Glass & Acrylic Enclosures

A grow out enclosure (often just called a "growout") is built to temporarily house an animal for one reason or another. When a hatchling makes it's first steps into the world, there can be benefits of housing it individually, rather than in a group of young'uns or with it's parents. The offspring of certain species are so tiny that they can escape through the cracks of many major brand name enclosures, and many of those enclosures are so large that the little ones would have a hard time searching for food. In situations like these, housing the little animal in his or her own growout will make a keeper's job simpler and the animal's life safer. As soon as the animal grows a little and can be housed in a more permanent home, the growout enclosure can be disassembled, cleaned, and re-purposed or simply discarded. (Hide this paragraph)

There are a handful of different solutions for illuminating these enclosures. Our favorite option is Current Satellite LED+, since they are cool enough to be mounted just a couple inches away from the lids while providing excellent PAR specs at that distance. A less expensive & more powerful option is Jump Start T5HO lighting, which runs hotter & requires them to be mounted a little further from the cups. Either lighting option is available in a variety of lengths, so we'd recommend choosing the one which suits your needs best. With 2-cup-deep rows (pictured above), a 24in fixture can illuminate 10 cups, while a 48in fixture can illuminate 20-22. Moss (not included) can be added for an upgraded aesthetic effect, but it's not truly necessary or practically beneficial in these setups. The plants we include with this kit are very easy to grow, and shouldn't be a problem for even the most novice caregiver when the correct type of lighting is used. Please keep in mind that UVB light will not pass through plastic, and although there's a metal mesh lid on each cup (which allows some UVB to pass), we don't feel comfortable recommending these Grow Out Kits for any species which requires UVB light to synthesize Vitamin D3. (Hide this paragraph)

These are not complete live vivarium environments, so some upkeep will be necessary. Having said that, these little kits can perform fairly well if Springtails (not included) are added to help fragment the waste of the inhabitant. Some spot cleaning may be necessary for certain species, but these are still fairly low-maintenance compared to most other options. At NEHERP we mist these enclosures 2-3X daily, feed every other day, and perform spot cleaning as needed. (Hide this paragraph)