Any terrarium nuts out there?

As much as I love aquariums. They still rank second to my biggest animal keeping passion which is terrariums. I adore reptiles, amphibians and arthropods and there have been many times where I have turned an old fish tank I've had into a tank for one of those species. Although a few are no longer with us, over the past 6 years I've had 4 lizards including a Jackson's chameleon and a bearded dragon, the latter of which is still with us, 5 frogs including a pacman frog and two tomato frogs which are still here, two snakes which I still have both of, three tarantulas, two of which are still here, a millipede and two mantises not including some I hatched from egg cases and tried to raise to adulthood. So is there anybody else here who's crazy about terrariums? If so what do you have? I'd love to hear all about them!

 

As much as I love aquariums. They still rank second to my biggest animal keeping passion which is terrariums. I adore reptiles, amphibians and arthropods and there have been many times where I have turned an old fish tank I've had into a tank for one of those species. Although a few are no longer with us, over the past 6 years I've had 4 lizards including a Jackson's chameleon and a bearded dragon, the latter of which is still with us, 5 frogs including a pacman frog and two tomato frogs which are still here, two snakes which I still have both of, three tarantulas, two of which are still here, a millipede and two mantises not including some I hatched from egg cases and tried to raise to adulthood. So is there anybody else here who's crazy about terrariums? If so what do you have? I'd love to hear all about them!

I don’t have a terrarium, but if I had the space, that would be so cool! A friend has an anole lizard (not sure if I spelled that right) and it’s cute! Are reptiles (in general, I know different types are harder than others) easier or harder than keeping fish in your opinion? Just curious!

 

I don’t have a terrarium, but if I had the space, that would be so cool! A friend has an anole lizard (not sure if I spelled that right) and it’s cute! Are reptiles (in general, I know different types are harder than others) easier or harder than keeping fish in your opinion? Just curious!

Well I've certainly found that aquarium equipment is more often than not a heck of a lot more expensive than terrarium equipment but in the long run fish food seems a lot cheaper since you can just give the whole tank a couple pinches instead of giving a lizard 15 crickets at a time. Smaller ones like anoles eat less but are more fragile so you have to weigh the pros and cons. Other than that I'd say heating and lighting requirements and general maintenance can be similar though I find aquariums much harder to clean. At least you never have to worry about humidity for fish! I think tarantulas for one are probably the easiest creatures on the planet to care for since you only feed them one insect at a time once or twice a week and keep their water filled up. They don't make much of a mess and most species aren't too picky about temperature plus they are super hardy. I'd say they're like the bettas of terrarium animals!

 

I started in the fish keeping hobby after the wild guppies and local breeder culls (it's what was cheap at my og fish store) started breeding in the water side of my snakes paludarium.

We rescued a young northwestern garter snake with spine issues back in 2017. It may have been our fault, we were moving large containers of rocks in the yard and I think he may have been hibernating under one. I had seen these guys (northwestern are much more aquatic than common garter) swimming at the fishing holes I frequent so was pretty quickly keen to the idea of letting him swim. Originally I had set up a 10 gallon with a large water dish, then we built a 20 long with a divider and a 5 gallon swimming area built in. Originally I tried soil/dry planting and all that but I have since abandoned it and he lives in a boring bark substrate now. That 5 gallons gave me a hard time with "the cycle" as I had to have a filter capable of handling surge loading of snake dropping larger than the fish you would ever keep in a tank that size.

He has also quit eating fish as he got older, so I have started keeping significantly more fish for my own enjoyment, and the kids enjoy it. I still have the thing and the snake is outgrowing it (it's his second enclosure) so I'm thinking of building a bigger, prettier one. If I do it will have a more functional wet/dry naturally active substrate. I have learned allot since joining here and going full fish nerd so I think I can do it better this time. It's funny, when I first joined I wanted to solve a problem with foaming in that tank after snake droppings. Now that I'm full nerd and run all my test kits I have figured out that after processing and breaking down a shake dropping in that tank I bottom out my source water kh, the ph crashes, and poof, foam. Spiking the tank with potassium carbonate clears it right up. That wasn't even a suggestion when I first posed the question. The next paludarium should be awesome.

Here's a couple pictures:
Recently, he shares his home with a ~4 year old guppy that was given to me that happens to attack and kill other fish. Allot. It's a bit shallow for him but he has a good amount of swimming space.


He's close to 24" long now


The tank has had a few redesigns, I had to ditch his natural real flat rock for the resin one because he got too long, and I took the shallow side out of the swimming area to increase water volume and swimming space as he has gotten bigger. I also used to let the momma guppies drop fry in there but have pretty much discontinued my line I no longer have a use for endler/wild guppy hybrid fish so after this current generation I'm going full on with the egg scatterers.





I don't have the pictures from when this was new or the 10 when he was smaller on my phone but the 10 was not so spectacular to look at, basically dirt, bark and stolen erm borrowed dishes.

 

Yesssssss! I didn’t know there were any other terrarium/vivarium people here! I started out with these rather than aquariums. I now keep a lot of both. My pride and joy tank right now is actually my phyllobates terribilis dart frog tank. I also just finished a tank for a native snake that I rescued from his previous owner. I’ve had him for a few months, but I just made him his permanent tank today. His name is Stan and he’s grumpy and most likely old (we don’t know his true age, only that he’s been in captivity of a few years.) I’m sorry for my bad grammar, but I’m too excited to see another terrarium person to care about that. I can post pics of both tanks if anybody cares.

 

I can post pics of both tanks if anybody cares.

Would love to see the enclosures you have done. Also, we have a reptiles section here .

Reptiles Photos Only! | Reptile Forum | 201363
Amphibian Forum
Reptile Forum

 

Would love to see the throats you have done. Also, we have a reptiles section here .

Reptiles Photos Only! | Reptile Forum | 201363
Amphibian Forum
Reptile Forum

What, how did I not know about this??
Thank You!!

 

I started in the fish keeping hobby after the wild guppies and local breeder culls (it's what was cheap at my og fish store) started breeding in the water side of my snakes paludarium.

We rescued a young northwestern garter snake with spine issues back in 2017. It may have been our fault, we were moving large containers of rocks in the yard and I think he may have been hibernating under one. I had seen these guys (northwestern are much more aquatic than common garter) swimming at the fishing holes I frequent so was pretty quickly keen to the idea of letting him swim. Originally I had set up a 10 gallon with a large water dish, then we built a 20 long with a divider and a 5 gallon swimming area built in. Originally I tried soil/dry planting and all that but I have since abandoned it and he lives in a boring bark substrate now. That 5 gallons gave me a hard time with "the cycle" as I had to have a filter capable of handling surge loading of snake dropping larger than the fish you would ever keep in a tank that size.

He has also quit eating fish as he got older, so I have started keeping significantly more fish for my own enjoyment, and the kids enjoy it. I still have the thing and the snake is outgrowing it (it's his second enclosure) so I'm thinking of building a bigger, prettier one. If I do it will have a more functional wet/dry naturally active substrate. I have learned allot since joining here and going full fish nerd so I think I can do it better this time. It's funny, when I first joined I wanted to solve a problem with foaming in that tank after snake droppings. Now that I'm full nerd and run all my test kits I have figured out that after processing and breaking down a shake dropping in that tank I bottom out my source water kh, the ph crashes, and poof, foam. Spiking the tank with potassium carbonate clears it right up. That wasn't even a suggestion when I first posed the question. The next paludarium should be awesome.

Here's a couple pictures:
Recently, he shares his home with a ~4 year old guppy that was given to me that happens to attack and kill other fish. Allot. It's a bit shallow for him but he has a good amount of swimming space.
View attachment 742461
He's close to 24" long now
View attachment 742460
The tank has had a few redesigns, I had to ditch his natural real flat rock for the resin one because he got too long, and I took the shallow side out of the swimming area to increase water volume and swimming space as he has gotten bigger. I also used to let the momma guppies drop fry in there but have pretty much discontinued my line I no longer have a use for endler/wild guppy hybrid fish so after this current generation I'm going full on with the egg scatterers.
View attachment 742458View attachment 742462View attachment 742459

I don't have the pictures from when this was new or the 10 when he was smaller on my phone but the 10 was not so spectacular to look at, basically dirt, bark and stolen erm borrowed dishes.

Wow! You really have a beautiful setup John58ford! It's so elaborate! It makes me want to try making something like that for my own garter snake. Right now he just as an old tupperware container as a water dish/swimming pool. He definitely likes it but the more naturalistic the better! Your snake himself is also gorgeous! Maybe it's just the way I'm seeing the lighting but does he have a slight bluish color?

 

Yesssssss! I didn’t know there were any other terrarium/vivarium people here! I started out with these rather than aquariums. I now keep a lot of both. My pride and joy tank right now is actually my phyllobates terribilis dart frog tank. I also just finished a tank for a native snake that I rescued from his previous owner. I’ve had him for a few months, but I just made him his permanent tank today. His name is Stan and he’s grumpy and most likely old (we don’t know his true age, only that he’s been in captivity of a few years.) I’m sorry for my bad grammar, but I’m too excited to see another terrarium person to care about that. I can post pics of both tanks if anybody cares.

Nice to meet you Kribensis27! I think between terrariums and aquariums and everything you can do with them, tanks are the best way to display the beauty of all kinds of animals! I'm also thrilled to meet a fellow dart frog lover! I absolutely adore poison dart frogs! They are my favorite frogs and the phyllobates terribilis among my favorites of them! Until recently I had a blue poison dart frog named Neptune, a black and yellow one named Yellowjacket and a terribilis named Sundrop. I wanted to add a dyeing poison dart frog and have my 4 favorites by unfortunately they all passed away very suddenly and I don't have a clue why. I absolutely would love to see pictures of Stan!

 

Would love to see the enclosures you have done. Also, we have a reptiles section here .

Reptiles Photos Only! | Reptile Forum | 201363
Amphibian Forum
Reptile Forum

Awesome! I'll have to check it out! And I would be happy to upload some pics of all my terrarium animals! I currently have 9 of them! I don't have too many good shots of the enclosures themselves, at least not up to date ones, but I will see what I can find! These are my pacman frog, Mexican fire-leg tarantula, tomato frogs, bearded dragon, common garter snake, Mexican red-knee tarantula, gray-banded kingsnake and jeweled lacerta.

 

does he have a slight bluish color

He does, the northwestern garter has a faint turqoise belly, and a vibrant orange stripe up their backs, they typically stay a bit slimmer and smaller than the common garter as well. Glad to see another friend to the often over looked garters.

I like frogs as well, though don't own one yet. It has been discussed to turn his current enclosure into a pacific tree frog habitat if I move him up another size. I know they're noisy but the tank rack already sounds a bit like a waterfall.

Edit to specify: my local northwestern garters typically have the coloration mine has. There are some northwestern with different stripes of shades from red to blue, and the blue belly is another local trait, some have bellies to match the stripes, and there's even a blue on blue variant to be found not far from here. It is theorized the colors have to do with where they hunt (open water vs swamp) and the stripes have to do with evasion tactics that work in their area. My variant hunt small fry and tadpole in narrow streams and feeders, and there is readily available cover so they dart away, vs rely on camouflage.

 

He does, the northwestern garter has a faint turqoise belly, and a vibrant orange stripe up their backs, they typically stay a bit slimmer and smaller than the common garter as well. Glad to see another friend to the often over looked garters.

I like frogs as well, though don't own one yet. It has been discussed to turn his current enclosure into a pacific tree frog habitat if I move him up another size. I know they're noisy but the tank rack already sounds a bit like a waterfall.

Oh yes! Garters are easy and super fun with lots of personality! Due to their lighter diet I'd also recommend them to anybody who's squeamish about feeding rodents. I just looked up more pictures of the northwestern too. Wow! What a beautiful creature! I hope you do end up getting some tree frogs! I would love to have some myself someday but I don't think I could keep up with the humidity very well. It gets dry in my house sometimes!

 

Nice to meet you Kribensis27! I think between terrariums and aquariums and everything you can do with them, tanks are the best way to display the beauty of all kinds of animals! I'm also thrilled to meet a fellow dart frog lover! I absolutely adore poison dart frogs! They are my favorite frogs and the phyllobates terribilis among my favorites of them! Until recently I had a blue poison dart frog named Neptune, a black and yellow one named Yellowjacket and a terribilis named Sundrop. I wanted to add a dyeing poison dart frog and have my 4 favorites by unfortunately they all passed away very suddenly and I don't have a clue why. I absolutely would love to see pictures of Stan!

Here are some Stan pics. So sorry to hear about your darts, they have such fun personalities for something their size.

 

Here are some Stan pics. So sorry to hear about your darts, they have such fun personalities for something their size.
View attachment 742624View attachment 742625View attachment 742627

I know! I love how the dart frogs don't lose any of their wonderful warning colors despite being nontoxic in captivity! That is a gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous snake! I absolutely love him! Is he a fox snake?

 

i set up a terrarium for my leopard gecko, i feel so bad how people keep them in 10 gallons with no enrichment

 

I know! I love how the dart frogs don't lose any of their wonderful warning colors despite being nontoxic in captivity! That is a gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous snake! I absolutely love him! Is he a fox snake?

Yes, he’s a fox snake. He was originally wild caught and kept by a neighbor for a few years, but they got bored of him and gave him to me. He wasn’t treated the best there, but I think he’s much happier now.

 

i set up a terrarium for my leopard gecko, i feel so bad how people keep them in 10 gallons with no enrichment

That’s a great tank! I totally agree about the lack of enrichment. They’re relatively intelligent lizards, and need more mental stimulation than many people give them.

 

I used to keep chameleons a while back but I don’t anymore. When I say a while back I mean like 4 years ago cause I’m only 15. I got him when he was about 7 years old and he lives his last 3 years with me. Here’s what he looked like

 

That’s a great tank! I totally agree about the lack of enrichment. They’re relatively intelligent lizards, and need more mental stimulation than many people give them.

they are pretty smart for what they are made for but they lack lots of tell tale signs that humans look for to determine intelligence so it often goes unnoticed.

 

Btw this is my dart frog tank. They’re hiding in this picture, but most of the time they’re out and sitting on the leaf litter. The tank still has a lot of growing to do before I’m satisfied, but it does look pretty nice right now.
.

 

i set up a terrarium for my leopard gecko, i feel so bad how people keep them in 10 gallons with no enrichment

Oh that looks very nice! I bet it's really comfortable!

 

I used to keep chameleons a while back but I don’t anymore. When I say a while back I mean like 4 years ago cause I’m only 15. I got him when he was about 7 years old and he lives his last 3 years with me. Here’s what he looked like View attachment 742632View attachment 742633

Absolutely gorgeous! Chameleons are fantastic!

 

Btw this is my dart frog tank. They’re hiding in this picture, but most of the time they’re out and sitting on the leaf litter. The tank still has a lot of growing to do before I’m satisfied, but it does look pretty nice right now.
.View attachment 742639View attachment 742640View attachment 742641

Wonderful! Very well made! Looks like a natural jungle in there! The frogs would fit in very well!

 

Yes, he’s a fox snake. He was originally wild caught and kept by a neighbor for a few years, but they got bored of him and gave him to me. He wasn’t treated the best there, but I think he’s much happier now.

Wonderful! Definitely one of my favorite North American native snakes! I'm jealous!

 

Wonderful! Definitely one of my favorite North American native snakes! I'm jealous!

One of my favorites too!