# The Nepenthes, the Vivarium and the Closet!



## Percularis (Mar 22, 2011)

Alrighty, so I have a 6' x 6' closet without doors that will be free for a vivarium in a few months. I've gotten into keeping Nepenthes lately, so I was going to create a lowland terrarium for some, and the idea of dart frogs came back to me. Some lowland species have giant pitchers, I have one right now with 8" pitchers with a 4" opening that looks very inviting for use as a house. The 8" pitchers are its baby pitchers... This thing gets huge! 

*So my question is, how would these...*










*Not eat this...???*










It just makes sense that a frog would eventually wonder in there and not be able to navigate out of the slipper pitchers lol... 

If dart frogs are deemed safe for my plants, I would set up the vivarium with a 3" layer of gravel in the bottom and have a place in the corner where the medium slopes down to bare-bottom. That is where I would siphon out excess water. I would not have a Great Stuff background because my Nepenthes need room to grow. To maximize lighting for my plants, I would cover the back and two sides with tin foil on the outside to reflect light from the fixture on the top. I'll get a glass hood that will seal in the moisture to keep the plants happy... 

Now, when I was on here before, I was way too stubborn about using a freaking 8 gallon, acrylic tank with too little space and it turned out for the worst. Now that I am going to be keeping massive plants, I'm probably going to go for something 30 gallons or bigger. I have a 30 gallon right now that is sorta working at keeping some Nepenthes alive, but they're going to be moved to the greenhouse soon. They're all highland Nepenthes, so they'll like my greenhouse temperatures, however lowlanders will hate my winter temperatures and its just not a good idea to grow highlanders and lowlanders together, so that's why I'm making this vivarium. 

*My house temperatures in the winter aren't exactly lowland... I need to keep it hotter during the day. What forms of heating can I use to warm them up without lowering the humidity?

Also, how do you circulate air in your vivariums without opening it up? I feel like frogs would jump into a small computer fan and die.*


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## frogface (Feb 20, 2010)

Some folks keep Neps with their frogs. Maybe they'll chime in. I have no experience with it, myself. 

As for the computer fans, they get covered in screen and put into some sort of housing. I haven't done this yet, either so I guess I'm not a lot of help 

Try a search on fans in the Construction area and you'll find lots of ideas.


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## DendroDanny (Jul 17, 2010)

hmm..... well, I have heard reports of certain treefrogs living in or around the pitchers, but Im not sure how well a terrestrial frog would fare if caught in a pitcher, because the treefrogs have a symbiotic relationship and are strong enough to climb out.


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## Percularis (Mar 22, 2011)

Okay, well I probably won't add frogs then, but I'll keep you guys updated on what will happen.

*Does anyone know of any effective ways to heat a terrarium without lowering the humidity? Undertank heaters? What?*


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## mcaiger53 (Jan 3, 2011)

A lot of different lights put off some heat, my t5ho's put off quite a bit (I measured the 4' bulbs @ around 160 degrees). If you aren't having frogs in the viv, you could have them directly inside. I have some neat fixtures that have remote balasts w about 4' leads w water resistant (o-ringed) end caps. You could put a few fans around the bulbs to circulate the air for a more consistant temp. It would really only work if you wanted lower night temps and not a 24-7 temp. 
Mike


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