Building a terrarium is such a nice hobby. A terrarium is small miniature of an environment, mimicking large one like a forest or a desert. It is built in a protective glass and is composed of small plants like ferns and moss and small animals and insects like lizards and frogs. Some terrariums are used for keeping some plants and animals for observation. These larger terrariums are called “vivariums”. It is just easy to build a small terrarium that could last for many months, while larger and complex ones needs critical planning, researching, and designing. With a small plastic or glass container, preferably an old or unused fish bowl or a large empty bottle, you could readily start your very own terrarium. A well built terrarium may last for months without even watering the plants or tending the animals inside.

Below are some things you need to know when building a terrarium.

Before you start building a terrarium, you must first know what niche or natural environment you are going to make. You must choose what niche or environments are you going to mimic. A niche is somewhat a place where animals and plants live together or interact, and sometimes the specific time when they are active is considered. A forest is an example of niche. A bush or a piece of decaying log could also be a niche. Try to choose a niche that could be seen in your surrounding because it will be easy for you to pick up the plants and animals that you might need.

After choosing a niche, try to list all of the plants and animals that you know commonly live together in there. For example if you are going to create a terrarium mimicking the environment inside a decaying log you should think of the organisms that live there. For example you should try to include some kind of ferns and mushrooms that grows out of the decaying log. you should think of the organisms that live there. For example you should try to include some kind of ferns and mushrooms that grows out of the decaying log. Some moss, and some type of grasses might do as well. Inside the log you must also thought of those small lizards, beetles or spiders that live in there. By the way you shouldn’t be a professional biologist when doing this. Just to try to list anything that you could think of. You could also open up your encyclopedia and do a little research about that niche. Better yet, if possible, try to actually visit a niche that you have chosen. But be careful not to disturb the animals or destroy the plants that live there. That’s bad! Then list anything you see. You could also try to take pictures if you want. Just become adventurous and open your minds and eyes for ideas.

The next thing you should do is to collect all the necessary components of your terrarium. You must have that container. It must be clean and without any cracks or holes, that might enable the animals to escape or spill some of the things in your terrarium. Rocks must also be small enough to fit your container and would not take the spaces of your terrarium. The type of soil you must use should be the type of soil that is commonly found in that niche. When picking the organisms, try to collect them in time when you are going to actually arranged you terrarium. Don’t try to put them in containers for too long. They might die or wither. Also take caution when you are collecting animals that are dangerous to humans (snake or poisonous spiders). The best thing is just don’t include them.

Arranging your terrarium is one of the most exciting parts when building a terrarium. When building a terrarium, try to arrange the plants and animals in a manner that looks natural, or looks like the same as what you could find in the wild. The more natural it looks the better. Don’t clog things up. Try to trim the plants or use smaller ones. Arrange the plants, such that, taller ones are at the back and shorter ones are at the front. Putting some twigs and small rocks also adds beauty to the terrarium.

Building sometimes requires patience and knowledge. Practice makes perfect. If you are careful enough in building your terrarium, the fun of watching it grow and sustain its own living, may last for months or even a year. It could also teach you something about nature and make you appreciate its beauty. Watching the small creature’s moves around your little world could be self rewarding, for the patience and work you have done. So go now, and try to build your own terrarium. It might be difficult but is fun to build a terrarium