How? Setting up a terrarium Useful tips for ... - Reptiles Greece

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terrarium makes little sense particularly as the transition between terrarium types is often very fluid. 3.2 The location of the terrarium Actually, any location within a house is suitable, with few exceptions. However, the position should be chosen so that the animals can be observed in comfort from your favourite chair. It is also important that regular care work can be carried out without resorting to physical contortions! Care should also be taken that there is no risk of overheating through direct sunlight, such as next to a window. Attic apartments, which scarcely cool down at night in summer, are not suitable for keeping heat-sensitive animals. And finally, in the case of large terrariums, the weight-bearing capacity of the location should be taken into consideration. 3.3 The climate of the terrarium The climate in the terrarium is the most important factor for the wellbeing of the animals. Only if the equipment is carefully chosen to reproduce the typical climate for the direct environment of the animals as closely as possible, will they display their full repertoire of behaviour and can live healthily. The most important climatic factors in the terrarium are the temperature (air and ground temperature as well as localised spots with higher temperatures), the light (duration, intensity and light quality), the relative humidity as well as the ventilation. As in the wild, the individual climatic elements interact in the terrarium too, and are subject to fluctuations throughout the day. The relative humidity will, as a rule, decrease the longer the lighting and heating are in operation. This should be taken into consideration when selecting the terrarium. In small volume containers, the individual climate levels will fluctuate rapidly. These must then be adjusted using sophisticated control systems or constant adjustments in order to be able to provide the best conditions once again. On the other hand, in large volume containers the climatic factors are significantly slower to fluctuate and, furthermore, zones with differing micro-climates can be easily created (zones with varying temperatures and humidity), enabling the pets to seek out places which provide the climatic conditions they require at any particular time.
4 TYPES OF TERRARIUM In the following we would like to present two types of terrariums in detail, the desert terrarium and a rainforest terrarium, as examples of the wide range of types of terrarium which are possible. As an interesting variation on the rainforest terrarium, the paludarium or aqua-terrarium is also mentioned. There are, of course, a whole range of conceivable combinations of climate types, which cannot be dealt with in the space available here. Tips are given on sources of appropriate information. 4.1 The desert terrarium The habitat of the desert is generally understood to be a really hot one. However, when you look closely, you learn that the environment of reptiles in the desert is characterised by extremes of temperature, depending on where the animals are. At night the temperatures plunge dramatically. In order to reach and maintain the temperatures required for metabolic processes and typical behaviour (display, defending territory etc.) desert animals deliberately move between warm, sunny areas and cooler, shady ones. It should be noted that desert animals in particular need localised (!!) spots where the temperatures should easily reach 50 - 60°C, but they do not spend all day there. In the natural environment, the length of time spent at the source of heat is influenced by the air temperature and wind movement. In spring, with cool air temperatures and strong winds, they need to sun themselves for long periods in order to reach the preferred temperature. In contrast, in summer, with 38°C air temperature and no wind, they avoid direct sunshine in order not to overheat above their optimum temperature (for many desert animals this is between 35 - 42°C). An important factor in the heating of a terrarium is therefore the variation in heat levels throughout the terrarium. The animals should always have the opportunity of finding cooler places when they have warmed up sufficiently. By careful choice of technical equipment and its use (e.g. never covering the entire floor of a terrarium with a heating system), the terrarium keeper should ensure that different climate gradients are created in the terrarium rather than a uniform sauna climate. The most important point is the creation of a drop in temperature in the terrarium. No reptile can survive core temperatures of over 48°C. A desert terrarium can be set up as follows: any type of sand is suitable as a floor covering. JBL offers red, yellow and white sand under the name TerraSand. Red TerraSand is supplied damp and can be shaped when spread. It hardens slightly as it dries, giving burrowing animals the possibility to dig caves. According to the requirements of the animals, the terrarium can be designed with stone constructions or with caves.
Page 1 and 2: What - Why - How? Setting up a terr
Page 3 and 4: 1 INTRODUCTION In our increasingly
Page 5: 3 THE TERRARIUM Nowadays specialist
Page 9 and 10: 4.2 The rainforest terrarium When t
Page 11 and 12: 4.2 The aqua-terrarium or paludariu
Page 13 and 14: TerraSand white Bearded dragon, leo
Page 15 and 16: Spectrum JBL SOLAR Reptil Sun Tip:
Page 17 and 18: 5.1.2 The rainforest terrarium and
Page 19 and 20: The heating mat should never be fit
Page 21 and 22: sufficient for young animals, but o
Page 23 and 24: 6 FEEDING THE TERRARIUM ANIMALS In
Page 25 and 26: The herbs, minerals and roughage wh
Page 27 and 28: Finally the food rock is turned ups
Page 29 and 30: Objects can be disinfected using 70
Page 31 and 32: Reptile care JBL TerraVit fluid liq

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