Quick, Cheap, Easy Terrarium/Vivarium

[John]

A terrarium for less than $10 US? Yep. Try even less than that if you make a few. Provided you are not looking for a display terrarium, these are straightforward to make and easy to clean, light and not prone to breaking like glass. I have been making these for nearly 2 years to keep salamanders and frogs (mainly toads). I came up with this on my own but I apologise for any similarity to other people's ideas - call it convergent evolution.

Here's how it's made (you can see finished examples at the bottom of this post). The one I'm about to show you is designed for a lighting fixture to rest on top of it, so I'm using metal mesh as opposed to plastic mesh.

What you'll need:

• Aluminium mesh sold for window frames to keep insects out when the window is open - you can use other alternatives. I use the plastic variety for terrariums without a light fixture on top - plastic will melt under the heat of the light. You can buy this at a hardware shop - I got mine at Home Depot in the US - it's quite cheap (less than $10) for a roll and if you make multiple terrariums with it then it is almost pennies.
• A 55L / 58 quart storage box sold by Walmart in the US, but you can use any other clip on alternative you can find, or any size - I have several smaller versions myself. These range from US $2 to $10, depending on the size.
• A hot glue gun, available from hobby shops - these cost only a few $$$ from hobby lobby. Use the hotter variant of glue - it's designed for bonding plastic and metal. In my experience this glue is safe for terrarium lids - obviously I don't rub the animals in it but it seems to be pretty harmless.
• Hot glue for the gun.
• A sharp craft knife or "box cutters" as they call them in the US.

Since I'm going to be putting a light on top of this terrarium I need to know how big it is. Here's the light:



And here's the box with the outline of the light base drawn on it (note I did this at one end - I only intend to cut part of the lid out and by having the light/heat source at one end I can create a gradient in light and heat in the terrarium):



Here's the label on the box:



I then use the craft knife to cut out a square of the lid, about an inch (2.5 cm) larger than the diameter of the light outline. I also cut out the light hole - this way I can keep this piece of plastic and put it around the light if I want to keep some heat in temporarily or reduce ventilation at some point. Note how it's not very straight cutting - doesn't have to be, it works:



Here's a photo of some of the aluminium mesh I am going to use:



Here's the lid without the square of plastic, which I will cover with the mesh:



I cut a piece of mesh (you can use scissors on this metal mesh - it's very easy to cut) and glue it on:



Note that I glue on the outside of the lid. The glue cools very quickly - in a few minutes it's ready for use. I rinse the glued area with water after the glue has set, in case there is any chemical residue that will come off easily.

And here's the finished terrarium:



There's actually a smaller version inside this big version (no reason, just saving space). Young toads live in there.

Here's one with adult toads of another species that don't need heat/light where I live, so I used plastic mesh instead from the same source:



And here's one for young tree frogs - notice how I cut out the whole inside part of the lid:



Not the prettiest thing but very functional and cheap too!