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Komodo Nano habitat - pretty cool little terratium.

coleonyx

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Mar 21, 2018
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I recently managed to source an A. Opacum and wanted to upgrade her to a new home from the temporary RUB she was living in. She won't notice at all but I certainly will! We have a spare 30cm cube Exo Terra in the house which I thought offered adequate floor space but the height is a bit wasted on a salamander especially as I wanted it to be viewed from above rather than head on (it's a bedside table pet), it has also suffered that common issue of ugly looking discolouration on the cheap mesh they still like using. I thought I could get enough burrowing room in a shorter terrarium as I wanted a decent amount of substrate I decided on something without front opening doors.

So after looking online I settled (as in it was the only choice) on the Komodo Nano Habitat 31cm x 31cm x 20cm, I think this is the XXL size! I got it from Swell UK who seem to have it on a permanent clearance sale and replace stock at the same price:
https://www.reptiles.swelluk.com/komodo-nano-habitat/
A quick word of warning here as although Swell are very good the courier service they use is Yodel who are terrible. Even though this was going to my workplace address they still managed to deliver it to a house round the corner (hey they got the street number right though!) and when I say delivered I mean thrown over a 6ft gate onto concrete, miraculously the terrarium was unmarked.

So after opening the box and not slicing my hands open on broken glass I was greeted with a very well made little terrarium, everything lined up properly with straight edges and the plastic fittings were tidily made. There are plastic feet which keep the base glass raised, I noticed a few reviews mention these can be uneven but on mine they are fine so maybe there was a bad batch at some point. The top mesh was a nice surprise, the quality is spot on and it feels far better than a previously mentioned competing brand, it's more like a thin speaker grill than cheap wire mesh. The lid slides on from the front and is kept in place by a push tab located centre front, although there is some sideways movement when sliding the lid on it leaves no gaps so should be good for anyone feeding micro bugs etc.

After setting it up with a layer of clay balls and ProRep forest soil I decorated it with partially buried bogwood and cork bark half-tunnels, what I presume is some sort of pincushion moss,a mix of live (for top layer substrate) and rehydrated (for hides) moss and finally some donor conolies of tropical woodlice and springtails, the end result is a nice looking terrarium. Can't seem to embed images on this site so here's the direct links, obligatory cheap phone camera apology btw:
https://image.ibb.co/gGKg7H/IMAG0020.jpg
https://image.ibb.co/iAfcgc/IMAG0016.jpg
https://image.ibb.co/nvaSgc/IMAG0021.jpg

After a few days of getting some more moisture into the terrarium it looks like a cracking little habitat for a small salamander, just enough depth to create some interesting nooks and crannies while keeping terrestrial species easily viewable and accessible. The Marbled Salamander settled in straight away, alternates between the different hides, eats whatever I put in and has already made some excavations to remodel her new home.

Would definitely recommend, moreso at the discounted price I paid but then there isn't much else to choose from with those dimensions. Wondering whether to get another really in case I ever come across an A. Laterale!
 

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Ekmanor

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That looks awesome! Your little buddy will definitely have some fun getting lost in there!
 
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