inhabitants for a 12x12x18 exo-terra?

bellerophon · Oct 26, 2007

Couldn't pass up the deal for less than 20 bucks so now I have a new 12x12x18 exo-terra sitting around with nothing to do. Since its so tiny, I'd like to keep it on my desk at work. Any ideas for an interesting new inhabitant?

musts:

- be happy with tank size

- be tolerant of room temperature and sometimes lower (weekend blackouts are common at work and office temps could drop during the winter months)

- be easy to feed (not sure on live feeder policy at work)

- not smell

- handle weekends on it own

I'm pretty much up for anything that doesn't require much attention but is nice to have around.

asdsdf · Oct 27, 2007

I would personally recommend the ant mantis. They grow pretty small (Females possibly slightly larger than an inch.), and despite what some people may say, fare really well at room temperature and lower(At night, it goes to around 60). Mine have been living room temperature practically their whole life and I haven't had any losses. It is interesting to see them run after their prey too as well. For food, since they are so small, they don't need too much, so just bring a tiny fruitfly culture vial and put a few in once a couple of days. They don't smell(Don't have any mantids that do, since most of mine are tiny.), and are interesting to watch. Their antennae move extremely quickly, and entertaining to see them hunt. As long as the container is humid, they should have no problem lasting the weekend with a few fruitlflies inside of the container.

Actually, your container doesn't seem so tiny. Almost any hardy small mantis will live happily inside there. The ant mantis is just one of my personal favs.

bellerophon · Oct 27, 2007

Thanks, thats actually part of the reason I'm asking about other things than just mantids. The exo's aren't ff proof by any stretch of the imagination and others in my office wouldn't be pleased with just about any live feeders. Appreciate the help though B)