I need help picking a new pet for a large greenhouse I just purchased. it is 4.5X4.5 feet and 6 ft tall it has 3 levels of shells on both sides and I will be housing a large collection of rare house plants throughout the winter. I am looking for an arboreal lizard or snake that I can handle daily while taking care of the plants and occasionally take out of the greenhouse. I can control the humidity and temp weight well and keep it in the range of 70 to 75 degrees and 60% to 80% RH.
so far my search has led me to a few options:
giant day gecko
day gecko
crested gecko
anole
water dragon
python
GTP
this will be the first reptile I have owned in a while (had an anole when I was a kid and it was not very rewarding)
To me that doesn’t seem suitable for a reptile. I would advise setting up a proper enclosure for one instead. However if you are set on one I would recommend an anole since day geckos are sensitive and water dragons and snakes are large.
I fully understand there would need to be quite a bit of terraforming and other modifications to make ti suitable for an animal. some more details, I would be covering the floor in substrate and using branches to make climbing pathways
A green tree python (and most reptiles) would not thrive in that temperature. Green tree pythons need a basking temp of around 88 degrees and an overall temp of 78, also being very fragile creatures and most not liking to be handled, I wouldn’t recommend this species for you. I don’t see how any small lizard could live and feel comfortable in that big of a “terrarium”. I completely agree with “goulishcresties” and “erieherps” on a glass terrarium being best for a reptile.
I didn’t realize you could have a space that was too big, how do they deal with that in the wild? I could easily add basking lights and up the temp if needed to make it more habitable. I understand that what is in the picture isnt suited for a reptile as is and I am prepared to do a lot of work to landscape and make it as natural as possible. that being said if I were to section off one of the shelfs would that make it better for an animal?
Sectioning of one of the shelves would definitely help but I don’t see why you couldn’t just put a terrarium on one of the shelves with a basking light hanging over it or a heat mat under the terrarium (depending on the animal) that way you wouldn’t have to worry about figuring out how to section a shelf off and make it escape-proof. I say that it could be too big because I have found (and others have) that when you put a small animal in an enclosure that is very big they get stressed out and sometimes won’t eat (especially with baby animals). I do not know why this happens and how they would cope with this in the wild baffles me. I hope this helps.
No matter what I wouldn’t feel comfortable with a small lizard being in thier because 1. they would be pretty hard to find 2. They could accidentally get squashed while walking in there to water the plants 3. opening the door to the greenhouse they could escape past you and the cold air would get in with them. Will the plants always be in there with the animal?
I would keep the animal in a terrarrium allways under the circumstances and not move it to that big space with all those plants. I would go with a spotted python, they are known for being friendly and are a semi-arboreal snake species. They need a hot spot of 80-85 degrees and a 70 degree cool side with humidity at 45-55% if you can get it that low.
I know you haven’t heard what you really wanted to hear. But I also agree that this is not suitable.
Not so much because of space, but because it’s not escape proof and not much you can do about that, unless you change the whole thing. Plus you would need a lot of ventilation while not losing heat or humidity.
Also where would the green house be kept, outside?
I’m not sure whether this is similar to greenhouses in UK, but I don’t believe it would hold a vivarium/terrarium on it either as they can be quite heavy and the shelves aren’t usually that strong (at least not in UK)
Some of these cannot be handled at all, and most would probably die from stress from daily handling. If you use that I would imagine whatever herp you put in it will escape as well. I am not going to recommend anything given the risk it puts every reptile I can think of at.
I have this greenhouse, and had a wild anole living in it for a season, and occasionally still have Gulf Coast Toads that come in from time to time. All that said, this greenhouse is not secure at all. Unless you put an entire enclosure around or inside of it whatever lives in there will escape eventually.
It also is very poor quality and won’t last more than a couple years IF you keep it sheltered (i.e. in a garage or covered porch). Ventilation is also terrible. I actually don’t even keep plants in it anymore as fungus kept killing everything, right now it just stores pots and garden supplies on my porch. .
