David Pinckney
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- Nov 21, 2011
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My name is David, and I live in Burlingame, CA. I have joined this forum because I am making plans to put together a large, single vivarium with an assortment of amphibians, and I want to make sure that I know what I'm doing first. I am not a complete novice, or anything. Just with regard to salamanders I've had an Emperor Newt, a Yellow-spotted Salamander, Fire Belly Newts, a pair of Red-Spotted Newts, and a couple of Asiatic salamanders (I don't know what species they were, one was yellow, and one was gray).
But that was a long time ago. Not that I prepared myself with more research than just asking the people who worked at the pet shops some questions before making my purchases. However, this time, my idea is more grand. I only want one enclosure. I'm interested in a collection of pets, and live plants. not a collection of terrariums!
And that makes things complicated. On more than one occasion I've discovered that one of my frogs is trying to swallow one of my toads, or that one of my lizards needs their own home, because their somewhat larger roommate is sporadically launching attacks. This can happen even if their need for food is always fully met. The only factor seems to be size differential. If the bigger one "thinks" it's big enough, it takes advantage. They don't even care if they're the same species or not! They're CANNIBALS. It's like they don't even know the meaning of shame.
I don't wan't any gladiatorial events commencing in the tank! What's the point of buying a pet, if the next thing you know, it seems to have magically disappeared? I've joined a number of online forums recently. A couple for frogs, and one for geckose, aside from this one. One thing I've noticed from looking at the photos that people are posting up on these sites, is how uncunvincing the artificial habitats I was making were. A lot of the pictures are phenomenal. It's clear that the animal(s) shouldn't be the only thing on display, for the best showpiece.
Everyone has a mini forest of real plants, complete with automated misting systems installed. And I'm totally going with one of these tall tanks. I've never had one of those, and I can't remember seeing one in real life before. Since I'm not going to be keeping fish, there's no reason to take up a whole lot of floor space.
I've recently acquired some books about mycology, orchids, frogs, and geckos. Haven't been able to find one on salamanders yet. My hope is to put together a workable project including varieties of ferns, orchids, mushrooms, moss, geckos, newts and other salamanders, and poison dart frogs; all living in harmony, in an environment that is suitable for each of these organisms. Certain mushrooms, geckos, and orchids will thrive in the humid conditions that can be maintained in a greenhouse-like setup. Others will not. This part is easy enough to plan out. It's the right combination of pets that I could use some help with.
Since every Poison Dart Frog I've seen so for is always about the same size (and as frogs go, they're pretty small) it's going to be the selection of geckos, and salamanders that I'll have to limit. What I'm theorizing here is that if I only insure that all of the animals are of a common size range, none of them will percceive any of the others as viable prey; thus no assaults will ensue.
There are other things that I'm curious about. I remember moments when I would do something like remove a water bowl, and find that fifteen or twenty crickets were stubbornly hiding under it for who knows how long? Not that I blame them, but I have pets to feed. If I were to have one of these large, elaborate vivariums the hiding places would be uncountable! And with such small pets, it would probably have to be the little pin-heads. Is there anywhere they can't fit? Plus, I'm concerned as to whether crickets would be interested in eating mushrooms. Cause I swear to God I ain't havin' that sh!t! Are there other suitably small insects on the market (like some type of fly for instance), that will leave my mushrooms alone?
I read that this is not the ideal place to ask questions, but it's these questions that brought me here, so I really wouldn't have much else to say.
But that was a long time ago. Not that I prepared myself with more research than just asking the people who worked at the pet shops some questions before making my purchases. However, this time, my idea is more grand. I only want one enclosure. I'm interested in a collection of pets, and live plants. not a collection of terrariums!
And that makes things complicated. On more than one occasion I've discovered that one of my frogs is trying to swallow one of my toads, or that one of my lizards needs their own home, because their somewhat larger roommate is sporadically launching attacks. This can happen even if their need for food is always fully met. The only factor seems to be size differential. If the bigger one "thinks" it's big enough, it takes advantage. They don't even care if they're the same species or not! They're CANNIBALS. It's like they don't even know the meaning of shame.
I don't wan't any gladiatorial events commencing in the tank! What's the point of buying a pet, if the next thing you know, it seems to have magically disappeared? I've joined a number of online forums recently. A couple for frogs, and one for geckose, aside from this one. One thing I've noticed from looking at the photos that people are posting up on these sites, is how uncunvincing the artificial habitats I was making were. A lot of the pictures are phenomenal. It's clear that the animal(s) shouldn't be the only thing on display, for the best showpiece.
Everyone has a mini forest of real plants, complete with automated misting systems installed. And I'm totally going with one of these tall tanks. I've never had one of those, and I can't remember seeing one in real life before. Since I'm not going to be keeping fish, there's no reason to take up a whole lot of floor space.
I've recently acquired some books about mycology, orchids, frogs, and geckos. Haven't been able to find one on salamanders yet. My hope is to put together a workable project including varieties of ferns, orchids, mushrooms, moss, geckos, newts and other salamanders, and poison dart frogs; all living in harmony, in an environment that is suitable for each of these organisms. Certain mushrooms, geckos, and orchids will thrive in the humid conditions that can be maintained in a greenhouse-like setup. Others will not. This part is easy enough to plan out. It's the right combination of pets that I could use some help with.
Since every Poison Dart Frog I've seen so for is always about the same size (and as frogs go, they're pretty small) it's going to be the selection of geckos, and salamanders that I'll have to limit. What I'm theorizing here is that if I only insure that all of the animals are of a common size range, none of them will percceive any of the others as viable prey; thus no assaults will ensue.
There are other things that I'm curious about. I remember moments when I would do something like remove a water bowl, and find that fifteen or twenty crickets were stubbornly hiding under it for who knows how long? Not that I blame them, but I have pets to feed. If I were to have one of these large, elaborate vivariums the hiding places would be uncountable! And with such small pets, it would probably have to be the little pin-heads. Is there anywhere they can't fit? Plus, I'm concerned as to whether crickets would be interested in eating mushrooms. Cause I swear to God I ain't havin' that sh!t! Are there other suitably small insects on the market (like some type of fly for instance), that will leave my mushrooms alone?
I read that this is not the ideal place to ask questions, but it's these questions that brought me here, so I really wouldn't have much else to say.
