A Vivarium for a Pacman?

[Lecroixe]

It's just a quick question, building a vivarium has been a big recreational idea / short term idea that I had in my head. My only problem is I don't know how comfortable a Pacman would be in one. Well more so I just need more ideas to make a vivarium a comfortable home for a Pacman. This is a bit of a long term goal that I have established for myself so I am in no way rushing this for these guys.

Keropi is about half a year or so old, might be at her full size for her age by now but I do know that Pacmans prefer to be under substrate/hidden from view in some instances, my plan was to create a vivarium in mind with possibly 20gal divided in half for two pacmans (separated of course).

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"How to build a terrarium"
How to Build a Terrarium - Beginning to End - YouTube

My idea is to use the same concept that this fellow has created, for his plants. Some gravel-pebbles/charcoal/filter/substrate to create the base, following a few other videos I wanted to create a waterfall along the divide, so quite possibly I might end up getting a little big bigger aquarium to start the base of my project.
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I still have to do some research on how to filter the substrate if I do make a portion of each frog's half. I enjoy the fact that my frogs use their water dishes on occasion to bathe themselves and hydrate themselves when the soil isn't moist enough but I don't want their little "pond" or water section to just cloud up and turn brown from the substrate. (I'll take any advice on anyone who has already adventured through this endeavour).



I did a rough sketch of how I want the vivarium to look, I know Pacmans are pretty mean about digging up plants so I'll be more than likely to put plants along the walls of the vivarium more than planting them in the soil. (Or if I have to plant it, I'll consider ways to make it so that the pacmans don't dig them up).



This is a top down view, the green squiggles are just places where I could put plants and the brown circles are just mirroring little caves or homes for the pacmans to use, but down the center is a divider; in the back I would like to make a reasonably sized "pond" for these guys to jump in and out of, nothing too deep since pacmans are not swimmers and don't quite jump very high. I know for Pacmans that this kind of vivarium can't be 0% effort to take care of because they will almost always be covered in substrate when they jump into the water, and I'll need to definitely do some extra work to make sure my filter for the waterfall isn't clotting with substrate but any and all ideas towards the design process of this vivarium are welcome!

I look forward to checking back for any ideas or tips!


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Edit: From bottom to top, could I use gravel-pebbles/charcoal/filter/substrate concept, but in between the filter material and substrate, could I grow a layer of moss before adding full on substrate? Will the moss survive if it can absorb moisture from the substrate it rests under? Pacmans tend to dig as deep as they can (I have had instances where I can hear my pacmans squeeking their legs along the bottom of the glass aquarium) and I'd like to ccompensatein this vivarium build for it.

[DigitalPunk]

Vivariums and Pacmans do not go together well if at all. As you pointed out they dig, they destroy and their soil needs to be replaced very often. I wouldn't spend the money on a setup like this. Sorry I have no ideas how you could do this and make it work without it being a disaster in the long run

Maybe someone with more pacman exp than I can chime in and save the day here, but I just don't see how you could do it.


But to answer one of your questions. Live moss buried under soil will be dead moss in no time at all. Moss is like any other plan and needs light, water, and oxygen to survive.

[Lecroixe]

=o Thanks for the pretty quick response Paul! I don't use live moss in my current setup for my pacman but that helps every bit! I've read that because of the Pacman's nature, digging up plants is a common occurrence and that a primary plant for usage in conjunction with pacmans would be pothos if anything.

I'll hold out to see if anyone else has any experience.

I've also read that isopods are good clean up crews for vivariums used with Dart Frogs and such but for me that is almost an entirely new subject that I have never ventured into. As far as pacman clean up, it generally comes down to me spot cleaning and stirring the soil on occasion. Would isopods be good for this type of vivarium or should they be ignored and rely on mostly manual spot cleaning/what few plants that might be plausible for such a vivarium?

[deranged chipmunk]

I was just discussing this very thing with some of the brightest minds in the pac world ( and of course, they mod these pages ), and we came up with the conclusion that it IS feasible, but very difficult. Plants have to be planned out well and the care requirements of both the plants and frogs need to be kept in consideration. Not much different than any other Viv, with the exception of the fact that a pax will burrow. It would take a lot of creativity to pull it off.


Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world ~ Nelson Mandela

[Lecroixe]

Ooh. Did you guys discuss it here in this forum? I would like to read about your guys' discussion on the subject. I do appreciate that there is hope!

At work I thought of mostly the roots, pacmans stay on the ground generally and don't tend to sit on rocks or anything in their habitat so I figured if I could separate the frog or prevent the frog from digging up the roots I could make a vivarium for my pacmans feasible. In fact, I thought of putting my plants into deli cups or cups of a similar design without a bottom and having enough substrate that the roots could possibly grow out the bottom of the cup?

I don't have much experience with caring for plants so I don't quite exactly know how roots would grow or if leaving them within a cup would stunt their growth.

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I was also to do some research on isopods and it seems I can possibly get them into the vivarium as well and it wouldn't hurt the pacman or overcrowd the viv. A few other people out in the world have been able to successfully incorporate them into their pacman habitats. As for which species however, I forgot - will have to go reread some of my sources and pick a species that works best with pacmans.

[deranged chipmunk]

Sorry, it was a private group chat on fb. but the consensus was that a full background with some hardy plants, planted inside their pots in the substrate might work. If you stick with terrarium specific plants, they will stay small and you shouldn't have to worry about binding their roots up too much. I think the key is to leave plenty of open space for burrowing.

As far as the Isopods and springtails, I remember reading a post where Grif mentioned they were good to use. I will see if I can find it for you.


Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world ~ Nelson Mandela

[deranged chipmunk]

http://www.frogforum.net/showpost.php?p=237603


Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world ~ Nelson Mandela