Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was thinking of creating one of those "Living Terrariums" like they always have articles about in Reptiles magazine. However, i was thinking of having the majority of the plants be carniverous (i.e. fly traps, pitcher plants, dew plants etc) which would make it more interesting, especially to the public eye, which doesnt really understand these things and is therefore intreagued by it. What of adding dart frogs? Do you think the frogs would be smart enough to stay away from the plants? The frogs might kill the plants... Do you think the plants could kill the frogs? It would be a good combination because they eat the same food (fruit flies and such). Maybe i will have to keep them separate anyway. Thanks for your help,
-KS

Venus Fly Traps and North American Pitcher plants (Saracenia sp.) are not good candidates for a frog tank because they require a dormant period with cool temps. However, when intellignently selected, you can grow tropical pitcher plants (Nepenthes sp.) and sundews in frog tanks. The trick is to be sure the species you get is not large enough to actually capture a frog. Check out Black Jungle if you have any furhter questions about this.

I'm sure others have a better idea about some other types of carnivorous plants, but I have only grown the Nepenthes pitcher plants. The lowland species seem to grow very well in dart tanks . . .actually growing very rapidly.
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Homer W. Faucett III, esq.
Purveyor of Trivialities and Fine Nonsense

Homer and I are always the advocates for Nepenthes in dart frog vivariums. I have some pics on my gallery, www.frognet.org/gallery/davidknight, of my Nepenthes.
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David Knight
Tempe, AZ

D. imitator
D. leucomelas
P. terribilis
D. azureus
D. tinctorius (Alanis)

What kind of dirt (for lack of a better word) should i use in my... thing? These plants i know are very sensitive to chemicals. I know theres lots of mixtures out there that work but what would work best for these plants in combination with the frogs? What has worked best for you guys? Thanks again,
KS

If you're speaking solely of Nepenthes, I've had success with peat and sphagnum mix, with good drainage and VERY HIGH humidity. I'm far from an expert, just lucky. Do a search and you'll find a ton of info. Check out the Savage Garden as well, it's a wonderful book.
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David Knight
Tempe, AZ

D. imitator
D. leucomelas
P. terribilis
D. azureus
D. tinctorius (Alanis)

I probably sound like a broken record, but I use coco husk chips and activated charcoal. As you'll note, FalconBlade recently indicated that using activated charcoal might cause a later release of nitrogen salts once the charcoal is activated. However, I find this rather unlikely in my setup. If the chemistry of it is really that interesting to you, I suppose I could talk it through, but it just seems rather belabored and pointless to me.

I've had really good luck with my Nepenthes, even though I got mine for $2 on clearance at Lowe's. As an aside, you might be wise to note that the size of the pitchers when you buy the plant are NOWHERE NEAR the size of the adult pitchers. Mine was simply labeled "Nepenthes sp.", probably a hybrid. The last pitcher it put out was HUGE. It's now putting out a new pitcher at about a rate of one every 10 days. I think it's going to eat my terrarium. Maybe I should name this plant the Audrey II.
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Homer W. Faucett III, esq.
Purveyor of Trivialities and Fine Nonsense

What kind of dirt (for lack of a better word) should i use in my... thing? These plants i know are very sensitive to chemicals. I know theres lots of mixtures out there that work but what would work best for these plants in combination with the frogs? What has worked best for you guys? Thanks again,
KS

What kind of dirt (for lack of a better word) should i use in my... thing? These plants i know are very sensitive to chemicals. I know theres lots of mixtures out there that work but what would work best for these plants in combination with the frogs? What has worked best for you guys? Thanks again,
KS

When I originaly replied to this post, it was about there being no pictures in the forum, now all of a sudden its about carnivorous plants in a vivarium? What happened? I had to really think about it when I first saw it. Now I cant think of why this happened. Not a big deal just curious.
-David Taylor