NEWS 115
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The terrarium literature is very comprehensive, and the hobby at an extreme
high. Never before in the history of mankind have we known so much about
reptiles, amphibians, bird-eating spiders, scorpions, & co - thanks to the
terrariumhobby! But there is one topic that is as good as never discussed - the
community terrarium. It sometimes seems almost as if there is something
disreputable about this area of the terrariumhobby.But that is utter nonsense,
a properly designed community terrarium is something quite splendid!
The community terrarium: a
world full of wonder (II)
by Thorsten Holtmann
Terrarium
Mediterranean garden
The maintenance of animals and plants for
pleasure is an exclusively human activity.No
other life form on Earth does it. One might
even define the human species by this
characteristic! The Mediterranean area is the
region where many human civilizations
began; in North Africa there was Egypt and
Carthage, in Europe ancient Greece and
Rome, and in the Asian part the Byzantine
Empire. All these cultures established
gardens,not just vegetable gardens but also
places of relaxation. And naturally these
gardens were also home to reptiles and
amphibians. Perhaps they weren't (and
aren't) always seen as welcome,but as a rule
they were tolerated as they helped the
gardeners by decimating unwanted insects,
slugs, and snails.
Species associatedwith human civilization
Wild animal species include those that
follow and those that shun human
civilization. The followers profit from the
presence of people in an area and even seek
out the proximity of humans. By contrast
those that shun humanity disappear as soon
as people begin to settle in their
surroundings. A well-known example is the
two species of stork resident in central
Europe.TheWhite Stork (Ciconia ciconia) is a
follower of civilization, that lives and breeds
almost without exception in proximity to
humans, while the Black Stork (Ciconia
nigra), which is otherwise practically
identical in size and habits, is a species that
A
totally shuns human civilization.
Hence the "Mediterranean Garden"
community terrarium should be occupied
only by those species that count as followers
of civilization.
The focus of the activity
There are a whole lot of such followers, but it
is the lively, gorgeous lizards of the genera
Podarcis, Lacerta,
and
Timon
that constitute
the main actors. The very first decision that
faces the terrarium keeper is which of these
lizards should it be? As they can't be kept
together. Different species of wall lizards
(
Podarcis
) will fight among themselves,
ocellated lizards (
Timon
) and emerald or
green lizards (
Lacerta
) likewise won't tolerate
one another and both will eat Podarcis. So
only one pair of Timon (
T. lepidus, T. pater, T.
princeps,
or
T. tangitanus)
or
one pair of
emerald lizards (
Lacertabilineata,L.schreiberi,
L. strigata,
or
L. viridis)
or
a group of wall
lizards (
Podarcis
, most species of which are
civilization followers) can be kept in the
limited space of the domestic terrarium.
Additional species
The remaining species of lizards that are
suitable for this type of community terrarium
are normally well behaved towards all of the
above-mentioned species. They include the
wall geckos (
Tarentola mauritanica
and
T.
annularis)
, the Turkish Gecko (
Hemidactylus
turcicus
), and the cylindrical skinks (
Chalcides
spp
.: the majority of species are civilization
followers).
Toads are very typical garden creatures. The
* This list contains only the most commonly traded
species and is far from being complete!
A typical Mediterranean garden.
Podarcis sicula campestris
,the Ruin Lizard,is a very common follower of human civilization. All photos:F.Schäfer
