A Viquarium: A Hobby for Lee and Me

Being a voracious lover of nature, fond of all of God's creatures, ordinarily I would be enormously opposed to having any undomesticated pets kept in captivity.  However, my youngest son, Lee, brought into our home an adorable Red Eft newt, which he swore followed him home.  The tiny creature did appear to appreciate his attention, and would crawl up and nestle down into Lee's palm.  After doing a bit of research, I discovered that Lee's tiny friend was a member of the family known as Herptiles, and affectionately referred to as herps.  We soon found the Viquarium as the perfect solution for a natural habitat for Lee's new pet.

A viquarium is a large glass tank divided into a land section or terrarium, and a section of water, best known as an aquarium.  It includes a built-in filter system, consisting of a waterfall, which flows down a river, through the terrarium into the aquarium.  Like many herps, newts need to be near and in running water.  They are found in or near creeks and streams of fresh running water.  The viquarium supports the necessities for a perfect living environment and enables cohabitation of such entities that would normally not be together in the same place, such as anoles, chameleons, water dragons, other exotic lizards, frogs, fish, and exotic terrestrial plant life.  Furthermore, we find it to be, truly, the best of both worlds.

Our new viquarium became the perfect hobby for Lee and I to share.  His main interest was the creatures we added, while I relish in the design of the little paradise I created.  Lee catches crickets for the terrestrials and amphibians, while I maintain fashion and cleanliness of the environment.  Together we have created a serene miniature pond sight such as one might find in an exotic rain forest.

We gathered flat rocks from our creek bed, sterilized them, and formed a bridge, fashioned like steps using the clear caulking for mending aquariums to hold it together; also we added small stones to the riverbed in this manner.  The terrarium is comprised of exotic plants such as: miniature bromeliads, ferns, and vines of rose moss, African Violets, and moss and herbal ground coverings. Both melodic and refreshing are the sounds of the waterfall, and moisture escapes into the room as well. The bridge with steps formed from the side of the tank to the terrarium, the miniature lily pads with blossoms atop the steps, and the branch reaching across the tank, all tie the two sections of the viquarium together and give a grandiose focal point to the paradise setting.

Home to this little eco system are in pairs as follows: Colorado Newts, “Bubba” and “Gator”. Firebelly frogs “Kermit” and “Kami;” dwarf African frogs, “Fritz,” and “Freckles,” numerous exotic fantail guppies and one Algae eating fish.  We’ve had a couple Apple Snails in the past but they have not lived long, and I don’t know if they are short lived or if they were picked on by the others.  We did have a lovely Oranda gold fish, but, unfortunately, we lost her from too quickly of a ph change in the water. Sadly, the little Red Eft newt was a squirrelly little rascal and became a treat for out cats. L

Our Dwarf African Frogs are fully aquatic and rather comical to observe, as they often simply relax in the Zen position for hours.  The first time I saw this, I thought Freckles was dead, until I gave her a nudge.  Our fire belly frogs are an active pair, and their mating chimes help to create the atmosphere of a rain forest, as does their feed, which happens to be a plentiful amount of crickets.  Their underside is brilliant red, dotted by numerous black specks: this is to appear as a multitude of “eyes” to their prey, and protect them from attacks or even annihilation.

One of the most exciting things I’ve discovered about newts is the life cycles of certain varieties, such as the Red Eft.  They will begin their life cycle fully aquatic, the second stage is completely terrestrial, and then he or she grows a fan shaped tail and returns to the water where he remains for the third and final stage of her life.  For this, I find, housing particular newts to be more interesting than the butterfly experiment!  However, many other newts remain completely terrestrial; but, there are others, which remain fully aquatic, their entire lives such as our Bubba and Gator.  These dear little ones have eyes that are well off set and they always wear a smile!  Their tiny feet remind me of ET.  Our newts are the clowns of the tank, busily swimming around and from time to time, they will climb out onto the land, and become hypnotized by the waterfall. Often, they will take a joy ride by climbing onto the floating water lettuce. These revel newts are one of the longest lived (Taricha granulose newts), more commonly known as Colorado Newts.  Their sexual maturity is not even reached until their fifth year.  Most newts, unlike most herps, will eat themselves into obesity.  Oh it’s incredibly amusing to feed a chunky, little newt!  I just cannot tell you how charmed and amused I’ve been by these tiny creatures!

While Lee honestly lives out the boyishness of frogs, snails and puppy dog tails; the caring of this little paradise of an eco system ever so soothes me.  It practically maintains itself, and all the while it fulfills my earthiness, love of the water, and God’s creatures, as well as stimulates my artistic side.  It makes a wonderful little family hobby that brings togetherness, as well as provides a diversion from the stresses of the world.  Oh, I have to admit there is a bit of joviality in ordering grub from a place called “Fly Meat,” too.  I love most that it’s a hobby that my son and I can share.