Is a terrarium an ecosystem?
I'm planning to build a terrarium and would like to get some crabs, lizards, shrimps, snails and insects.
My question is whether the entire terrarium could be balanced so that I no longer need external feeders.
So, lizards eat young crabs, and crabs eat young lizards and shrimp. This creates a nearly closed cycle. Is this possible in principle, or has anyone perhaps already had experience with it?
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A complete ecosystem without you having to worry about it will be difficult. But you can set up a “be-love” ecosystem. The terrarium would have its own small ecosystem, but it is a great challenge to build something like this and you should still care about the terrarium.
https://youtu.be/QTH9m6MDIfc
https://youtu.be/wir7jmefyec
So you probably need several square meters of space, so that every animal can search well, safely and unfold and then all the animals have to fit the temperature to each other.
No, this is not possible in a small measure as every animal has other requirements.
and for no lizard type you can keep are crabs suitable forage.
and if you would feed your crabs “living” lizards, you would also make yourself punishable as the life-feeding of vertebrates is prohibited.
Hi.
This is a utopian and not very good idea.
I don't want to write much about it.
In principle, this is possible with very well selected species, thinly occupied and large.
But this is a very special thing and a masterpiece, so to speak, with low animal density and hardly control over the animals.
For beginners, such a plan is completely overcrowded, and a great terrarium does not come out.
Even the aspect of never feeding is more of a gag than something that contributes to an interesting and art-friendly terrarium.
Don't get me wrong, the ecosystem approach is already ok I have two vases with aquatic animals I don't feed – but there are millimeter-small animals in it like very small snails, worms and water fleas. Not lizards.
No, it's not possible you'd make yourself criminal. Take a look at a kind of terrarium/paludarium to meet their specific needs.
If you do it as above, it's animal torture.