Richard's new enclosure project

[ConcinusMan]

I like the moss but what about buggies? Do you get those with the moss? Anytime I use natural plants, I always seem to end up with these little white bugs. Another reason to "bake/microwave" my wood.

I've never had a problem with the moss dead or alive. It's attractive and useful either way. Neither the moss nor the fern require soil so that helps. The moss just needs a rock or wood to grow on and the ferns attach their rhizome to any rock or wood that has moss growing on it, and get's it's nutrients from the air. I've never SEEN any bugs and I've been keeping it indoors and out for quite some time now.

That log won't fit into a microwave or oven that I own. It's 4 feet long. It is natural heavy hardwood from outside but has been well weathered by water, deposited on land, then bleached in the sun for years before I picked it up. (Driftwood) I never have a problem with sun bleached driftwood. As long as there is no rot to speak of, no bugs either. I sanded the surface thoroughly to remove some slight signs of past fungus growth.

Sometimes if you use soil you'll get little white bugs that look almost like fleas. They might be annoying, but they are harmless. White flies on the other hand, get out of control indoors and damage plants by sucking their juices.

The plants I plan to add later are rooted in rockwool so no soil anywhere in the enclosure. I will be watching very closely for problems though.

I've had very good luck propogating and growing those air ferns and various mosses on wood or rocks up against my house on the north facing side. (shaded all day) If anyone is interested in giving some a try, I might be willing to send you some. It really is good stuff. If the moss dies, it's still attractive and useful. No problems so far, even indoors.

[De Foezel]

the little white bugs are flora mites if u keep the plants dryer the white buggies wont apear
(had some problems with that while i was growing some greens)

[Mommy2many]

Is that what they are? Thet get on my snakes and then I have to clean everything again and give everyone a bath. As stated before, don't like buggies much

[De Foezel]

no they wont bite the reptiles just the plants.............

[ConcinusMan]

As of now the project is kind of on hold. I have cleared the tank out and put in a liner and a few box hides. It's going to have to serve as a birthing tank. Lot's of babies on the way. When all that nonsense is over with and the babies are placed in their own containers, the project will move forward.

[De Foezel]

thats good news of a different kind congrats

[infernalis]

Congrats on the expected arrivals.

[ConcinusMan]

no they wont bite the reptiles just the plants.............

Most of the little bugs you see don't even do that. They just feed on decomposing matter in the soil.

[ConcinusMan]

I went ahead and got things started since we finally have a sunny and dry weekend. My method is going to be slightly different. I don't want to take an enclosure out of use while I do this, and I don't want the fiberglass to be permanently fused to the tank. My goal is to make a removable false bottom that will hide a container with water and a submersible pump. The shape of this false bottom will allow a little water to pool before draining into the container hidden beneath it. The tube sending the water upwards will be hidden behind a "tree trunk" fitted in the corner of the tank. The tree trunk will have a piece of mopani wood fixed to it. The water will then seemingly spring from the mopani wood, trickle (free fall about 3 inches) into the fiberglass false bottom, and drain into the water container.

I moved my snakes temporarily so I could shape the wire roughly to the shape of the tank and desired shape. I then took it outside, being careful not to distort the shape, double-checked measurements, and went ahead and laid the first layer of fiberglass. It went well. Fingers crossed.

I'm going to go ahead and hold off on showing pics right now. It's probably better if I wait until the project is completed, or nearly completed, then post pics and describe what I did all at once.

[Jeff B]

That sounds really cool. I would like to make a display cage like that someday to have in the family room. Can't wait to see pics of the finished product.