Thursday, July 31, 2014

Artificial Japanese Pine Bonsai Tree for Terrarium Decoration

When creating my terrarium for my hermit crabs I was looking for the most realistic, yet fake plants money could buy. I didn't want these cheap shiny fake plants, and lame looking rubber vines to create a rain forest/beach atmosphere.
The terrarium in all honesty was for my personal viewing pleasure, but I am sure the crabs enjoy it as well. Besides, it's there home.
Me being the creative crafty gal I am went outside of the box when finding items to really make my terrarium make people stop and drop a jaw when they catch a glimpse of it.
I had the option to buy a fake bonsai tree from Petco for $14.99; however the bonsai they were offering was so cheap and plastic looking, that I knew if I added it to my tank things would look stupid. It would clash with my other items, and it would turn the coolness of my terrarium into cheapness. But heck, it gave me an idea, and got me to thinking. If I could find a cool fake bonsai to add into my tank, it would look awesome. Besides I had no cool trees. I had some neat looking fake palms, and some plastic bushes and flowers, but I did not have a freakin tree, and I wanted a freakin tree.
I went online of course to find my tank a perfect tree, and got side tracked by massively expensive silk bonsais. I was not about to shell out $400 on a fake tree though, I was looking more in the category of $20-$40.
After a few ours of hunting the net I came across a site with some fairly sweet prices, and some really realistic looking trees. At www.Bonsaiboy.com I had options; many options. I could choose a lifelike flowering tree, fruit tree, or plain pine.
Seeing how I wanted this terrarium to look as real as possible I went with the simple Pine tree. One problem though, I wondered how hard it would be to remove the fake tree from it's container. I did not want to ruin the tree while prying it out. For only $24.99 though, I figured if I broke it or something, I could Gorilla Glue it back together.
The tree came, and looked similar to the one they displayed on the net. I loved it, the leaves were lifelike, the trunk looked like a real trunk, and the height was perfect for my tank. (8"x8"x8" in a 5" brown, rectangle container).
I was able to easily yank the tree from the container, and place the tree into my terrarium. I buried it under a mound of hermit crab sand, and accented the tree with a few small fake bushes. I now had what looked like an actual environment. I liked the pine tree so much, that I wanted to order another tree. If this one looked so realistic, I was positive that the fruiting trees would look realistic as well.
I however have yet to re-order, and as I blow up this trees ego in this review, it makes me want to go back to the site now and order the tree that looks as if it has peaches growing from it.
Anyway... once the tree was secure in it's place, I knew that my hermits would have no problem at all climbing all over this one. I knew it was sturdy enough to support their weight without tipping over and hurting them.
So in conclusion, I highly, highly recommend anyone who is creating or already owns a terrarium that is looking for the perfect realistic, yet fake tree to visit the site. Their products are flawless, and in all honesty you will not find better quality unless you are willing to spend hundreds and hundreds of dollars on a silk bonsai.
This tree, and the other trees will look awesome in a snake, frog, lizard, or hermits tank. It is honestly my best piece (besides the waterfall) in the tank.

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