I Added Animals Into My Giant Canopy Vivarium 

Spoiler alert! Don't read if you haven't watched the video. Now that the 2nd season of my Ecosystem Vivarium Series has come to an end, it's time for me to address the controversy of this video. I’ll address the most common concerns I spotted in the comments: “Releasing the sun skinks was the worst decision. I wish the croc was evicted.” I have had months to think about their release, even before the caiman came into the picture. Giving the sun skinks, who are wild animals, their freedom back now was the best option in my mind. They were never intended to remain in Pantdora forever, as mentioned in the video. From the start, cycling through the higher tier predators was the plan (See Season 1, Ep 3). The sun skinks were borrowed from nature for learning and had to be returned at some point. I made sure to not tame them so they would still have what it took to survive in the wild just fine, as their species has for millions of yrs. I miss them terribly, too and am still emotionally dealing with their loss, especially Smaug. Thanks for watching and loving them. I wish they could understand how many people were rooting for them from around the world. Perhaps in the future, new sun skinks can make a comeback. As for the caiman, though I cannot release him into the wild seeing as he is a captive-bred pet and not native, his time will come to also leave Pantdora (more about him below). - “Why have community tab polls if you aren’t going to follow the winning results?” The polls in my Community Tab are important and helpful for me to see where the AC Family's head is at on certain topics, so they do matter in my decision process, BUT in the end, all decisions have to be mine, because I am the person responsible for the animals' well being, the sustainability of the entire project, the education I choose to put out into the world, etc. I have nearly four decades of experience in general animal husbandry and 3 decades in vivaria. Had I left all major decisions to the mercy of the general public without any interference, many animals would have died by now and the entire project would have surely collapsed. I also suspect most people voting don't actually follow the series. I wish youtube didn’t remove the in-video poll function from a few yrs back, as they were essential to this channel. I do manage to weed out the voters who don't care and aren't serious by adding joke options, which often lead in the ranks and tell me a lot about who’s actually voting. Bottom line: the polls matter and do affect the story, so thank you all for participating in the votes as your opinions are super helpful, but in the end, I have to make the final calls. - “The caiman will just eat everything in the vivarium now! Everything will die.” Actually, quite the opposite: All flying insects, climbing prey insects, and smaller invertebrates were not safe from the sun skinks who were masters at finding and catching them. They ate a tonne of spiders, I suspect the first Mantis Green Reaper, Stanley the bush cricket, the first damselfly, etc. With the sun skinks gone, such animals now have a turn to thrive. The croc who is fully ground/waterbound would be unable to catch such creatures unless they wandered close. Again, change in an ecosystem is good and essential. Remember when our beloved Bush Cricket Stanley died? I was heartbroken then, too. But suddenly, his death gave our vines a chance to finally explode in foliage and grow everywhere which Stanley would not allow while he was alive. I suspect something similar will happen here, where the sudden sun skinks' absence will prove beneficial for the insects of our rainforest. We’ll just have to see. - “You’re choosing to keep the caiman for views!” For those saying I keep the caiman for views, this is the infamous, inevitable comment all youtubers get when a controversial video they created gets a lot of attention. I can’t speak for other youtubers, but I know my truth. I am and always have been a lover of biology, herpetoculturist, and ant nerd for my entire life, and will continue my hobby whether on or off camera. I don’t decide for viewership because if I did, I would be keeping the sun skinks who were actually more popular on the channel than the caiman, or would be dropping nature content entirely to pursue Mr Beast-type content which is the most viewership-generating. Everything I share in my videos is 100% in the name of my passion and love for sharing the awesome moments, I manage to capture on film while caring for Pantdora and now Orchadia, with you. I legitimately want to learn more about our caiman, as I’ve never had the resources nor space to own one in the past. I do now and have chosen to seize this unique opportunity to study and document these super interesting animals in a way that is true to nature. He does fit quite well in Pantdora (right now) and deserves a chance, as much as our sun skinks did. There will come a time when he too will be moved out, first into a future swamp vivarium, then my 60 ft outdoor enclosed pond in my yard. For now, let’s kindly give Godzilla a chance. Bottom line: I am a lover of nature, and learning about different animals in a manner that is governed by respect and responsibility is #1 for me, not viewership. I hope people understand this while watching my channel. Thank you for reading and for supporting the series! I've dedicated my life to this series now and appreciate you all. It fills my heart up to know that there are still so many people genuinely invested in the stories of nature. So much more is up ahead for us to discover in our giant cloud rainforest world, as I have begun to work on Season 3. Ant love forever! ❤️ PS - In the flying termite scene, what you're looking at are glass sliding doors that are ALL SHUT (and glass windows into my aviary that don't open) and one open door that leads into my kitchen and rest of my home. Leaving doors open where I live is a mosquito and fly invasion waiting to happen. Still don't know how the alates got in, but they manage to do it every year.

Im of the opinion that Godzilla should have been the one to have been relocated, last in, therefore, first out. Bit gutted for the skinks.

Awww, I wish we had gotten to see their babies. May Drake, Daenerys and Smaug live long and prosper.

I was in the Amazon Rainforest during Covid and I had a crab “fall out of the sky” and hit me. I’m glad to know I didn’t hallucinate that 😂

14:03 “I placed them in with care” *proceeds to throw them in the tank💀*

My first thought was I’d rather the croc leave - but then seeing the skinks run off to the forest so quickly, I felt happy for them. As beautiful as the vivarium is, it’s not living wild and free. Thank you skinks, and good luck out there!

Godzilla was always a big gamble. If I'm honest I would rather have seen him moved into a different enclosure and the sun skinks left. It was going to have to happen within a few months anyway when he's doubled in size

This series is similar to watching a TV show that you become extremely invested in over time. Releasing the lizards was like killing off a beloved main character out of nowhere, it's definitely going to upset some people. However, It did make a shocking season 2 finale.

Those sun skinks are going to forever remember the time when they had life made. Plenty of food, nothing to hurt them.

Glad to see I'm not the only one who didn't take to the idea of a Caiman in the vivarium. That said, it's a learning process. The vivarium has plenty of life left, and I'm sure that after Godzilla is relocated, better suited candidates can be introduced. Still love the whole build. Thanks, AntsCanada for sharing the journey with us.

Id have to say without those skinks, its basically a feeding tank for Godzilla, i actually enjoyed it more with the skinks, because you could add alot more species in there to observe, i think its going to be alot more focused on Godzilla from this point, with many surprises, the Skinks will be missed

Not me bawling bout our skinks moving on without us haha, @antscanada you did the right thing by them. Keeping your word is more important and they may not be able to tell you so but they appreciate it. You are a good soul

I think this move should have been voted on. I'm pretty certain we would all have wanted the skinks to stay, and the croc to be put in a new enclosure until you built your swamp vivarium that could connect to Pantdora's water area. And what of the frogs, the gekos, basically we're gonna be left with crickets, ants, cockroaches, and a snake and a caiman.

An insect flying into this dude's home is like a teenager breaking into a psyco killers basement

Dude, i started watching these video as background noise when doing homework, now months later, im siting in my room crying for a lizard

People are upset because we've had the skinks for soooo long and I'm also super sad to see them go. But, like he said, they weren't pets and only here to help us learn. Personally, I love the idea of rotating the apex predator of Pantdora every now and then, it sounds so interesting. Love this series and I trust your decisions. I'm so looking forward to season 3! :)

Honestly, I would have preferred for you to keep the sun skinks and remove the croc. It just feels like they were a better match for the setup.

Frankly, I think a breeding pair of skinks would be more interesting than a caiman.

*"I have no idea how these termites got in here!" Pans camera around with window wide open...*

Goodbye Smaug, Daenerys, Drake! Good luck out there, eat lots of bugs and have lots of babies, we will miss you. Excited for season 3!

Man, godzilla really feels like he became an invasive predator. The skinks felt more in place than he.

Godzilla has removed the calm of this for me. Loved the sun skinks.

Best series on RU-vid right right now

I know a lot of people are upset over releasing the sun skinks but I think that was the better option. Caimans aren’t native while the skinks are. They have a much higher chance for survival out there, and given the fabulous care they’ve grown strong so surely they will thrive. I’ll definitely miss Smaug though. She was so beautiful. Can’t wait for the next season.

ants canada is the only person who would be happy when termites break into his house

Godzilla took our chance to see Smaug's babies 😭 I was infested in that successful love story

First L of the vivarium: The sun skinks haven't even bred yet, and you got rid of them. It felt like Godzilla was the invasive species to be added for long-time viewers attached to the skinks from the beginning.

I came back to see how he was doing since I hadn't watched him in like 7 - 8 years and he's doing this now... I'm so unbelievably amazed at what this guy has accomplished

"3 minutes to speed date, find the love of your life, all while avoiding being eaten" sounds like a great reality TV show idea

getting rid of the skinks in favor of the caiman is like that one family who gets a new puppy and dumps the older dog at a shelter 😭

Damn.. I really preferred the sun skinks. Lots of people/places showcase crocs. Not many showcase less "showy" predator lizards.

OMG! I was biting my nails the whole episode as I tried to guess which sun skink got eaten. What a relief! I can sleep easy tonight.

I'm sad seeing the skinks leave. I was really looking forward to seeing the next stage for then with their babies. I am so mad at Godzilla that we have to see Smaug go.

I would have moved godzilla. I liked the sun skinks.

*termites flying around the room* “THIS IS AWSOME!!” *Franticly runs around kidnapping kings and queens * 😂😂😂

I do believe RU-vid is a place where we can still find absolutely amazing, entertaining and educational content. That being said, this channel did not get to this point, such in popularity as in involvement from the public, by being irresponsible or full of clickbait just for views. I say let’s trust our creator of worlds and allow him to continue this amazing journey by not being judgmental, and just enjoying the incredible opportunity of learning that this content is. Sending love and hoping for the best for our little dragons 🐉❤️

I feel like the skinks had a better chance at survival in the vivarium still

Godzilla is now officially the ANTagonist.

I'm sorry, but I see Godzilla as a failure. He's as destructive as a fire ant colony would be to the vivarium. The poor Sun Skins.

Ecology is by far one of the most underrated subjects of biology. Schools often prioritize the smaller pieces of the puzzle like plant and human physiology, so kids never end up learning about why it's important and how such small and sophisticated systems fit into the grand scheme of life on the planet. It becomes frustrating to see students turning away from biology because they think it just involves memorizing fancy facts, because nobody bothered to show them how everything connects. Thank you for making this series, AC. Your project and commentary as undoubtedly reminded youngsters and educators alike of the goal and beauty of the study of nature.

Godzilla quickly has become the most hated figure in AC Family history.

I’m honestly devastated at the loss of the sun skinks. Who kicks their kids out of the house for good to make room for a temporary guest?! I think adding Godzilla was a mistake from the get go. He’ll need to be relocated anyway, he disturbs the predator-prey balance, and he‘s the biggest threat to the highest number of inhabitants in Pantdora. I really hope we get some new sun skinks when Godzilla is finally relocated!

wish the caiman was never introduced, would have rather watched the sun skinks thrive. it's cool you released them though and they were safe.

Yeah, I knew this was gonna happen; either the skinks would get eaten or need to go. But I have to say that the sun skins were my favorite animals in Pantdora; way more so than Godzilla. I can't be the only one who would've rather seen the caiman go (rehomed outside or gone altogether) but I'm glad we at least got to enjoy the skinks for 7 months. I just hope they aren't eaten outside and are able to live out the rest of their lives in peace, with Smaug laying her eggs and their legacy continuing. But we will always miss the skinks' personalities in the vivarium. They will hopefully never be forgotten

i like how we voted the "crock out" and now he's a problem

It would’ve been so much cooler to keep the sunskins and have them reproduce than keep an alligator you’ll have to replace soon anyway.

Given that smaug was likely gravid and that the sun skinks could have had a sustainable life in pantdora as well as the fact that godzilla will have to be relocated in the future anyway I really think that godzilla should have been relocated and the skinks left in. I was looking forward to baby skinks since the beginning

This comment section is hilarious, why are people hating over this decision? I am also sad to see the sun skinks go, but at the same time happy that they get to go back to the wild. Ngl, I love the fact that he is switching up the apex predators, it makes everything a lot more interesting to watch. @antscanada , I fully trust you and your decisions and people seem to forget that this is YOUR hobby and you’re sharing what you’re doing with YOUR vivarium. All creds to you, I love this channel!❤️‍🔥

No the croc should of been moved!! I loved the sun skinks and so gutted they are gone

I would’ve kept the skinks. The caiman will out grow the tank. The skinks were easily my favorite park of the whole series.

Man i preferred the sunk skinks over the croc :(

When Godzilla leaves I think you should get another skink, only next time get it from a captive setting so you don’t feel the guilt of taking them from the wild.

Surprised to see the sunskinks go when the croc was voted off 3 weeks ago.

Mikey, I would have personally kept the sun skinks in the Vivarium. Godzilla will get to big and was already determined to be temporary, they were OG's he wasn't nor will be permanent in the rainforest. I know what you did was hard and I enjoy this journey with you. This is only my opinion but from the start I was worried he was gonna attack one of them. I live in Louisiana and alligators are the norm here, once they grow they have no predators except humans. Still can't wait to see what else happens as this place grows and continues to flourish :)

Even as a Kaiju fan myself, it was literally the best option to just not add Godzilla into the mix. Even tho crocs takes a while to grow bigger, they're probably the most aggressive creature you have in Pandora and could lead to an unbalanced habitat due to his growing hunger. Even tho you already have a plan to relocate him, he'll *probably* need a bigger tank in the meantime before he can be put into the pond.

don’t let the haters keep you down AC✨, we’re so excited for Valentino

NOOOOOO IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN THE CAIMAN NOT THE SKINKS AAAAAAAA

Dang it! Godzilla should have been the one to go. He’s gonna get too big for it before long anyways…. Now there are no super cool sun skinks…

Putting Godzilla in pantdora is a bad idea. I love the sunskinks more than Godzilla

I was on the damn edge of my seat waiting for Smaug to be eating crickets in Dragon heaven. Then relieved to find he was actually better off! You are a true story tell my friend ❤️

Can’t believe you choose Godzilla over Smaug and the others my heart breaks 😭

Would have definitely prefered godzilla was removed since he stops most other animals from being added to tank. Would have rather kept the OG's and got rid of godzilla since is the newest and needs to be moved out eventually anyways. Feel like if the fans had the choice between the two godzilla woulda got the boot.

Awww maaaan. The sun skinks are way cooler than the caiman 😭

I'm not crying, you're crying. My boyfriend and I have been here since before day one of Pantora. If you think about it, the Sun Skinks now have a much larger kingdom to reign

I was kinda surprised that you added a caiman in the first place, the only time he’s a good match is if you’re okay with him eating EVERYTHING in your tank! I’m glad you let the sun skinks go so they weren’t just being bullied and eventually murdered.

I feel disappointed about the sunskinks, they have always been some of my favorites and seen them being booted out by Godzilla is sad, especially since I never voted for him. I'm glad they didn't got eaten at least so I do understand the reason they was released

I loved the sun skinks 😭

It's sad to see people hating on Godzilla like he's evil, he is just a baby animal doing his thing, but he 100% does not belong in that vivarium. Cycling out predators was always the plan, yeah, but if you're not going to stick to native creatures, you might as well put a house cat in there. Or add a new fire ant colony yourself. I think the skinks will do fine returning to the wild, but it's a shame our time with them was cut short for a species who has no business being there in the first place.

man i actually cried, i hope the skinks live well.

I love this channel and all you do to educate us on nature. I really wish you would send the croc to his next home. Would much rather watch the sunskinks grow and flourish.

In my opinion you should have gotten rid of Godzilla since you have to get rid of him eventually

I would have gotten rid of the caiman…sunskins were safe in pandora….. sad. But if you are thinking of adding the tree snake… then i’m glad they are away……

Honestly, I'm so disappointed that Godzilla was added. He's infinitely less interesting than the smaller predators, which there can be more of, and he will never contribute in the same way. He will never mate and lay eggs in there like the smaller predators can, and it just feels forced and unrealistic. Everything else comes second because the croc needs so much more resources. I'm looking forward to when he outgrows the vivarium.

i think he should have kept the sun skinks and moved Godzilla some where else Godzilla is just going to be a overwhelming apex predator that he wont be able to put any other animals but Insects i think you should move godzilla to a new tank

The goodbye ritual for the skinks was an awesome moment, i appreciate the understanding of the relationship between you guys, just awesome

You should have ditched the croc , he's gonna outgrow that enclosure anyway

Cliffnotes version: Mike prefers his non-native South American caiman over the three native sun skinks he had previously kept.

I can’t tell you how much I’ve appreciated this series. This world is getting crazier and crazier, and to me, this show is a very needed respite from all the political craziness. You are so talented, and so entertaining. Please come back with Season 3 as soon as you can! Take care.

People just dont like change, im happy with whatever decisions are made from the man with 4 decades of experience

When you suddenly hear your neighbour say: “I wonder what happened to that tarantula..,”

Only AntsCanada can make me cry about Sun Skinks. Mostly because no one else has ever given a Sun Skink an emotional story arc before but I digress. Thanks for the memories our Golden friends. May the wild be more fruitful and safe for the remainder of your days.

Hmm... Gotta say, I don't feel like letting the skinks go was a good call. The caiman is going to outgrow Pantdora soon enough and need to be moved out anyway, but the skinks won't ever be too big for Pantdora. I would've liked to either see Godzilla moved out to your pond early, or have the skinks in a different enclosure until Godzilla was too big, move Godzilla out to the pond, then move the skinks back in. But, what's done is done, and there's no use dwelling on it. At least you were able to make a good lesson for everyone from this experience.

this is the worst trade deal in the history of trade deals ever

ngl, the croc kinda ruined all of this for me. i found it interesting watching how you literally had a mini earth in your house but now it just seems like a tank for the croc to do what it wants. the skinks offered more imo and i think you shoulda just let them stay top of the food chain. but its too late now.

Nup, I would have kept the skinks and rehomed the croc.

When Godzilla gets too big and needs to be rehomed, bring back the sun skinks!

That was a hard but wise choice. I hope the sun skinks have the best time out there

I WILL MISS THE SUN SKINS SO MUCH, GOOD LUCK FOR THEM

I am so pissed about the sun skinks…. Like I can’t even 😩

I actually cried watching Drake , Daenerys & Smaug being released 🥺 and Smaug lookin back touched my soul real bad . I never knew how much I actually loved to learn about animals until Pantdora . Ty for this

Guys, stop being so mean about the croc being chosen over the skinks. In the wild, new apex predators would overpower older ones. Though it did break my heart to see smaug go.

You've cured my phobia of insects and made me appreciate them!

It's wild to me that you would release the sun skinks instead of the croc when you plan on relocating him at some point anyway

This is super impressive but the croc has not business being in this enclosure.

>removes skinks due to potential danger >adds sentient crabs that can feel pain and develop fear responses if they survive an attack

I am beyond mad you kept the croc I was pissed when you brought it in. Very rare wrong call on your part.

Ok. I was originally staunchly in the “save Godzilla and let him stay here” camp. But I change my mind. The sun skinks should’ve been kept. Or at least house them separately for a while until you could get the caiman in a different location.

The cayman was meant to be temporary regardless. Once it was big enough to cause issues, you said you'd remove it to be placed in your back yard. Instead, the skinks got evicted in place of a temporary croc...

I see some people upset over the skinks removal but imo it was the right call, we knew from the beginning that apex predators were going to be cycled out and we still have the geckos 🦎 also nothing could be done about the croc bc it’s captive born and not native to his area if you ever see this AC just know there’s an average of 1M people watching these amazing videos so no matter what you choose to do there will be those who disagree but keep up with your work and ethics as you have been doing, much love.

I love this channel and the education that it provides on not just ants but animal husbandry and ecosystem management and just how impossible our own ecosystem is and how truly screwed we have made it