Q and A: Is charcoal necessary for terrariums? (from the archive)

I am at a conference and will be sharing posts from the archive this week.

Question: Will I be ok without the charcoal since they are open terrariums?

Answer: An open-top terrarium should be fine without charcoal but if it starts to smell noticeably swampy I would dump it out and try again. Once a terrarium starts to stink it won't stop on its own and will most likely only get worse- especially if any critters hitched a ride into the terrarium and then find themselves deceased. Charcoal acts as a filtration system for decaying matter in the enclosed terrarium system (enclosed meaning no complete vertical drainage).As I am at a conference, I'll be sharing posts from the archive this week.