Terrestrial Showpiece Terrarium

[Ponkan]

Hi! Do you guys know how to design an enclosure for terrestrials? What are the do's and don'ts? I'd like to have a terrarium with plants and such to make it look nice for a showpiece in the living room.

 

[Ratmosphere]

I’d say just make sure to put enough substrate so the tarantula doesn’t climb up and get stuck on a screen lid. An other thing, if you could avoid a screen lid do so. Make sure not to add things it could climb up on. Example would be mopani wood. A tarantula falling from a higher elevation will result in death.

 

[Mojo288]

Don't skimp on glass thickness just because it's not holding water.

Design the enclosure in such a way that you will need minimal drilling/cutting for your ventilation.

Try to provide displacement ventilation i.e. vents staggered at lower and higher levels of the enclosure so that the natural heat build up in the enclosure draws in the cool air from the lower vent and discharges it from the higher vent.

Do NOT use screen, perforated metal or plastic sheet works great (1/8th perforations).

Don't skimp on the substrate dam, for planted vivariums you will need a drainage layer to avoid root rot as well as helping reduce the anaerobic bacterial growth, so basically make sure you have enough room for drainage, and dirt.

Vivariums will invariably have a higher average relative humidity than un-planted enclosures and as such you will see mold growth, you will need to add clean up a clean up crew to manage it (dwarf white/purple isopods, springtails).

Avoid placing accessories in straight lines or overly clean geometric patterns, it makes it seem unnatural.

Always look at pics of whatever environment you are trying to emulate.

That's all I've got off the top of my head lol, GL.

 

[Ponkan]

I’d say just make sure to put enough substrate so the tarantula doesn’t climb up and get stuck on a screen lid. An other thing, if you could avoid a screen lid do so. Make sure not to add things it could climb up on. Example would be mopani wood. A tarantula falling from a higher elevation will result in death.

Thank you for the tip!

Don't skimp on glass thickness just because it's not holding water.

Design the enclosure in such a way that you will need minimal drilling/cutting for your ventilation.

Try to provide displacement ventilation i.e. vents staggered at lower and higher levels of the enclosure so that the natural heat build up in the enclosure draws in the cool air from the lower vent and discharges it from the higher vent.

Do NOT use screen, perforated metal or plastic sheet works great (1/8th perforations).

Don't skimp on the substrate dam, for planted vivariums you will need a drainage layer to avoid root rot as well as helping reduce the anaerobic bacterial growth, so basically make sure you have enough room for drainage, and dirt.

Vivariums will invariably have a higher average relative humidity than un-planted enclosures and as such you will see mold growth, you will need to add clean up a clean up crew to manage it (dwarf white/purple isopods, springtails).

Avoid placing accessories in straight lines or overly clean geometric patterns, it makes it seem unnatural.

Always look at pics of whatever environment you are trying to emulate.

That's all I've got off the top of my head lol, GL.

I'm looking at getting 3-4mm thick glass. Thank you very much for the tips!