Making a habitat

[ian]

Some basic info on how I set these up. The substrate at the bottom of the bowl is potting compost - about 3cm deep I tried soil on the first one but it lead to an influx of slugs and other small critters. I put 1-2 tbsp colonised oats on top of that and cover it with moss gathered from turf and a few dead leaves. The wood is important - I pick fallen and rotting twigs with a reasonable coating of lichen, fungus and algae - they provide the food for the physarum. It takes around three days for the slime to settle in and start feeding off the twigs.

To prevent escapes I use a petri dish as a lid, though they rarely climb the sides of the container. It's important it's not air tight or your bowl will end up full of fluffy white fungus.