xhexdx's vivarium picture thread

[Shrike]

I'm concerned about the potential issue with ventilation and don't really want to risk it at this point.

That was my worry as well. I suppose I could always step up to the plate and go with Poecilotheria.

 

[xhexdx]

That was my worry as well. I suppose I could always step up to the plate and go with Poecilotheria.

I'm still interested to see what Abraxas has to say about it.

 

[Hendersoniana]

Haha ill only post pics if it completely works, if not its back to the drawing board! Fingers crossed! . Im also thinkig of making a round terrarium for my N chrom or other Heterometrus but i fear they will outgrow it...

 

[AbraxasComplex]

I have kept multiple Avicularia spp. in larger vivariums with little ventilation. They were housed for a couple years with no problems. These were not the glass vase enclosures though. I used a large 2 foot tall tank with a fake background. Inside were multiple hiding spots with various branches and plants along with a large open area in the center of the tank. The small ventilation disk in the glass tank lid was located right over this open area.

There were even water features in the bottom of these tanks as they were originally designed for dart frogs. It allowed for an overly damp environment at the bottom that progressively dried out near the top. Needless to say the webbing was nearly always at the top of the tank.

---------- Post added 09-27-2011 at 10:45 PM ----------

On another note there are some glass and metal cases that would allow for a bit of ventilation once you've put in some aluminum screening. I've used a few for species I need to keep more arid. The issue that arises concerns hydration and it is hard to find a happy medium of little environmental care and proper humidity.

 

[Shrike]

Excellent. Thanks for the input. Maybe I'll give it a shot when one of my versicolors gets a bit bigger.

 

[SEB]

I like them--I wonder how carnivorous plants would do in these?

I am new on this forum and to tarantulas, but I have been growing carnivorous plants for a while. There are a few issues with growing these different plants in a terrarium.

Dionea (venus fly trap) require a much drier water table than Drosera (sundew plant). Drosera can be grown in a shallow undrained container but the Dionea will eventually get root rot and die.

Dionea root systems are very sensitive to cramping in lower soil levels. They need a good 6 inches or more to thrive. I keep mine in 8 inch pots and when I change the soil I still find the roots all the way down to the bottom. They also require a 3 month dormancy between 30 to 50 degrees and lower amounts of light. The species of Drosera and Pinguicula in that terrarium do not. Dionea can skip a dormancy but will grow slowly and eventually die.

Carnivores plants especially Dionea require an obscene amount of light. Full sun is required to keep the plant healthy.

Constant high humidity without air flow softens the tissue on the plants and will make them much more susceptible to pest attacks especially aphids and mealy bugs.

Last point is that if the the urine and fecal matter of the tarantulas gets down into the soil it will eventually kill the plant. The root systems are very sensitive and burn very easily.

This is a great book to read if you are interested in cultivating carnivorous plants.

http://www.amazon.com/Savage-Garden...9156/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1317949611&sr=8-1

anyway, this is all just my experience, but if something else works differently for you then that's awesome.

 

[xhexdx]

Nice job Joe. That looks very pretty. Now show us what it looks like in 5 months.

We're just about at 2 months, I'll try and get some pics tonight. The only maintenance I've done is trimming down plants - no poop cleanup or anything of that nature.

 

[scuba113]

wow those look really nice good job on making those vivarium.

 

[J Morningstar]

Thank you Xhexdx for using my Carnivores to exemplify that the carnivorous plants can be done in the terrarium. I have tried since age 12 to get this to work, I will post new pics hopefully in the next half hour to show the progress.. I plan (on everyones advice) to remove the Venus Fly Traps and make a new terrarium for them with a lid enabling some ventilation. The rest of the occupants will stay and that will be my no dormancy one. The other will be either on a porch...but being it can get to -40 or so with the wind chill some years...the basement in a far corner covered in a heavy blanket is more likely for 50 to 40 degrees. Hopefully pics to come!

 

[SEB]

Thank you Xhexdx for using my Carnivores to exemplify that the carnivorous plants can be done in the terrarium. I have tried since age 12 to get this to work, I will post new pics hopefully in the next half hour to show the progress.. I plan (on everyones advice) to remove the Venus Fly Traps and make a new terrarium for them with a lid enabling some ventilation. The rest of the occupants will stay and that will be my no dormancy one. The other will be either on a porch...but being it can get to -40 or so with the wind chill some years...the basement in a far corner covered in a heavy blanket is more likely for 50 to 40 degrees. Hopefully pics to come!

here is a really good forum and information source on cultivating carnivorous plants. There are also a ton of really good articles there as well.

www.flytrapcare.com

 

[grayzone]

wow joe, these viv's are amazing...im gonna def attempt to create a few of my own . i like the look, and color of all the living plants. i think they'd be great for avics or pokies. thank you for posting these pics

 

[xhexdx]

You're welcome, I'm glad you like them.

I just bought a really nice, larger jar. Can't wait to get it set up!

Nice job Joe. That looks very pretty. Now show us what it looks like in 5 months.

It's about that time, so I'll try and get some updated pics soon.

 

[SkyeSpider]

So instead of creating separate threads for every vivarium, I figured I'd just start this and post pictures here. Enjoy.

Dude, these are extremely nice looking!

 

[matt82]

Hey man, I'll admit when I initially saw your original take on the the spider housings, it took me a second or two to get used to the concept, but came to the conclusion they look great!
To put it more accurately, when I opened the thread I said to myself, 'what's with these vases, where's all the T vivs??' which I suppose in a way, might be the point; they do blend in well as part of the furniture, so to speak! They look all the better as they are kitted out really nicely too, plenty of greenery going on.

**Nice idea with the substrate too, I have used multi layered substrates in a couple of setups before (vermiculite/ moss peat/ coco coir) works great for a time, but eventually the vermiculite deteriorates I find. What makes up the layers here if you don't mind my asking?

Cheers

 

[xhexdx]

Bottom layer is gravel, middle layer is sand (high percentage of silica), top layer is substrate (peat moss, vermiculite, topsoil, etc., depending on my mood). The sand and gravel act as a natural filter so the water doesn't get stagnant.

 

[Hornets inverts]

Dont take this the wrong way but how does the sand and gravel prevent the water becoming stagnant? Wouldnt there need to be some water movement to prevent the water becoming stagnant?

Great looking vivs, thats the surface area for the larger cylinders?

 

[xhexdx]

Dont take this the wrong way but how does the sand and gravel prevent the water becoming stagnant? Wouldnt there need to be some water movement to prevent the water becoming stagnant?

Great looking vivs, thats the surface area for the larger cylinders?

I'd need to take measurements to get the surface area - I can do that when I get home.

The water filters through the sand and gravel throughout the day, as the temperatures rise and fall, the water evaporates and condenses in the vivarium. So there is water movement, you just don't see it because of how minimal it is.

I actually do have one vivarium where I put too much water in - it's not like there is a pool of water at the bottom of the vivarium, but it's enough to make the sides start to grow algae.

On a side note, I'm working with a woman at our local flea market who has a plant shop. She's letting me leave a couple (uninhabited) vivaria in her booth to try and sell. They've only been there over one weekend so far (the flea market is open Fri-Sun) but have attracted a lot of attention. Most people who see them ask for something smaller, so Joseph and I worked together over the weekend to put one together. It's very simple - I took some pictures of him with it but they are on my laptop at home. I'll post them when I get off work.

It has a minimal filter (there was so little gravel that the sand just kind of mixed with it) with some substrate and an air plant mounted to a piece of pine bark. It's very difficult to find plants that will work for a mini-viv like this, but it seems the people who have been asking for something smaller want to use them as a desk ornament at work, so an air plant is actually ideal in this case.

Also, I need to give credit where credit is due. Everything I have been learning about these has come from AbraxasComplex. He had a presentation on them at Arachnocon North (Canada, 2010) and I've been picking his brain quite a bit since then. I wouldn't be working with them at all if it wasn't for him. The vivarium 'thunder' is his, not mine. The link to his presentation is http://prezi.com/kkqz5splclrp/vivariums/ . If there isn't already a link to his vivarium thread, I'll find it and post it here as well. His work is much better than mine.

 

[xhexdx]

Here are the pics of Joseph with the mini-viv:

 

[Hornets inverts]

Thanks for that run down, much appreciated i have a few vivs going currently but only house isopods currently, some will go onto house scorps, other trapdoor spiders.

This one here is a small one that currently has some ferns, mosses and other random plants with a small isopod colony, the base is just large pebbles so no capilary action in sand and smaller gravel so there is some algae down there but it doesnt seem to affect the viv, mosses are starting to take off as is everything else

DSCF0083 by hornet2014, on Flickr

 

[Shrike]

Thanks for the link to the Abraxas presentation!