Tips on Setting Up a Lizard Terrarium Outdoors
Depending on your local climate one option could be to have your pets kept not in terrariums, but in cages outdoors. This may afford you more space, and provide your pet with a more naturalistic environment than a typical lizard terrarium. Heat lamps and mats can still be used outside, and remember even the desert gets pretty cold at night so don’t rule out this option without considering it carefully. You can build the outdoor cages on wheels so that they can easily brought into a garage, or house, if temperatures do drop.
When you have a cage outside you need to think not only about stopping your pets escaping, but also from predators coming in. These predators, such as rats, cats, foxes and birds may just be after your pet’s food rather than your pet, but this is no good to you if your lizard has escaped! Building a reinforced area of around a foot in height at the bottom of the cage’s mesh will keep most predators at bay, and you will also need to ensure it has a solid bottom to keep out burrowing animals such as moles. The hardest animal for you to defend against is in fact the modest ant which can cause real problems. All you can do is look vigilantly for signs of ants and deal with them as soon as possible.
If you do decide to go for the outdoor option then one of the true pleasures can be building your own cage. Beyond plywood, treated lumber, mesh and nails and hinges there is not much more that you need. The best thing to do is look at some existing examples of outdoor cages, create a basic design plan, and set to work.
If you have a pond in your garden, then you already have a suitable home for many amphibians. Depending on your climate you may have to provide some accommodation for hibernating during the winter months. You may find that native snakes, frogs and toads make there way to your pond without having to introduce any wildlife. People often introduce pet turtles such as sliders (Trachemys) and cooters (Psuedemys). There is also one other species that people have been known to keep as pets – the spectacled caiman.
The spectacled caiman is no easy pet, and you should check your local pet licensing laws before considering this option. If you are new to keeping reptiles and frogs this is not the pet for you. Since their natural habitat is areas of river banks and lakes they will need an outdoor pond. The young spectacled caiman is relatively easy to handle and often sold as a baby alligator. But they can grow up to seven feet, and are extremely aggressive. They are named because of the bony ridge between the eyes, which looks like a pair of spectacles, but this is just about the only cute thing about them. For for more information on a lizard terrarium, check out reptile terrariums.
If you are determined to have something exotic for your pond then a better option would be something like the Asian Pond Turtle (Chinemys reevesi). Also known as Reeve’s Turtle, this is a small turtle that doesn’t exceed a shell length of ten inches. They are a basking species, and they have dark heads with yellow stripes running down each side of the crown. You will see a lot of this turtle in your outdoor pond because it is highly aquatic. It can feed on a wide range of things, from dog food to worms and watercress.
