What's new
TerraForums Venus Flytrap, Nepenthes, Drosera and more talk

Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

Portable terrarium

Hello, I was wondering if anyone had any ideas to aid in the solving of my predicament.  I currently have an Nx Holland hybrid, a sundew, and three derosera flytraps.  I have them in a 10 gallon terrarium, with a growlight and everything is perfectly fine and I wish it could stay this way.  But sadly, I am being forced to move from my home, and I will be living on one of my pieces of land in Oregon.  I will not have electricity as I will be camping while I build my house with some friends, and I need to have a portable terrarium that will keep the heat high for my precious plants.  I have to move dreadfully soon.  My budget for this is low.  Does anyone have any ideas on how I could possibly create a portable terrarium that would let the natural light in and have a way to keep the heat up?  I appreciate any help anyone has to offer.
 
Hi,
I may be WAY off the mark here, but have you tried those plastic reptile cages they sell in pet shops? In England they're only a few quid. You could use a piece of sheet glass that overlaps the cage top lengthwise and falls short widthwise then cover the gaps with gauze..... or somthing like that. It's very late here, can you tell? lol
Rosie
 
Hehe I can tell it's late there, but I get the picture. Still, that would be something like using the aquarium I have now. Hmmm... Maybe I can use the aquarium I have now somehow...
 
you could use the terrarium you have know and then cover the 4 sides with reflective heater insulation (its essentially like stiff bubble wrap with a mylar finish) which would not only would have reflecting properties, but keep the heat in. It's on a roll, sold by the ft. $2-3 per 1'x2' at OSH. You could make it removeable by using sticky back velcro.
I don't think you could depend on it entirely if the temperatures plummeted though. I think it would work best at keeping the temperatures from dropping too fast at night.

If you need extra heat you may need to get a heating pad ... oooh but that would require electricity. Hmmm, maybe you could use a hot water bottle??

-Lia
 
That is a good idea.  What is OSH?  I don't know about a hot water bottle though. Hmm.
 
Not sure how to incorporate this, but something to think about and experiment. Black absorbs heat during the day and releases it slow at night. Jugs of water (paint the outside black) sitting in the sun all day, then surround the terrium with them at night.

By camping, do you mean tent camping? Do you plan to keep the plant set up inside or will it be outside the whole time? The caution if they are outside in a glass tank would be the danger of frying the plant if it is in full sun. The flytrap and sundew most likely would be fine just sitting outside in their pots, mine have been out for several months now; lows have have in the high 30's to last night was 47 (degrees Farenhiet) and have not had a problem. Not sure about the Nep though. Good luck and happy house building.
 
Yes, tent camping. I'm not sure if the humidity is high enough for them to be in pots, but what I could do is the bottle idea with smaller bottles and put them inside the terrarium at night. I'm going to the store today to see if they have any of these things like the insulation.
 
Back
Top