So, you are planning a natural terrarium? Here is our run down of the must have electrical gadgets and goodies available that can be used in a naturally planted eco-terrarium.
Lights with spectrum suited for plant growth – a critical area for every terrarium that is often overlooked or skimped on. Every reptile keeper understands the relationship with light for 
their pets, but when it comes to natural terraria some keepers hope they will get away with an unsuitable product! Don’t! Plants need the correct spectrum of light to thrive. Plants lights also have the added benefit of being bright and bringing out the best colours – best of both worlds, plants thrive, and the display looks its best. There are many brands, all based on LED lights – one of our favourites is the Reptile Systems New Dawn range. Available in T5 and ES screw fit they are easy to fit and to use. As with any light fitting we would suggest installing externally, they work well sat on the top of the mesh grill most commercial terrariums come with.
Heat Cable – safe and waterproof – many terrariums are set up as tropical or sub-tropical environments and will require some form of heating.
Many heaters have little or no place in this kind of installation. However a heat cable is a cable that is designed to gently warm up, and can be run through the vivarium and aquarium. Often it is used under soil, mounted on the backwall or in the paludariums aquarium portion. A useful heater for natural terrarium – again Reptile Systems provides one of our favourites with their heating cable.
Misting systems – Yes, it’s possible to manually spray a terrarium using a hand sprayer. But where
is the fun in that? There are many rain and misting systems on the market. Some are little more than toys and don’t work well at all, so be careful if you decide to install a system to your terrarium – buy cheap, buy twice. On a budget we like the Lucky Reptiles SuperRain Systems – there are three to choose from depending on the users requirements. But our favourite, the Rolls Royce of misters is the MistKing Systems. Hight quality and fully expandable, we have seen these running reliably for many years.
Temperature and Lighting Control – Yes there are
other models out there, but when needing something as important as not cooking your reptiles you want the best. Microclimate. The best thermostat we feel is the EVO. It will control your lights on a photoperiod, and control your terrarium temperature accurately and reliably for many years. Easy to use, its fully digital with a touch screen control. Two channels clearly show which is light and which is heat, with two corresponding output cables – connect them up accordingly, set your requirements and you are done. Simples.
If you need further help and advice remember we are here to help. Unlike Amazon or other faceless internet sellers we are experienced herpers and are as enthusiastic as you are about your animals. Contact us and we will help! Don’t forget we have this all on our shelves, in stock – no waiting for the postman. Plus you get to see a huge range of plants, moss, branches, seed pods etc etc – a bit of an Alladins cave!