I'm not entirely happy with the way the terrarium looks right now; it seems a little sparse. My reasoning is that 1) I do want to be able to see Nina, so I can't cram it full of plants, and 2) I don't want to have to replant it every couple months, so it makes sense to leave room for the plants to grow into. If nothing else, I'm pretty sure the baby toes (Pilea depressa) will spread in a hurry.
Also I'm not necessarily planning to leave the water and food dishes in there; so far neither of them serve any purpose beyond periodically almost-drowning the crickets. And as far as it goes, I'm not positive that we expect all of the plants to make it, necessarily, either.
So just bear in mind that it's a work in progress.
Here's the terrarium as a whole:.jpg)
And then here's Nina on her "bed" "tree," the Podocarpus. It's apparently more comfortable than it looks?.jpg)
Finally, Nina on her rock. I may need to work on the whole basking situation a little: she's got UV light now, but not necessarily heat. I mean, the apartment in general tends to be warm, but the rock is not warmer than the rest of the apartment. Does it need to be?.jpg)
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Also, as a side-note, it has been determined that the long-awaited houseplant toxicity posts are going to have to be delayed a little bit again. About the time I have a day off work, I wind up having to water plants all day; once the plants are all hydrated and happy, I have to spend all my time at work. So progress has been slow. The series has been tentatively rescheduled to begin April 18 and conclude on April 26, and no, it's not your imagination: it keeps getting longer.
Friday, April 10, 2009
Terrarium (and Nina) pics
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11 comments:
Awww, she's so cute and she looks so happy! I think the terrarium is great!
For what it's worth, the wild anoles here stay active at temperatures over 50 degrees. Much cooler than that and they go sleep it off in the leaf litter. I'm sure they're more active in temps in the 90s, but that speeds up their metabolism too. She will probably live longer and need to eat less at room temperatures between 60 and 75. The anole fans with correct me if I'm wrong, all I'm doing is reporting what I see on my patio every day.
She IS cute! I love the little gold flecks and the white strip along her back. Although that might just be the angle and the camera. A very nice home, in any case. :-D
Go ahead and cram it with plants. You don't replant it if they grow too large you just give everything a haircut. You can get sheets of coco coir for the background that you can attach small plants like air ferns and mosses to.
Looks like fun. I've been "working" on building one for two years now. But never get past the cleaning the aquarium stage. :0)
She does look happy, Mr. S.! Such a cheering sight! And I'm totally intrigued by the idea of putting a coir sheet in back and growing plants on it. How totally cool!!! But of course then you'd need excellent lighting to make sure it didn't get too dark for her...
She's adorable! :-)
That terrarium does look a little sparse -- needs more plants.
I'd leave the water dish in there -- she may be drinking when you're not looking.
I love it! And the plants just look freshly planted- give them 5-6 mos. or so and you may be surprised how much they fill out.
http://www.thefernandmossery.com/
She's so adorable! I miss having them! I think the plantings will work out just fine.
ahh nice! MrBrownThumb, you are not alone. I've been "working" on mine also. ;-) Got a couple small aquariums via freecycle 6 months ago and am still airing them out in the backyard! :X
If I may suggest, J?
1)Plantwise you might consider some of the various Selaginellas. There are some very nice types out there that would make decent ground cover and their light needs tend to be low compared to many plants.
2) Give her more things to climb on ... either dead branches or live plants
3) As you have discovered, crickets are incredibly stupid creatures. In order to reduce the number of drowning victims, put a number of pebbles/rocks in the waterdish up to the edge. This will allow the stupid things to crawl back out of the dish when they fall in. Nina doesn't need a 'pool' from which to drink. She can lick the moisture off the pebbles or slip her tongue down between pebbles to lap at the water there. She will likely also appreciate licking water droplets off the plants if you mist them every so often.
4) A low wattage incandescent can be used to heat her basking stone if you wish.
:)
She's adorable. And very lucky to have ended up under you care. So cute...
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