A side from light and heat, the drinking water supply, relative humidity and the right moisture of the substrate are very important for the animals’ well-being.
This is because reptiles and, to a greater degree, thin-skinned amphibians are constantly losing water as a result of respiration, particularly through the skin. This is especially true with amphibians, which almost exclusively take water up through the skin and barely drink at all, in contrast with other terrarium animals. Therefore, in addition to cleaning and refilling the water dish, daily care should also include misting (spraying) the inside of the terrarium with water regularly at least once in the morning. This also applies to desert terrariums. This is because there is often fog or dew in the morning hours in regions with high daytime temperatures and significant decreases at night. Many animals are used to meeting their moisture needs through the water condensing on their body or other objects in their environment.
Some species of animals e.g. chame- leons prefer moving water. Young animals don’t need more than the water drops that collect on leaves or objects after misting, whereas adult animals often require more. In this case, it is recommended to add a dripping system that supplies water over an extended period of time. This way, the animals can take up as much water as they need. The dripping water can be supplemented by occasionally adding vitamins ( JBL TerraVit fluid ). Your pets can be offered moving water by putting in a waterfall, e.g. a ready-made model or room fountain, operated by JBL ProFlow t Pompalar or by setting up a larger-sized waterfall operated by JBL ProFlow u- Pompalar complete with a water reservoir on the rear wall. In this case, though, it is important to assure consistent good quality of water. Besides this, the substrate of aqua terrariums must be cleaned regularly with a gravel cleaner such as the JBL AquaEX seti 20-45 and the aquarium panes must be cleaned with glass cleaners such as the JBL Blanki Set . A weekly partial water change of around a third of the water volume should be done, similar to an aquarium. Without regular cleaning, a slew of bacteria, very detrimental to the animals’ health forms very quickly in the reservoir of the room fountain or waterfall. These often contain just a few litres of water.
The water supplied in a terrarium requires certain measures of care in order to prevent a murky brew laden with bacteria from forming. This can endanger the animals’ health. Care is relatively simple with drinking vessels: They should be cleaned and refilled with fresh water daily. When it comes to larger bodies of water in a terrarium, e.g. in combination with a waterfall, the care required is comparable to that of an aquarium.
For more details please refer to the JBL homepage under Akvaryum .
Briefly: After the water section has been filled with mains water, a water conditioner ( JBL Biotopol T - Renders any chlorine harmless and absorb harmful substances such as heavy metals) should be added. Internal and external filters from the JBL CristalProfi range can be used to filter the water. Internal filters such as JBL CRISTALPROFI i100 greenline are suited for small water vessels of up to 100 litres. External filters from the JBL CristalProfi e range which are also designed to save energy are recommended for larger volumes of water.
It is imperative to do a regular water change of approx. 30 % every 2 weeks. The water replaced should then always be conditioned to meet the animals.
If you are keeping turtles, it is urgently recommended to use a very powerful external filter (JBL CristalProfi e) due to the animals’ enormous metabolism. In this case, a model one size bigger than that recommended for the corresponding water volume should always be selected. With its JBL EasyTurtle , JBL offers a product that effectively accelerates the degradation of the large amount of waste produced by turtles, thereby preventing unpleasant odours. It contains specially bred cleansing bacteria which are bound to a mineral granule. These granules are simply sprinkled onto the bottom of the water section or integrated into the substrate.
