DIY Terrariums

I received a large glass jar for my birthday from my husband and a couple of nights ago I finally turned it into a terrarium!

Here is my current thumbnail grow-out tank:

In this tiny container, I have (2) ~4.5 month old R. Imitator Tarapotos. I have decided that they need a little more room & my current grow-out tank already has 3 frogs in it, so I decided that these large glass jars would be perfect! These jars will be a good way to give the froglets more space and it can be set out on our coffee table. By being set out in the living room, these tarapotos will *hopefully* become even more bold frogs. I find that my tarapotos are pretty bold as it is now, but figure by taking them out of the shaded container and placing them out in the open in a glass container they should become even more bold.

Here is a comparison of what they are in now, versus the new jar.

Here is a little DIY on how I made my terrarium!

Gather Supplies:

-thoroughly washed rocks

-driftwood

-screen

-coco fiber

-coco bark

-moss

-springtail culture (Only needed if adding in animals)

Layer Rocks

I used a bunch of larger rocks first, then layered with smaller rocks over top. The rocks help to give a little space so the soil won’t get so waterlogged.

Add Soil

Next I mixed up some coco bark, coco fiber, moss & charcoal from springtail culture. And put that over the rocks. You could put screen in between the rocks and the soil but I chose not to, mostly because I completely forgot.

You could also use some ABG if you have some on hand or if you won’t be putting any animals in it, you could use a high quality potting soil.

Add Plants!

(Don’t judge it is almost Valentine’s day and yes we do still have our stockings up. We must have forgot to take those down!)

I added the Peperomia & Fittonia that my brother got me for Christmas, along with some creeping fig, Pilea & hardy small leaved philodendron from my plant tank. Any dwarf plant that likes high humidity plant should work. You can see what kind of plants I keep in my terrarium here.

Mist & let establish

I will probably let this tank sit for a week or so to allow the springtails & plants to get some footing prior to putting in my eating & romping machines. But, the occupants below are getting pretty excited for his new tank so we will see how long until they end up in there anyways.