Hi Hopefully someone with some real knowlege will jump in with some real help but this forum is usually pretty dead . Was curious as to the zanthoxylum . Aren 't the spines a problem for the snakes?? The usual cause for the symtoms you describe is too much water and humidity often associated with low light and dead air.. If they recover when you took them out then thats a good clue particularly with the zanthoxylum Most of the ficus family is very tolerant ine. though I've found terrariums too humid in my situation so I run them open top with fans . I'm referring to elastica and benjamina here .have no experience with other species. I prefer growing all my plants in pots because of the constant rearranging necessary and of course provides better drainage Mine are kept in the GH with natual light so can't advise on the subject. As to other species the ones you already have are considered easy, usually. Hope this helped a tiny bit?? gary

Hello, First of al thanks for reacting. My retailer said exactly the same thing about the root rot but he didn't say a word about other problems. I bought them about 4 months ago. Yes I bought a fertalizer ferti bonsai by omni plant. My retailer told me to use only half the dose that was described on the little box the liquid fertalizer was deliverd in. On another part of this forum someone else also said that keeping them in their pot was the best thing to do. So that is what I'm going to do! Thank you Mitchell for your quick response! The soil mix was already in the pot in consisted for as far as I could tell out of little stones, sand, little branches and potting soil. When I had the bonsai trees for a week or 2 I didn't have the natural light lamps yet or the uvb lamps only the daylight lamps which actually only produce light and heat. So then I bought the other lights and for 2 months both bonsai's grew a lot lot new leaves and even with the zanthoxylum a staggering amount of branches. I will seek those type of lights out on the internet and replace my old ones if neccesary. Thank you for you quick response moochinka. Here are some picture.  You might not be capable of seeing it but the the biggest branches (the tree trunk) was broken at it's top (lowest part on the picture) it used to be a third bigger then the whole trunk is now. It was deliverd to me in this state. So I "bandaged" the wound with some steel wire. And that part of the trunk revived and also started to grow. Only a few weeks later one of my snakes pooped exactly on the wound and from that moment the tree slowly died. Could it be that the veigns of the tree where poisoned by this? And that would be the reason it almost died?  Those are the roots of the ficus. The ficus in a good shape. The zanthoxylum in a good shape. If anyone wants me too I can take other pictures like a close-up from certain areas of the bonsais. Kind regards and thanks again, Gawein Smit

With dogs, I would work with natural coloured wood, not "coffee". Hickory is traditionally a harder wood than birch, but when it comes to engineered hardwood, the top species isn't the biggest concern. I always ask people how THICK the wear layer is (3mm is required if you have any HOPE of refinishing) and how thick the entire plank is. Mohawk is an acceptable mid-grade product. Not super cheap and not super expensive. A true middle of the road manufacturer. If you have a HIGH END home, you might want to look at something else.

Custom pantry · More Info The above pantry is great -- no surprise its picture has been kicking around the internet for years! However, I think it's important to note that this pantry is probably 3-4' and 7-8' wide ... you have less space. This pantry "closes off" with pocket doors, which will eat into your depth. You could totally do this ... but just know it'll be smaller. If I were using this as an inspiration picture, I'd go with 18" deep drawers in the middle ... 12" deep shelves on the edges ... eliminate the side shelves /instead install narrow pegboard to fill in those sides. I have a medium-sized pegboard in my pantry, and it holds SO MUCH stuff that isn't used every day /keeps my kitchen drawers free for always-used stuff. Love the white /pale wood shelving, as it brightens and visually enlarges the space. Note that the upper shelf is "wide open", meaning it has no vertical divisions /could easily house your large items like picnic baskets, roasters, whatever. One thing this pantry does right: The "nicest part" ... that is, the shelves ... is placed front-and-center, and the packages of food, which can look messy, are shoved to the sides. Makes the space more attractive. New York Transformation · More Info This second pix is another great choice, but it comes with the same issue as above ... space. Note that your first two inspiration pix both have a "countertop" at waist-level ... not a typical thing in pantries, but I love it. It'll give you a space to set down grocery bags while you sort, a place to measure out a cup of beans rather than bringing out the whole bag. It's also a place to "display" ... it's a place for glass canisters of flour or noodles, or a place to set out your not-every-day small appliances. I think the only difference here (between this and pix #1) is that doors are hinged /open out into the room. I prefer these doors, and they have no effect on the interior of the pantry. NARI Tour of Remodeled Homes 2014 · More Info Well, of course he recommended them! Exponentially more expensive than the other two pantries, these would line his pocket! Seriously, these doors would look lovely, but I think you'll get just as much storage from something similar to the first two pantries ... without the expense of pull-out shelves. Ideas to consider: This is kind of the opposite of your two pantry pix. Your pix put the larger "forward" cabinets in the center /shallow storage to the side. This is shelving in a "U-shape". If you do this, I'd get Lazy Susans (just simple ones from Bed, Bath, Beyond -- no need to "build in") for the corners. Last thought: If you do one straight-across-the-back shelf, you could have -- instead of the pegboard I suggested in the first portion of this post -- small baskets on the sides "facing inward". They'd keep a lot of stuff "corralled", and it'd be nice to have a "baking basket" full of sprinkles and cookie cutters ... another full of snack bars ... another for spice packets. These baskets could be highly functional.