Welcome home mantids!

[SpaceWolf]

My new nano exo terra 20*20*30 enclosure. Ghosts arriving in 2 weeks, hope they'll like it ^^

 

[Condodweller]

This is very nice. Looks mighty fine! 

 

[cat_h]

Love the orchid! Might steal that idea

 

[SpaceWolf]

Thanks! I get my ideas from Pinterest. if you want you can always drop by and take a look there, there's lots of awesome terraria there! https://www.pinterest.com/thomaslambert20/terrarium-ideas/

 

[SpaceWolf]

By the way, this is how I made it. The sheet thing is Hygrolon, I used needles to pin it down on the background.

 

[cat_h]

That is superb will it require much maintenance long term?

 

[SpaceWolf]

Nope, I don't think I'll ever have to perform maintenance. I got some woodlice running around and a whole bunch of springtails. The only thing I'll have to do is maintain growth of plants. The substrate itself is split into a few layers of different products. I got some layers of big woodparticles and layers of fine tropical terrain. So the water doesn't start dropping to the bottom and create molt. 

 

[Connor]

Wow, it looks amazing. When I have some more time and money, I will have to do one of these! Looking to get some ghosts soon as well.

 

[Ocelotbren]

Looks awesome, well done!  I'm sure they'll love it.

 

[Silent Running]

That looks beautiful! Any updates? Is that locally sourced moss on the back wall?

 

[SpaceWolf]

I'm taking a picture everyday right now, this is the one from today. As you can see the plant in the left corner has grown quite a lot, it has also made a lot of new roots in the moss, so progress is really clear. The orchid also grows really well, and you can literally follow the growth day by day, I can put all the photos on here if you are interested. I'm surprised the soil is treating the orchid so well, she's really thriving in it. The moss is picked from a forest in my backyard. I used to pick moss by the side of the road, but when I applied it to the terra, it was way too big, so I went looking for different kinds. This moss was found at the roots of trees, it's very tiny with small roots, applied to the back with needles. I hope they start rooting in a few months so it can eventually grow on its own. On the ground and in the moss on the back, you may see small plants growing, those are mimosa pudica or the sensitive plant, which moves its leaves when touched, it brings no harm to the insects. It's a defensive mechanism when animals eat at it, so they are scared by the movement and eat something else. I hope that it grows larger, but I have found that it grows much quicker in actual ground rather than in this soil. It's really amazing to see how everything lives inside this glass box. I also never remove any leftovers or dead plant material, my cleanup crew consisting of isopods and springtails take care of any rotten material or possible moldy situations. 

 

[Connor]

Wow it's looking better than ever. Still can't get over how amazing it is! That moss is really growing in. 

Any updates on the missing ghost?

and if you would mind answering, what do you use to upload pics? They are very high quality.

 

[SpaceWolf]

Yeah, the top moss is growing yellow though, I've been thinking of putting aluminium foil over the top part so the light doesn't touch it.  The other missing ghost still hasn't returned, I think she might be dead. And it's actually shot with my cell phone, a Huawei P9 lite, the little thing indeed has some good photo quality

 

[Connor]

Yeah, the top moss is growing yellow though, I've been thinking of putting aluminium foil over the top part so the light doesn't touch it.  The other missing ghost still hasn't returned, I think she might be dead. And it's actually shot with my cell phone, a Huawei P9 lite, the little thing indeed has some good photo quality

That's some great quality. Are you able to just upload pics from your phone to the forum?

 

[SpaceWolf]

I send them to my own profile through facebook, then download them and upload them here again  

 

[Connor]

Oh ok, I'll have to give that a shot, thanks

 

[Silent Running]

Looks fantastic! Nice new leaf on the orchid! Is something nibbling the bottom leaf? Do you find that the hygrolon is maintaining adequate moisture all the way to the top?

 

[SpaceWolf]

Thank you! ^^ and in the beginning I put some beetles in there too, but as soon as I saw the damage on the leaf, I took them out at once. And yeah the hygrolon is quite nice, as far as I see there is moisture everywhere. I'm keeping a rather dry period right now because it got a bit too wet and I don't want to risk mold in my terra. I had it in my first and once it starts, it's hard to keep it out.