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Slightly morbid question.

Brotoft

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I am in the process of researching a self sustaining viv, and I am curious as to what it would take to be able to leave a dead:)()animal inside and just recycle into the system.
Thank you for any input.
 

froggy

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As long as you don't over populate the viv and have a lot of detritovores, such as springtails, millipedes woodlice and microbials, and the species you are keeping is not too big, you won't have aproblem. The viv must be mature. Something the size of a dart frog would be a lot safer than a tiger salamander! If one rears large numbers of metamorphs in naturalistic enclosures, it is normal to find that some have not made it after a few months. Their bodies are suually never found.

However, particularly with salamanders, if conditions are right in the viv, you could wait 20 years before you have a death to deal with.

C
 

aramcheck

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Very much agrees with Froggy, I keep metamorphs in large, naturalistic tubs with loads of leaf litter and associated fauna for food. Which has always served me well, and one or two individuals out of maybe 20 tend to disappear without a trace every year.

I did, however lost more than that one year, and started wondering why it was the case, did a bit of exploratory rooting around, hoping to find some of the missing morphs... only to be met by a very fat centipede! I am still using this methods, but am constantly on the lookout for small centipedes, and remove them for the set-ups before they have the chance to become larger ones!!!!
 
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