A Desert Terrarium for Exotic Pets
The desert terrarium is one of the most common, and easiest to set up. With a good selection of rocks and cage furniture it can also look very stylish. A desert is dry – it sounds obvious, but when you select plants and substrate you will be doing so with this in mind.
Funnily enough a lot of hobbyists advise against the use of sand in a desert terrarium! It is said there is a risk of intestinal impaction if the animals eat the sand. Although there is plenty of sand in the wild, the animals also have a more active lifestyle which helps process accidental ingestion. It seems the more slow-paced lifestyle of captive reptiles does pose risks if certain types of sand are used as substrate.
Desert animals enjoy a saxicolous, or rock-dwelling, lifestyle, and you should choose rocks oh which they can sit and bask under the heat lamp, and under which they can hide. When it comes to plants you have a number of options, including cacti, pachypodiums, sansevierias, gasterias, and haworthia. When choosing your cacti from the options available (as listed below) it is advisable to avoid those with particularly sharp spikes and hooks.
Types of Cacti
Acanthocalycium, Acanthocereus, Acharagma, Ariocarpus, Armatocereus, Arrojadoa, Arthrocereus, Astrophytum, Austrocactus, Austrocylindropuntia, Aztekium, Bergerocactus, Blossfeldia, Brachycereus, Brasilicereus, Brasiliopuntia, Browningia, Calymmanthium, Carnegiea, Cephalocereus, Cephalocleistocactus, Cereus, Cintia, Cipocereus, Cleistocactus, Cochemiea, Coleocephalocereus, Consolea, Copiapoa, Corryocactus, Coryphantha, Cumulopuntia, Cylindropuntia, Dendrocereus, Denmoza, Discocactus, Disocactus, Echinocactus, Echinocereus, Echinomastus, Echinopsis, Epiphyllum, Epithelantha, Eriosyce, Escobaria, Escontria, Espostoa, Espostoopsis, Eulychnia, Facheiroa, Ferocactus, Frailea, Geohintonia, Grusonia, Gymnocalycium, Haageocereus, Harrisia, Hatiora, Hylocereus, Isolatocereus, Jasminocereus, Lasiocereus, Leocereus, Lepismium, Leptocereus, Leuchtenbergia, Lophophora, Maihuenia, Maihueniopsis, Mammillaria, Mammilloydia, Matucana, Melocactus, Micranthocereus, Mila, Miqueliopuntia, Myrtillocactus, Neobuxbaumia, Neolloydia, Neoraimondia, Neowerdermannia, Obregonia, Opuntia, Oreocereus, Oroya, Ortegocactus, Pachycereus, Parodia, Pediocactus, Pelecyphora, Peniocereus, Pereskia, Pereskiopsis, Pilosocereus, Polaskia, Praecereus, Pseudoacanthocereus, Pseudorhipsalis, Pterocactus, Pygmaeocereus, Quiabentia, Rauhocereus, Rebutia, Rhipsalis, Samaipaticereus, Schlumbergera, Sclerocactus, Selenicereus, Stenocactus, Stenocereus, Stephanocereus, Stetsonia, Strombocactus, Tacinga, Tephrocactus, Thelocactus, Tunilla, Turbinicarpus, Uebelmannia, Weberbauerocereus, Weberocereus, xPacherocactus, Yavia, Yungasocereus
Clearly there are plenty of plants to choose from, and the above list is only for cacti, so make sure you set aside some time to do research. For example the plants in reptile terrariums will differ from those in amphibian terrariums.
Desert based animals tend to be very active, and you can see this in their physiology with their palmate feet and small limbs enabling them to dance across the sand. When it comes to keeping these pets at home this means that you should provide as large a terrarium as you can afford in order to give them space to thrive.
If you do decide to use sand as a substrate then you put it over some small pebbles of river rock. Next you would add some of the plants, and cage furniture (rocks, branches etc.) It is important that you secure the rocks in place with silicone aquarium sealant so that they cannot be disturbed and crush your pet. When it comes to the top of the vivarium, mesh is best as you do not want excessive humidity. The lights and heat mats should be positioned to provide variations in temperature. For a twenty gallon desert terrarium you will need a minimum of two fluorescent bulbs, and four could be preferable. A black light and full-spectrum tubes should be used.
The desert terrarium can be home to more than just lizards, for example, tarantulas, scorpions and tortoises are some of the other exotic pets that enjoy the environment. There are also amphibians out in the desert such as the great plains toad (Bufo cognatus) and the common green toad (B. d. debilis). There are even desert snakes such as the Kenyan sand boa (Eryx colubrinus loveridgei) or ground snake (Sonora semi-annulata). That said the most common pets that people select for this set up are reptiles such as the bearded dragon (Pogona vitticeps) or desert iguana (Dipsosaurus).
