Building a Terrarium With a Shallow CLEAN Water Feature

[RoseTyler]

Hey all,

I'm new here but not new to keeping amphibians, reptiles, or building them enclosures, but I've never attempting to build a terrarium which has a SHALLOW, working, water feature.

Last year I acquired two Gulf Coast Toads. My dog attacked one, and it was with 'a friend' so I snagged them both. (They are unprotected and can be caught without a hunting license) I was planning on simply catching, making sure the one toad who was attacked was fine (he had a puncture wound) and re-releasing them into the wild so I 'temporarily' housed them in the only aquarium I had, a 65 gallon TALL.

I planted it with native plants, they have a shallow water dish, lots of dirt that's from outside, rocks from outside, blah blah blah. Long story short, within a week they were completely tame and had stopped eating animals (like june bugs), which in the wild would be their survival. Knowing releasing them would kill them, I decided to hang on to them.

Fast forward a year, and yup, it's been a year. One of the original toads died while molting (no way to know it's age), they other toad remained, alone, and my boyfriend read up on them and caught, what I can only assume is actually another tame Gulf Coast Toad. We've had it in the tank for one night and it's already wandering around and not afraid of us at all.

Anyway, I'm moving in the future and I want to build them a FUNCTIONING terrarium as close to their natural habitat as I can. I would really like to include a shallow water feature with moving water and possibly a waterfall since they LOVE the humidity and I know will drown in deep water. Does anyone have any suggestions? This will be the first terrarium that I attempt to build that has anything 'functioning' within it.

While it may sound cruel, their current enclosure has become so rich with bugs from outside (literally) and worms that I have never once had to clean it. It stays clean, everything is alive and vibrant and my toad sings every day. Any advice would be appreciated. I will most likely be purchasing a LONG tank as I do not expect this tank to survive a cross country move.

[deranged chipmunk]

There are a few ways to build moving water within a terrarium. The main components are a pump of some sort, whether it be submersible or a canister filter, a water reservoir, and some creativity and imagination. The water reservoir can be as simple as a small pool in a leca layer, to a full false bottom, to the capacity of a canister filter. A lot will all depend on your design and your comfort level on building.


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