I am getting ready to "re-do" my terrarium. I know there's a dedicated terrarim forum, but it seems really s-l-o-w. When I started the terr forum up a number of years ago it was quite active. The slowness is, I think, unavoidable. Afterall, one can only make so many terrs before running out of room. :) And since they tend to be low maintainence, there again is less reason to constantly be in attendence. So since yours is so super lovely, I am going to ask you because I am not an expert. While flattered, I hope you aren't putting me in the 'expert' category! LOL! There are many folks out there with truly breath taking terrs & vivariums. Its in a 35 gallon aquarium. I cemented all sorts of stuff to the glass in the back and on the sides...mainly cork bark pieces and grapewood pieces etc, and stuffed sphagnum moss into the crevices. My biggest failure (kill me now) was not installing the "octopus" tubing to make the back into a drip wall. Hindsight is always 20/20 as the saying goes. Are you thinking of redoing it, or modifying it or skipping the drip wall? One third of the floor is a layer of gravel overlayed with a layer of treefern shreds about 2 inches thick. The gravel is under water, the treefern isn't. In the middle is a "waterfall" of fossil coral I've collected from Mexico, SOuth FL, etc, and a chunk of driftwood. The other 1/3 is tumbled river rock, neat shells, etc, which are in water. There is a mini-fountain pump hidden there that pumps water over the coral waterfall in the center. That sounds cool! I really wanted a waterfall in one of my terrs but think I'll have to forego it -- it would take up too much room I fear. All I have in there at the moment is a very well established Angraecum orchid, and one bromeliad. Ah, the minimalist/understated approach! :D But I have a ton of stuff out in the greenhouse I could put in there, like Dischidias, Scindapsis, Hoya, other creeping mini-orchids like mini-dends, bulbos, etc. And with a tank that size it won't take much to fill 'er up. LOL It always surprised me how fast an empty tank becomes full. When empty, ya figure "Wow. There's all kinds of room in there." Then you start putting a few items in and all of a sudden it's full and you didn't even do half of what you thought you would. For the vines, would you suggest actually planting little rooted sections in tiny pots of soil and sinking them into the treefern? I will probably also put in some aquarium plants (swords, etc) in the water part. Most vines, assuming they like the terr lifestyle, will likely require frequent trimming. (Just a heads up though you've already thought of this I'm sure.) In a 35 gal, personally I'd still plan on using miniature plants and small-leafed vines. Ferns I've planted in small pots to restrict their spread by rhizomes/runners. If you have a vine that spreads this way a pot might help prevent it fom popping up where you don't want it. Otherwise you could probably just plant the vine directly in the media. As long a the treefern stays moist -- and it sounds like it should -- the vines should root just fine. If the roots would stay confined to the pot there could be some advantages there, but we now they won't be that cooperative! LOL I'd thought about maybe getting a couple of fire belly newts. they're cute lil things! I'm not sure if you would need to do water changes, use a filter, or if you could establish a healthy enough microfauna to breakdown their wastes. [Though I know in a larger tank it can be done] I have a double hood on top, one has a straight Natural Sunlight tube, the other a Flora Glo. I'm not sure if that will prove sufficient for flowering plants. However, lighting is still something I'm experimenting with. Presently using cfls -- 6 in both my 55 gal and 90 gal terrs. Don't know yet if I'll need to put 2 more in the 90. Started off w/ 13W [equivalen to 60 W incandescents] but am shifting them over to 23W (100W equivalents) as they burn out or as the burnouts of other lights in my apt give me places to use the 13Ws. The AVs bloomed under the lower wattage but some other plants haven't. I have stuff like Ludisia, Macodes etc out in the greenouse I could pull from and put a few starts in there. I suspect the Ludisia would get too big for a small tank but it sure couldn't hurt to give it a go. Should it not grow too rambunctiously, the color contrast would be very nice. I'd like to see more photos of your different plants in yours, for ideas. I'll try to get some pics taken and post for ya, Bihai. :) Right now, I hand mist from a spray bottle every day. The temp is pretty much 75F, all the time. You're much more dedicated than I! I should mist daily but generally don't. I'm sure some of my plantss wuold perform better if I did. Well that's all for the moment. Not sure if I adequately addressed you questions, Bihai. Let me know. :)

I'm glad you found some of it useful, Jonnys. It really doesn't have to be hard. I bought one of the mesh/net cages they had at Lukas one year, but I actually prefer the plastic boxes. Easier to clean, easier to see into. The only benefit I could see to the mesh is that it would be easier on the eclosed butterflies if they hatch out while you are away. Less chance of injury. But I'm at home during the day and check on them frequently when I know they are due to eclose. Sadly, they WILL die if they run out of food. You have to be prepared to grow a lot, and don't bring in more than you can feed. In my opinion, it is better to let the cats take their chances outside, maybe becoming food for lizards, wasps or other predators, than to let them die in a cage. So I try to be sure I have enough food for the ones I'm trying to raise. I usually only raise 8 or 10 cats at once. I wait until they have hatched outside, then pick the stems that have babies on them, limiting the number to what I think I can feed. At my house, those left outside get eaten fairly quickly, so they don't usually decimate my yard plants. However, if you find you have a whole bunch you want to save, you will need to make a run to Lukas (or somewhere you can trust the safety of the plants) for more milkweed. Or the appropriate food source. Caterpillars are ravenous eaters, for sure, so it's better to have plenty planted or on hand in pots. When I found the swallowtails on my fennel, they were more than half grown, and I only found about 4 big cats, so I had plenty of fennel for them. But the monarchs are so prolific, it takes a nice stand of milkweed to keep them fed. The good thing is, the milkweed comes back fast. Another thing...when the cats are tiny, they need the tender leaves, but as they get bigger, they will eat stems and all, so that is helpful if you are running low on leafage. We all know the story of caterpillars turning into butterflies, but there is something truly magical about watching it happen before your eyes. For me, it was watching the fat caterpillar hang himself from the lid (it's called "J-ing up") and suddenly split right open and there is the brilliant green chrysalis. They don't weave a pupa around themselves like moths do...their skin just splits and there's this green jewel hanging there. Amazing! And you will know that eclosing is getting near when the green color disappears and you can see the striped monarch inside. Of course, this is different for each species. The process is the same, but everything else looks different. Good luck with your venture. I think you might find it as addictive as any other form of gardening. And kids are totally fascinated by the process, too. My 4-year old granddaughter thinks it's the neatest thing, ever. She's right. Marcia

Kathy, Sorry you having so much trouble, but glad the initial surgery is over. I was very lucky with my surgery and didn't have too much trouble afterward. I never had to take any pain meds stronger than a BC Powder, and my surgeon could not understand this because he said grown men beg for meds after the surgery. I know I have a high threshold for pain. My hip has never caused me any problems at all other than the skin over the incision tends to become dry and itchy. I had an unstable back fracture at L1 so my fusion is higher than yours, but I can't bend at the waist either, and also can't turn. I can turn my head, or my whole body, and nothing in between. In addition to the fusion, they added Harrington rods, so I have a lot of area tied off. They had intended to leave the rods about 2 years and then remove them, but I moved, had different doctors, different insurance, etc. and that just didn't happen. I have done really well and can do most things although I may do them in a different way. The first year and a half will be the worst, but after that you will have learned how to deal with it all and not hurt yourself doing it. I tell you all of this for several reasons. I hope it will help you to cope until you are feeling better. I had the surgery in 1986 and had very little pain until the last year or so, except the one listed below. Shortly after the surgery several things did happen to me, and you may have some of the same issues. (1) I had a metal taste in my mouth as if my fillings were melting. LOL I don't know if it was my body reacting to the metal in my back or what, but that lasted about a year. (2) The muscle burning still happens to me across my shoulders. I wonder if it isn't because so many nerves were cut. I would be very worried however if I had pain shooting down my legs as you describe because that sounds like a spinal issue. (3) I had one little spot (and I mean little spot) that hurt and felt like something was poking me with a sharp object. It was on the opposite hip from where the bone was removed. They did nothing on that side. The doc marked it and took xrays and there was nothing there that should hurt. Probably something pinching from the new posture. It went away on it's own. (4)I have had several dentists that would not touch my mouth unless I was on antibiotics. I took a lot. My current dentist doesn't do that, but I still usually ask for one when I am going to have my teeth cleaned. The theory at the time of my surgery was that a bacterial infection in your blood would quickly form along that steel and that was very close to the spine. Mine was probably because of my rods tho because I have 9 inches of steel down each side of my spine. That makes for a long incision. (5)I have screws also and some little things that look like bumper jacks. Every now and then it feels like I get a muscle hung on the wrong side of something. For me it is mostly at the top of my rods, but a screw would do the same thing. The muscle will ache and cramp, but usually if I can relax it will stop and slide back into the right place. In my case it normally happens when I am on my back and have my hand, or hands, above my head. I just lower my hand, try to relax, and wait. It seems to fix itself in a couple of minutes. (6)And there is the cold.....I was never a cold natured person and that is a good thing because when that steel gets cold, you are cold all over. Of course, I have a lot more steel, but when it gets cold, I don't just shiver, I shake. It bothers my husband so badly that he always just tries to put me in a big bear hug to try to help me warm up. I had suffered for many years with serious headaches which went away after the surgery. That was a bonus that the doc didn't expect. Life will be good again, but it will be a little different. Hang in there and it will get better. My thoughts and prayers go with you as you recover. Carol

mmommy: If moving out is not an option, look at some other opportunities. Try taking an art class or cooking class. These may seem "dumb" or "boring" but I'm pretty sure (depending on where you live) that bringing your son along probably wouldn't be a problem to those types of classes. A little bigger ambition: go take a literature class or philosophy class and find out if your local community college or university has daycare facilities. Yeah, its some work, but if you do something besides going to work and coming home, you will have to deal with the situation a little less. If you already have your degree, find out about a photog class or what the local art museum has to offer. Ultimately, if you only have about 18 months with SD to be in the home (she may be there longer--don't get excited) then if you start doing something that keeps you and baby boy out of the house, it may make YOU feel better. I know the problems that I encountered repeatedly were because I was HERE repeatedly and let the situation get too far (we're getting divorced because of SK's and especially EX and husbands inability to tell her NO). Hindsight (20/20) if I had been here a little less, I believe some of our problems would have been a little less tense and my attention would have been focused elsewhere. Despite the fact that I am in school (online) it would have behooved me to have been at the art museum some weekends (lol). Think about it and see what you can come up with....I know a lot will depend on what you can do with your son b/c you don't want to leave him at home and subjected to SD, but you may be able to come up with a good deal somewhere. simply