To buy my teen DS a terrarium

[Gumreduction]

Good present? Easy to look after? Any recommendations?!

Does he want one? Does he have any interest?

How long is a piece of string?

I have three but two contain frogs... it really depends on how big, what you grow and keep in them, are you going for just plants or plants and water feature, will you be putting in isopods or something else alive?

Is your DS actually interested in maintaining a tiny world, some are barely any maintenance at all and others, like mine, require misting, draining, feeding, pruning etc on a daily and weekly basis.

We have leopard geckos. Doesnt get easier than that. Barely any maintenance.
During the warm months they require a lamp, feeding of course and some cleaning (takes literally 2mins).
In nov they go to their winter habitant and they require no care at all until march. In that time we usually clear out the entire terrarium and set it up completely new.
thats it. No other care required.
The geckos are very cute and docile. We can take them out, they sit on our shoulder, the kids can carry them around.

Oh sorry not clear

I meant a jungle plant terrarium!!

Still, is he interested?

Never expressed an interest
but I wouldn’t expect him to tbh as rather obscure

but…. Very much something I see him liking

mine went on a course at the local botanical garden and made one. it has been a big hit

Make sure it is cared for. Research etc.

And if energy costs are an issue then heated systems will bump that up.

Do you mean basically a bottle garden? I have one, I'm 39 and I find it boring. Not sure a teen would be overly bothered by one to be honest.

My 13yr old has two. One is two green balls in a sealed jug. We all coo over them and spend infinite amounts of time looking at them.

@Mumoffairy what do your Leopard geckos eat? And do they hibernate?

My 18 year old son was given a terranium by a girlfriend. He likes it. But she made it. He recently bought himself a cactus.

Will he fit in one? Is he causing a problem free range in the house?

Yes they kind of hibernate. Well they arent asleep, but they need a cold dark room during winter months and they dont eat at all and shouldnt be bothered because they shouldnt move too much. We usually keep them in a box in the wine cellar.

They eat live crickets 🙈

stop it

It’s a very out there gift.

If he hasn’t expressed interest it’s a bit weird to jump to terrarium

fact he spent money on it is a good sign! What’s the looking after it like?

We got ours from Ebay classifieds (like your Gumtree). Today, in fact, for christmas. My kids are really into pets, interesting insects etc, and we have this great store near us that sells all sorts of interesting terrarium creatures, from stick insects to chameleons to reptiles. Not keen on snakes or spiders but happy for most other creatures.

I've got a plant one.
But I'm not sure my teen would appreciate it.
Took a few weeks to get it balanced, but I've not taken the lid off since then.

Mine teen DD loves them. Teen DS also enjoyed making their own.

How come?

any recommendations for where to buy please?

I'm a 30 year old woman and bought myself one from Waitrose to put on my windowsill...looks nice but wouldn't describe it as remotely interesting to a teen tbh. Seems a bizarre gift choice. But only you know your son and whether he would like it.