show just how private it actually is for her despite being clear glass all around. As well as just a pic or two of her.




















































So those are a few of the pictures I have. The best quality ones are ones I took in the day a while back.

Another enclosure I'm working on though I have no plans for an inhabitant for it yet:






It is a 5.5 gallon tank. Custom made background with waterfall. I plan on doing a video showing it in action along with photos of the steps I took to make the background and what I used for the waterfall. Obviously you can see there's no ground, that's just water. I'm still waiting for the hydrobeads and substrate kit I ordered to come in the mail so I can finish it along with plants. I'm still debating what I want to go in there, whatever it is will have to like humid temperatures. Because of how I did the top I have considered putting a hissing cockroach in there but we will see how things turn out first with the plants after they're established.


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## sdsnybny (Feb 18, 2016)

Looks good i would only question the lucky bamboo. If its toxic when eaten are the toxins released through the root system into the water that your T will drink? What if a prey item eats some of the bamboo before it demise then your T would also ingest the toxin?


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## lunarae (Feb 18, 2016)

sdsnybny said:


> Looks good i would only question the lucky bamboo. If its toxic when eaten are the toxins released through the root system into the water that your T will drink? What if a prey item eats some of the bamboo before it demise then your T would also ingest the toxin?


Far as I understand it, it doesn't release the toxin. It's just within the plant matter. Like rhubarb, it's poisonous in certain areas of the plant more so then others but not the soil itself. So the water should be just fine. I've looked into it and others have housed their Ts with it without a problem. Now the prey feeding on it and then being eaten by the T I could see as a potientual issue. However I do not leave food in with the T to roam around if she doesn't take it readily I remove it and try again the next day. That way I can avoid the dangers of leaving food in there when she might be getting ready to molt or something. So prey doesn't get a chance to eat or munch on anything inside the enclosure.


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## lunarae (Feb 18, 2016)

Also as a note, usually one would need to add plant food for something such as lucky bamboo for it to thrive because it sits in water. Obviously with the T this isn't possible. What I do instead is take some of the water from the fish tank we have when I clean it and use it sparingly to provide a natural fertilizer that would be safe as I don't use any chemicals for the fish outside of the water conditioner when adding to the tank after removing water. I use old fish water for all my plants and they tend to be very happy about it when I do.

Reactions: Like 1


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## bryverine (Feb 18, 2016)

I worry about ventilation. It looks like you only have a small group of holes there in the front door.


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## lunarae (Feb 18, 2016)

I have three sets of holes in the front for ventilation. A set at the top, a set in the center and a set at the bottom. Her enclosure prior only had one screen vent on one side. Because of that I don't mist it very often as that would encourage the mold growth. (Another reason I plan to add springtails to the enclosure when they come in the mail. They wont bother her and feed off of any mold growth and such if they did grow). The eco-earth is moist. And the plant has water in it, I tend to water it every other day but because she is up in the back like she is, I don't disturb her at all adding the water with a spout container. She's been in there for a good 2 weeks after having molted, she's taken food already and seems rather content. I have been keeping an eye on her to make sure she isn't becoming dehydrated though. Once I have the spring tails I can risk misting a little more to ensure she's hydrated plenty incase she isn't happy going down to the plant and drinking.


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## viper69 (Feb 18, 2016)

If you have have cloth as you mentioned earlier, that's a recipe for disaster, even with microfauna.

If you aren't growing the cure for cancer in a matter of months of all different colors I'll be shocked!

I think there's too little ventilation myself as well, but if it works, so be it. You won't know until T lives a full life cycle. Think you made a nice effort.


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## lunarae (Feb 18, 2016)

lol. Well if it starts to have issues I'm going to change out substrate and try something else, but for now it seems to be working fine. It's simply a matter of keeping an eye on it and being attentive. The plant in there and the pot that it's in can easily be removed. I set it up that was on purpose just in case my set up didn't work. The only things 'permanent' are the sticks with moss and corkbark and even those can be removed since it's only hot glue. ^.^


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## viper69 (Feb 18, 2016)

lunarae said:


> lol. Well if it starts to have issues I'm going to change out substrate and try something else, but for now it seems to be working fine. It's simply a matter of keeping an eye on it and being attentive. The plant in there and the pot that it's in can easily be removed. I set it up that was on purpose just in case my set up didn't work. The only things 'permanent' are the sticks with moss and corkbark and even those can be removed since it's only hot glue. ^.^


You're are going to see these colors>>  BEFORE your T changes into them with that cloth. If concerned about water, the way you do it, is drill a drain hole into the bottom, create a false bottom. Good luck!


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## lunarae (Feb 18, 2016)

I don't have the means to drill into glass. And I don't think I will have a mold problem, if I don't over saturate it and even if I don't put the microfauna in there. I don't leave water in with the rocks. It's simply there as a means if there's a tiny over flow when watering the plant, which when that happens is never more then perhaps a teaspoon. If I kept water in the area with the rocks then yes I would have major issues, but right now without microfauna and it being there for 2 weeks now, there hasn't been any mold at all. Where I live the humidity is very dry. Before putting her in there I tested the ventilation. I can spray one wall inside there and leave it for 24hrs and the water on the walls have evaporated. But when I did it daily then I had mold grow. I tested those things for a few days before I put her in there. Something I probably should have mentioned. I wanted to see where I stood because of the ventilation holes in the front. Because spraying daily to keep moisture on the walls for her to drink caused the mold. That's why I turned around and put the plant in there to keep a water source without spraying and saturating the rest of the substrate to where it would grow mold. So far it's been working well and with the microfauna I'm getting that I plan to put in there as an added measure, it'll leave me room to be able to spray every once in a while without worrying about it I think. Regardless my key concern was ensuring she had a source for water outside of what I fed her and it's been working well for 2 weeks now without incident. But honestly only time will tell for sure.


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## viper69 (Feb 19, 2016)

lunarae said:


> Something I probably should have mentioned.....But honestly only time will tell for sure.


Yes and Yes


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## lunarae (Feb 27, 2016)

So I wanted to put an update here in case anyone saw this set up and wanted to mimic what I did. I had to change the set up. I actually had to redo the entire enclosure. However it wasn't entirely because of a humidity or mold growth issue.

Though of course humidity and moisture DID contribute to the problem that arose, and that was Mites. Something I had known could happen but completely overlooked because everything I used came from the store rather then the yard.

It almost seemed as though it happened over night that I suddenly had an overwhelming mite infestation in the tank. The walls were crawling with them so I can only imagine what the substrate was like. This of course lead to a total overhaul of her enclosure, getting rid of everything that had been inside and doing all new substrate and plants and everything. I also cut a large hole in the front and covered it with screening to help it have a much better airflow as even with the new type of substrate I used, the new drainage layer and a much more appropriate screen between the drainage layer and substrate, it still held to much humidity it seemed.

I plan to make a new door as I don't think the screen mesh is going to do well once she gets bigger, I have a feeling she could tear through it down the road. But for now it will work.

The substrate I have in there is now a mix of tree fern fiber, coir, fine/med grade charcoal, chopped sphagnum moss, and fine grade orchid bark. It's a mix that I bought from NEHERP. Or New England Herpetoculture. They are excellent in customer service and a one stop place for vivarium needs, I had left over from when I made my 5.5 vivarium and so used it for her enclosure.

I also added white dwarf isopods as well as springtails which I also got from NEHERP to help keep mold and fungus from growing and keep the tank clean since I have the live plants in there. Which I had to get new ones for obvious reasons. I went with the springtails and isopods as all I've ever read is good things about them being beneficial and not a danger to Sarah at all. As well as the springtails should help avoid a future mite outbreak as long as they get themselves established well. Which I think I read somewhere Isopods will eat mite eggs possibly, but not sure if that was reputable where I saw that or not. Only time will tell.

After reading up on how to sterilize items from outside and kill anything on them or in them I took some bark from a pinetree and made her a hideaway that I attached to the side of the glass up top which she took to rather happily. In fact with how I set it up I could change everything, even the plants and substrate out without disturbing her which is nice.

Ironically though after boiling AND baking the bark so that I could put it in there, I realized I could've done the same for the items that had been in there originally with the mites. However I realized this to late as I had already thrown them away, you live and learn I suppose.

As for the plant species. I realize they are both going to grow larger, I plan to prune them over time to keep them small and she will eventually be moved to her final enclosure which will be much bigger. I plan on doing a 18x18x24 enclosure when it's all said and done as it will be a permanent vivarium display for her to live in.


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## viper69 (Feb 27, 2016)

I knew you'd have an update based on your previous design. That's what happens with mites, or at least the type of mite I've encountered. You think they aren't there, and then boom an explosion. The mite I had is 0.5mm in length and white. You can BARELY see them, they are attracted to water, float and die in about 1-2 weeks when in water, upon which they turn brown. I forget the species name, but if they detect water over night an explosion of new new mites will appear.

Good luck and I would check out the dart frog forums as they deal w/this all the time, I forget if you are a Dart owner or not.


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## lunarae (Feb 27, 2016)

No. I'm not a dart owner though I'd love to be one day. (I really want to make creating Vivariums tailored to various species into a serious hobby, but it's a learning process.) One of the things to help avoid mites I read was to have a good population of springtails as they compete for food and habitat. If you have a good healthy springtail community you can usually avoid mites making a home. I'm hoping now with the new setup and the springtails as well as isopods which I heard will eat mite eggs that it should help avoid the issue again. 

These mites were tiny white spots, no idea what species but wasn't going to 'hope' they were harmless and leave them there. Only way I realized they were even there was the little trails they left on the walls when the humidity built up mid day. I already had springs on the way but they just didn't arrive fast enough as well as having just cocoa fiber as the substrate, it was just way to saturated I think even with the drainage layer. That cloth I used to be the filter was the biggest culprit. Which I should've known to begin with cause cotton absorbs. I feel rather silly for totally overlooking something so obvious. 

What I have now for substrate, even with the drainage layer helps it stay aerated. Its the same substrate suggested to use for dart frog vivariums. As well as the barrier I use between the drainage layer and the substrate is that black screen mesh you can buy for windows. I think it's made of silicone or something, it's not wire but it's close. It's very flexible and lets the water and air pass through but doesn't absorb any itself. Same stuff I got with the kit I bought from NEHERP to make my 5.5 gallon setup.

It's only really been 4 days though so it's to soon to tell if this will be the best setup. However she really seems to like it. It took her 2 days to figure it out. She spent a lot of time walking around and checking the whole enclosure out, hanging out in the leaves of the plants and such, throwing a little web here and there. But then she finally took to the hide I had set up for her and over night spun the biggest web I've seen her do ever. It's more then she did originally in this enclosure before I had to change everything cause of the mites. I'm taking that as a sign she's relatively happy. I offered her food which she came out and took without any hesitation yesterday so I think that's another sign she's comfortable.


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## viper69 (Feb 27, 2016)

lunarae said:


> That cloth I used to be the filter was the biggest culprit. Which I should've known to begin with cause cotton absorbs. I feel rather silly for totally overlooking something so obvious.


I know the black mesh you are talking about, Dart owners use it.

I told you that cloth was going to cause problems


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## lunarae (Feb 27, 2016)

lol. yes you did XD But at the time of setting everything up it was the 'best' I had on hand at the time. Obviously trying to 'cut corners' is not a good idea. I do a lot of DIY stuff with various projects, specially with the gardening I do that work really well and I get great results, but some things obviously you can't just recycle old things and have them work the way you want them to all the time. XD


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