NEWS 115
16
Mediterranean region is home to the
Mediterranean Spiny Toad (
Bufo bufo
spinosus
), the European Green Toad (Bufotes
viridis), the African Common Toad
(
Amietophrynus regularis
), and the Berber
Toad (
Amietophrynus mauritanicus)
. You
need to bear in mind that females of the
Mediterranean Spiny Toad grow very large
and generally regard wall lizards as snacks,
but the other species can always be kept
together with all the species named above
without concern.
Mediterranean Tree Frogs (
Hyla meridionalis
)
also like to live in gardens and enjoy the
relative abundance of water there. They are
very nice, easy-to-keep fellows, though be
warned that males utter extremely loud
mating calls that can generally rob you of
your sleep!
Avoid keeping snakes in this community
terrarium. They will either eat their fellow-
occupants or be regarded as a threat and
bitten to death.
By contrast such a terrarium is an ideal
environment for babies of the European
tortoise species (
Testudo
). Only very large,
aggressive
Timon
may represent a threat to
them. But before you buy them you should
give some thought to where they are going
to go when they attain a carapace length of
8-10 cm, as they are then generally too large
and too destructive for a domestic terrarium.
Only in set-ups with a bottomarea of around
3 m2 upwards are their unpleasant habits of
no concern. The recommended size for a
Mediterranean garden terrarium starts at
around 90 x 60 x 60 cm.
The decor
Even though it may appear to some people
that we have put the cart before the horse by
discussing the livestock first, that isn't the
case at all. The decision whether to obtain a
terrarium is often based on the desire to
keep a particular species of animal. For that
reason it is perfectly acceptable to
enumerate the suitable livestock first!
The "garden" type of decor is a bit of an
artifice, as on the one hand it permits the
creation of a biologically correct biotope,
while on the other allowing a rather large
amount of scope regarding the plant
species. Very many plants of the typical
Mediterranean landscape can be cultivated
only unsatisfactorily in the long term in an
indoor setting.Unlike an animal,a plant,once
set in place in the terrarium, can't change
position in order to seek out areas withmore
or less light, more or less warmth, and more
or less moisture. The overall terrarium
"climate" must be suitable for plants, while
that isn't necessary for a mobile animal that
can seek out a niche with a specific micro-
climate.
For this reason many typical Mediterranean
plants can be grown long-term (i.e. for many
years) only in outdoor set-ups protected
from frost. Of course all the animals
mentioned here can also be housed there,
but a lot of people don't have a garden of
their own in which to realize such a project.
Hence we will discuss only what can be
achieved indoors in the long term.
The dry-stone wall
A dry-stone wall is a very typical and
essential element of aMediterranean garden
African Common Toad,
Amietophrynus
(formerly
Bufo
) regularis, from Egypt.
Young tortoises are eminently suitable for the terrarium described here.
