Add Spice to Your Yard with a Terrarium

There are many different things that you can add to your yard to make it all your own. One idea is to add some wildlife to it. When you do this, however, you will need to use some extra caution. You want to make sure that the animals that you put in your terrarium can not get out. This is not only expensive to you, but it can introduce a creature to the local ecosystem and cause all sorts of problems. Do not let this deter you though. There is a lot to be gained from this project, and it can be a fun and exciting addition to any home.

There are several people out there that dislike reptiles and amphibians, but having some of the more mild of these species is acceptable. It took forever to talk my wife into letting me have some fire-bellied toads, but she was right there with me and the kids watching them play and eat. There are several different animals from this kingdom that can be educational, safe, and they really grow on you. Adding them to your yard can really introduce some fun, variety, and education to your home. They can also keep down the rodent and pest population from your yard. There are many different advantages and there is very little extra work that will bring this exotic and interesting feature to you.

The first thing that you want to do is select the type of animal that you want to keep in your yard. You want to make the selection first, since you will need to know the type of creature that you are dealing with before you can construct the perfect "cage" for it in your yard. There are many different options for this. There are also some factors that will force your choice. Local climate is a huge factor. By nature, these are cold blooded creatures. That means that they can not control their own body heat like we can. If we are cold, we will shiver and warm ourselves up. These animals lack the ability to produce body heat. Their body is whatever temperature it is outside. For some of these guys, that means they will die in the cold and snow. If you live in locale that has a cold winter, you will need to either bring them inside and keep them in a cage, or get some of the cryogenic amphibians. Several of the frogs and toads out there are "cryogenically stable". This means that when the water around them freezes, so do they. When the water thaws, they slowly come back to life and go about business as usual. This is a very cool thing to watch. Fire-bellied toads are one such example of this. You will want to research the species to ensure this is possible, versus just trying and the animal suffering a painful death. If it is a reptile (dry version) then it is not likely to be cryogenic. For this example, we will be using fire-bellied toads. These are very easy to care for, and can be kept in any climate. You will also want to keep in mind the type of yard that you want so that you can make it blend with the rest of your yard. If you plan on having a fountain or koi pond, you may want to add in an amphibian pool. If you have a more desert type landscape, you can add some bearded dragons or tortoises. A swampy type region may call for some monitors or a caiman. There are several different types available to you in the vast realm of reptiles and amphibians.

The next thing you will need to do is design the environment. There are a couple things to keep in mind for this portion. One factor is how it will blend with the rest of your lawn. It would be rather strange to have a huge sand pit in the middle of some green grass for your dragon. You will need to sit back and look at what you have to work with. The area that you need is another factor. If you are planning on keeping a caiman, they grow larger in larger environments. If you put a caiman in a large cage, it will grow to be up to eight feet long, while if you put it in an average terrarium, it will stay at a foot or two in length. One thing that you need to consider in the design is an escape route. This makes it very difficult to include snakes in the backyard. Snakes are great escape artists and can get through very small gaps. There is also a problem with frogs. Many frogs can climb, as can salamanders and geckos. If you select creatures that can scale glass, you will need to cover their enclosure. Once you have the basic idea of where and how large the area will be, you can start to arrange the things that will need to be in it. Since we are using fire-bellied toads for this example, we will pretend that we have a nice little waterfall leading to a shallow pool. If you make the pool in a foot or more deep area, the toads can not escape. You can add some logs to the water portion for a nice little resting spot. You will also want to incorporate an island with a small "cave" or hut for them to escape to if it gets too warm. This island should be large enough for them to walk around on. Toads are amphibians, so they do enjoy time on land and water. They need to have the option for both. You want the walls to be sheer, but they do not have to be like glass. Fire-bellies are not great climbers. If you put a couple small islands in addition to some logs (a very small branch is a log to a toad) and the large island, they will have several choices on where to perch. The more toads you have in your pond, the more "perching" areas you will want and the larger your central island needs to be. No matter what type of creature you want to add to your yard, keep their natural habitat and habits in mind when you design their area. You want a shelter (the big island), places to relax (miscellaneous logs and islands), activities (water to swim in), and ways to play (others of the same species, toys for the breed, etc.).

Now you can build your new addition to your yard. There are a couple things that you will need to remember. The big thing is what they eat. You will need to feed them and make sure they stay healthy. Another problem is your friends. When you have several people over, there is always the one guy that will stick his hand in the caiman's mouth or try to flick cigarettes at the dragon. You will need to watch for this. It is not only for the safety of your friend, but a lot of these reptiles are harmless and will get severely hurt. Although, I would personally let the caiman teach the now one armed friend a lesson in not placing your fingers in the wrong place. With a little thought and devotion, you can have some awesome new pets that will add some spice to your yard. Adding a half dozen fire bellies to your yard is fun, educational, and exciting. Even if you don't like to feed them, the little boys from the neighborhood would love to do it for you. There were at least 8 kids from the neighborhood that would find worms and crickets when I had my toads. After my boys showed their friends how they eat, there was always a line at the door wanting to feed my two toads. If you let the neighbor kids watch it, you don't even have to buy the food.