Ideas for Desert Vivariums

[HadesDragons]

I quite often see people asking for photos of desert vivs for their animals, so I decided to write this, with some ideas you could try, along with some photos of actual deserts that I've experienced firsthand. To get ideas for a desert-themed cage, you are often better off looking at real deserts than at people's attempted reconstructions of them, although both types of photo do have their uses.

Having seen a fair few semi-deserts and "proper" deserts, as well as scrubland, I thought I'd put down a few notes on the types of things you would expect to see in them, and some ideas of how to recreate them in captivity. This is by no means a definitive guide - the hobby is still moving forwards rapidly, and innovation is one of the driving forces for this. There are new ideas constantly appearing about how to recreate various slices of nature in captivity.

First off, there are several characteristic "types" of desert, from the open, sandy Sahara-style deserts, through Rocky deserts with pretty solid, almost concrete-like surfaces, baked hard by the sun, to semi-arid scrubland, that has a lot of (dry) plants and grasses. The majority of species kept in captivity are from the latter two types.


In the desert, there is very little "green"; most of what you do see is either very pale, with hints of tan, or very dark-leafed. Unfortunately, most fake plants aren't suited to this type of recreation, and look out of place in a desert viv. This leaves you with three choices - either get "real" desert plants in the viv (which is very hard to do safely), use alternative substitutes, such as thick-stemmed hay / specific grass species, or build a vivarium that's devoid of plants, as many regions of desert are.

There's also colour - most real deserts have "themes" to them with regards to colour, and it's wise to try and follow this style if you want a realistic recreation. Mixing too many colours, or the wrong combinations, can make a desert look very artificial.

The type of ground is very important - believe it or not, aside from Sahara-type deserts, you don't get many areas of open sand, at least not in the areas that captive species are from. The ground tends to be much harder underfoot; in places it's just bare rock surface, with all of the sand blown away.

These are some photos I've taken from various environments - where possible I've tried to comment on them, and what they show. I've not yet had a chance to go through all of my photos. Some of these are of animals, but, upon closer inspection, actually illustrate a lot of points about the desert in the background, so try to ignore the subjects!! Where possible, photos are 1024 x 768, so you might want to adjust your screen resoultion accordingly if you can't see it all.




A typical "dead" tree in the desert. Dead things bleach very fast under the sun, so use pale branches wherever possible. Sandblasted grape vine can look very good if used sparingly.




A slightly more alive-looking tree. This shows an orangey theme to the rocks, and there is not a speck of sand in sight. The ground was as hard as concrete, and impossible to dig in using spades etc.




A sweeping area of dry, yellow grass, located in a dry riverbed. The contrast between the sand of the riverbed and the dark, surrounding rock is pretty striking. By only choosing a couple of colours for your vivarium, you can give the impression of continuity, and make things really stand out.






A pair of photos showing the lack of vegetation in many desert regions, especially at ground level. Notice how all of the foliage that is green is very muted, not the bright, vibrant "jungle" greens that fake plants tend to be.




In rockier regions, the rocks tend to be angular and jagged, and often have grasses growing sparsely between them. The terrain tends to have the occasional "dominating" large rock, with a lot of smaller rocks in between. Too many people neglect the smaller rocks to break up the shapes created by the larger ones. Try buying / gathering one more rock than you intend to use, and smashing up the spare to scatter around the cage. Just be careful that any rocks used are too large to be ingested.




Stunning effects can be created by contrasting the right colours - in this case pale sand and dark rock. This is more of a Sahara-style scene, and very few animals are permanant residents in areas such as this. You can also see a piece of wood, apparently in the middle of nowhere. The key to effective use of wood / plants in a desert environment is to use them sparsely; there simply isn't enough water around for dense thickets for form in desert regions; they are more confined to Savannah regions.




Boulder-strewn landscapes are hard to recreate in captivity, but you could use a single boulder as a focal point for a vivarium. Take note of the shapes here - they are more rounded and wind-carved, rather than being angular and jagged. Angular and jagged rocks tend to be strewn around, whereas the smoother rocks often occur in outcrops and form mounds.

[HadesDragons]

This shows a reddish theme to a desert - any pale rocks used here would look out of place. Again, there is no sand to be seen - the ground is solid rock, with a liberal covering of smaller rock fragments. If attempting to recreate this, be sure that none of the fragments you use are large enough to be swallowed.




This is a much paler-looking area. The ground is again hard, without sand, but this time it's a brown base, with a sparse covering of pale yellow grasses. The occasional dark boulder breaks up the landscape, ensuring that it's not just a flat plain.




This again shows the contrast between a dark, solid base layer, and the pale grass that can sometimes grow in patches. I've had a go at reproducing this in the past (but typically forgot to take any photos) by mixing some hay in with a sand / soil base. When adding areas of distinct colour, it's best to do it in large patches, rather than just randomly dotted around.






This is more of a sandy, dusty desert. Very few things permanantly live here; this should be something you try to avoid when replicating a desert, as animals don't usually live in area that have no shelter / features.







These are rocky deserts, again with lots of jagged rocks strewn around, but again with only a couple of different colours dominating the scene.






These show more of a contrast between the reddish base layer of dirt, and the dark rocks; it's not just pale and dark combinations that can look striking when recreated.

[HadesDragons]

This is one of my favourite desert scenes - a barren wilderness, with a little microsystem in the middle of nowhere. The rocks around the tree had a lot of life amongst them, whilst the rest of the area was seemingly devoid of life. In the desert, clusters of rocks provide shelter for animals, so it tends to be them that provide the most life. When replicating something in captivity, a vivarium that has a group of rocks as a focal point in the centre can look very good, and is more natural to desert-dwelling animals than a flat, open vivarium would be.




Cracked mud appears commonly around seasonal riverbeds, but is something that very few people manage to replicate in captivity. I'm planning to have a play around with replicating it, but any ideas would be much appreciated!




This is an interesting "random" shot to end with - it shows a dry riverbed running through the middle of the desert; to either side is hard-baked earth and rocks for as far as the eye can see (In the distance is Brandberg mountain), and yet through the middle of it runs this tract of green swampland. Water is occasionally present in the form of tiny puddles / streams; usually the river runs just below the surface, which allows the plants to get the water they need to flourish.



I hope that's given people some ideas about what should and shouldn't go into a desert-themed vivarium, and will hopefully inspire some people to get creative this summer. At the end of the day, it's not just the animals that benefit from having an accurate, realistic slice of a totally different world in their living room.

Andy

[luke123]

the elephants made me jump as i was scrolling down good guide

[cazzie]

when i upe my beardies viv, ill give him elephants to play with

but very good picks, very helpful

[Johelian]

Very good idea The one three from the end is great, I do love the contrast of the green against the rocks. The one of the large boulders and scrubby grass near the top is the kind of thing my boyfriend used for one of our chuck vivs...for the other I wouldnt mind incorporating some of the dried wood from the top pic.

[HadesDragons]

Originally Posted by luke123

the elephants made me jump as i was scrolling down good guide

They made me jump when they decided to grab the Landcruiser I was in... they're curious things!!

[bonsey]

Cracking idea's for the viv........but can u advise where i can get dwarf elephants..............

[HadesDragons]

Originally Posted by bonsey

but can u advise where i can get dwarf elephants..............

I wish I knew! I'd love to have a herd running around the field - shame they get so big and destructive!!

[luke123]

how cool would that be! pet elephants