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nepenthes ventricosa in the vivarium

Hoyta

noobie!!! LOL
Hello all! I am new here, and just ordered a nepenthes ventricosa for one of my dart frog terrariums. Any tips? Thanks alot for your time, in advance!-Adam Hoyt
 
All I know is that eventually it will start eating your dart frogs, since this is a large plant.

-Ben
 
Ben makes a valid point. A miniature species might be more appropriate - N. bellii if your terrarium is warm around the clock, or perhaps N. talangensis or N. muluensis for a setup that experiences cool nighttime temperatures. If you're able to give them the chilly nights that they demand, some of the ultra-highland Neps (such as N. villosa and N. aristolochioides) are slow-growing/small enough for your purposes, and also stunning examples of the genus.
If you decide to go with the N. ventricosa, you may want to prune it every once in a while to keep it on the small side.
BTW, welcome to the forums.
~Joe
 
I've seen people with a ventricosa with PDFs with out any issues but, I've also seen people lose frogs to them. I second the use of smaller neps.
 
if its hot...get N. ampullaria!
Alex
 
if its hot...get N. ampullaria!
Alex

That's exactly what I was going to say. Or... If you want to get rid of your frogs and just grow the nep you can send the frogs my way... lol.

xvart.
 
Doesn't N. ampullaria get big enough to fit a dendro? They're shallow enough that it usually wouldn't be a big deal, but I wonder if the specialized peristome might prevent a jumper from escaping.
~Joe
 
Well the ampullaria does get quite large and the peristome does seem like a killer, but if your housing an auratus or any other large frog you'll be O.K. small frogs might be an issue.

Edit: Now that I think of it I have heard of tadpoles being raised in pitchers.
 
Whoa

I'm not sure I want the tads to be raised in the pitchers! LOL!
I will have azureus in there, which are biiger darts, getting around 2". As for the heat, it will be around 75-85 during the day,a nd 70s at night. What are the lighting requirements for this, as well as substrate? Thanks alot!-Adam Hoyt
 
  • #10
Those are rather warm temperatures, so probably most highlanders won't do well, although also most highlanders are rather large.

They appreciate a light, airy mix that gets flushed often. I just usually put some of this and that in there, but usually my mixes include some of the following:

Orchid bark
Peat
LFS (long fiber sphagnum (moss))
Horticultural charcoal chips (don't use very much)
Perlite (If I have it)

The stuff that makes up the bulk of the soil is the LFS and the orchid bark and if I have it, perlite. The peat is just to hold the stuff together, and it helps to hold onto a little more water. The charcoal is mostly just for drainage and it makes me feel like I'm doing more work. :p So maybe like 2 parts LFS, 1 part orchid bark, 1/2 part peat, 1/8 part charcoal (as in like a large pinch for a 5 inch pot), 1 part perlite.

I'm not sure how your setup is, but I figure it would probably be best to have the Nep in a pot hidden in some moss or substrate, just to make it easier to take care of, and also, if the vivarium is not too small, you can take it out to water. Although, if you plan on just letting it grow wild in the vivarium, leave out the charcoal part, because it can apparently break down and get funky nasty. They like to be moist, not soaking. I tend to water whenever the top of the soil is crisp, then I pour lots of water over the pot, so that it gets lots of water. Although a humid vivarium wouldn't require frequent watering.

Neps tend to like bright light, and if we're going with fluorecents here, maybe around 80 or so watts, but that would be just if the plant is around 5 inches underneath, so more would be required if they are lower down.

-Ben
 
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  • #11
Yeah, that's warm for highlanders for the most part... You certainly won't be growing a villosa in there. N. ventricosa could probably hack it, as that's a pretty adaptable species, but you'll want to look for lowlanders or plants that can grow in intermediate condtions if you decide to add something else to the tank in question. Try http://www.nepenthesaroundthehouse.com/ for descriptions of individual species; if I were to guess, I'd say anything with a home range above 1500m minimum elevation is probably not going to work for you, or grow kind of slow at best.
~Joe
 
  • #12
I've grown N. ventricosa in ultra lowland conditions just fine. Go for it if you aren't afraid for your frogs.

N. bellii is very small. It's the smallest.
 
  • #13
Personally I would not mix very tiny frogs with neps. I know it sounds like a cool-looking tank to have neps and frogs in it...but...I wouldn't take the risk.
 
  • #14
I've grown N. ventricosa in ultra lowland conditions just fine. Go for it if you aren't afraid for your frogs.

N. bellii is very small. It's the smallest.

Yeah, N. bellii really is the perfect size for this application... they're nice and compact and the pitchers are naturally tiny. Your Dendros will look like cane toads next to an N. bellii. Er, colorful shiny smooth-skinned cane toads.
~Joe
 
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