My Bug Torture Box

Tleilaxu

Arachnoprince
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Here is my new bug torture box, many of the torture "instruments" have just arrived today and are in rough shape, so don't judge me too harshly.
Anyways this box consists of, my carnivorous plant garden, in a 20 gallon aquarium using a four bulb Aquatic Life T5 HO fixture with four 10,000k bulbs.
The soil is one part play sand, to one part pure sphagnum peat moss. The aquarium gravel acts as drainage and provides a visible water table.

The water used is distilled water, and RO water, anything else will kill the plants.

The plants contained are six venus fly traps,(Dionaea muscipula) cultivars which are two wild types, Akai Ryu,(Two variants) one Royal Red, and one B-52.
It also contains two, possibly three sundew species. Drosera rotundifolia, Drosera intermedia, and one I don't know for sure.
And a few random stowaways which may or may not eat insects.


Awaiting deliveries. The red cup us the watering area, which will allow me to use the "tray method" for delivering water to the "delicate instruments".


The first batch has arrived, yesterday on the 3 of June.


The rest arrived today on the 4 of June.



Now to the fun part.


Unknown sundew that snuck in with the VFTs.


Same stowaway.


Drosera intermedia


Drosera rotundifolia, yes I know they look horrid, but they are not out of the fight just yet. (And I have a green thumb)


Wild Venus Fly Trap. (Dionaea muscipula)


Another wild type.


B-52


Same B-52


Akai Ryu, with Royal red further back.


Same Akai Ryu


Akai Ryu with Royal Red in the background.


Royal Red


Akai Ryu, this variant will have traps with green margins, the base plant will turn red in time.


The watering area, this also has the random stowaways, inside the red cup, that may or may not be carnivorous. You can also see two Drosera rotundifolia.


Random Stowaways.
 

awiec

Arachnoprince
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Excellent set up. I had several very nice B-52s for several years when I was a little girl until my friend fed some potato chips...things went down hill fast. Are you going to add anything else or just let it all grow out and set up a new tank as you go?
 

pannaking22

Arachnoemperor
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Very cool! I've been wanting to get into carnivorous plants for a while now. Happy to see a nice little set up like yours :) Hope they all grow well for you!
 

cold blood

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I've wanted something like this my whole life....I'm 43 and have NEVER EVER EVER seen any carnivorous plants for sale....where did you get them????? These plants are fascinating.

Thanks for sharing the set up.
 

Hisserdude

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Apr 18, 2015
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Really nice collection, only thing is its gonna be a pain when you need to give them a diapause, (which should be around this week). :p

@coldblood One of the better vendors I would recommend would be California carnivores, the guy who owns the place is the author of "The Savage Garden", the #1 care guide for CPs.
 

Chris11

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I've wanted something like this my whole life....I'm 43 and have NEVER EVER EVER seen any carnivorous plants for sale....where did you get them????? These plants are fascinating.

Thanks for sharing the set up.
At some reptile expos around here a guy sells carniverous plants, maybe you just overlooked them gawking at everything else? My local nursery also provides them for late spring to late summer.
Tlielaxu, do you keep them in your spider room? Mine control unwanted creatures in my spider room. I had a ff outbreak once (never messing with those stupid things again!) and a flytrap and butterwort obliterated the plague.
 

Faing

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I've wanted something like this my whole life....I'm 43 and have NEVER EVER EVER seen any carnivorous plants for sale....where did you get them????? These plants are fascinating.

Thanks for sharing the set up.
My local Lowes used to sell 'venus fly traps' all the time. They still might if all I know. I've seen them in local nurseries and rarely in reptile expos.
 

sdsnybny

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Apr 29, 2015
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To bad the OP hasn't been active here since this thread started.
I would love to see what growth has gone on in the last 6 months
 

Chris11

ArachnoBat
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My local Lowes used to sell 'venus fly traps' all the time. They still might if all I know. I've seen them in local nurseries and rarely in reptile expos.
If you purchase them from anywhere besides a nursery or online, DO NOT follow theyre care advice... Yes, the substrate should be moist at all times but for two months in the winter they need to be placed in an open plastic baggie inside yoir fridge to go dormant. For living in missouri i do this from jan 1 to march 1 and ive had my flytrap for almost 2 years and its thriving
 

Tleilaxu

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Well I lost a few and gained a few, the two large sundews snuck in last year and survived the winter dormancy. Sadly despite switching to new grow lights cannot keep the red vft red, they just turn green but grow well. The new pic shows these plants two weeks after they were repotted after my move to AZ, so they are a bit rattled after shipping and being repotted twice in a year. Also the moss has yet to recover the ground, I got an amazing "lawn" sadly no pics.

Looking at the starting pics, the B-52 has grown like a weed and taken over the right side of the tank. The red dragons have split like crazy as well. My one remaining normal is bouncing back again as well, it's mixed in with the B-52s. The drosera species died except for the two, likely cape sundew that snuck in and survived a MN winter in a cold room that frequently froze for a time....

Actually I lied I did have a pic before the move.

I'm also starting a Drosera adelae separately from the bug box. It does it's own thing...

Pics are surprisingly in order, post move, premove, and drosera adelae.

Also to those looking for carnivorous plants I also vouch for California Carnivores, though their selection can be limited at times the plants and info are top notch. Along with the book Savage Garden.
 

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brolloks

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Which Drosera species is the one in image: MG_20160812_183332113.jpg? Kinda looks like D. adelae.
 

Tleilaxu

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Which Drosera species is the one in image: MG_20160812_183332113.jpg? Kinda looks like D. adelae.
It is D. adelae. I just repotted it into 100% long fibered sphagnum moss since that seems to be the main consensus on its preferred medium.
 

brolloks

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Apr 6, 2016
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It is D. adelae. I just repotted it into 100% long fibered sphagnum moss since that seems to be the main consensus on its preferred medium.
Cool, i have mine growing in a mixture of peat and sand, but mine are quite tiny
 
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