# Terrariums — lean notes

Scope: the enclosure itself for keeping reptiles, amphibians, and invertebrates (vivariums, screen cages, paludariums, bug keepers) — not heating/lighting (habitat-heating), not substrate/decor (aquatic-decor), not fish aquariums (aquariums), not decorative plant-only terrariums (garden/pots-planters).

## Seed
1. Equivalent of "weave" here: shell material (glass vs insulated PVC/acrylic) — the spec that decides heat/humidity retention and viewing, which most buyers under-weigh versus gallon size.
2. A sommelier would notice origin/process first: how the enclosure is built to manage a gradient over time (insulation, sealed seams, ventilation path) rather than the headline size number — same instinct as judging a wine by process, not label.

## Sources
- [wikipedia_vivarium] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vivarium — front-opening vs top access, ventilation, paludarium/riparium/formicarium definitions, bioactive — fetched excerpt
- [wikipedia_terrarium] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrarium — closed/open plant terrarium distinction (confirms out-of-scope for pets leaf) — fetched excerpt
- [exoterra_academy] https://www.exo-terra.com/en/products/terrariums/terrarium — paludaria as sealed self-sustaining ecosystem, terrascaping — fetched excerpt
- [joshsfrogs_terrarium_listing] https://joshsfrogs.com/c/habitat/enclosures/terrariums — real SKU dimensions/gallon labels across Exo Terra/Zoo Med/Phailozoo/Arcadia/Tarantula Cribs, lock/latch accessories sold separately — fetched excerpt
- [zenhabitats_guide] https://zenhabitats.com/pages/how-to-choose-a-reptile-enclosure-what-to-look-for — front-opening, reflection/glass-surfing stress, security checklist, floor space vs height, PVC vs glass heat retention — fetched excerpt
- [zenhabitats_design] https://zenhabitats.com/pages/why-a-zen-habitats-enclosure-is-designed-the-way-it-is — RoHS/SGS testing claim, acrylic vs tempered glass doors, Bio-Basin liner — fetched excerpt
- [zenhabitats_product] https://zenhabitats.com/products/48x24x16-reptile-enclosure-the-zen-habitat-3-0 — 29 lb assembled weight, ships flat, ~80 gal equivalent — fetched excerpt
- [zenhabitats_vs_competitors] https://zenhabitats.com/pages/zen-habitats-4x2x2-pvc-enclosure-vs-our-top-competitors — cross-brand panel thickness (1/4"–1/2"), substrate shield (3.5"–6"), screen-top styles — fetched excerpt
- [wikipedia_rohs] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restriction_of_Hazardous_Substances_Directive — what RoHS restricts (lead/cadmium/mercury/phthalates), origin in electronics — fetched excerpt

## Branches
- enclosure_type → glass_or_pvc_vivarium routes to shell_material/side_panel_opacity/access_style; screen_mesh_cage routes to mesh_type/ventilation_design; invertebrate_enclosure routes to feeding_access_door; paludarium_semi_aquatic routes to water_tightness/basin_depth_class — each leg supported by the type definitions in wikipedia_vivarium and the product-type split visible across joshsfrogs_terrarium_listing (reptile tanks, tarantula cribs, paludarium SKUs sold as distinct lines).
- humidity_regime → arid_low_humidity keeps ventilation_design and drops water_tightness/background_mounting; humid_bioactive adds background_mounting/substrate_shield_height; semi_aquatic_standing_water adds water_tightness/basin_depth_class — supported by zenhabitats_guide's humidity/material pairing and wikipedia_vivarium's humidity-control section.

## Noise
- Thread/mesh count in literal numbers (gauge), tempered-glass thickness in mm, and the brand "4x/5x heat retention" multiplier: seen in only one brand's marketing copy (and inconsistent within that one source), so left as a qualitative judgement rather than a sourced numeric facet.
- PVC/composite panel thickness (zenhabitats_vs_competitors: "Panel thickness ... runs from a quarter inch to a half inch, and one brand does not publish a thickness"): a real sourced spec row, but it is stated on only one fetched page (the page anonymizes the three competitors as "Brand A/B/C", so a second independent source for the same number could not be identified; WebSearch budget was also exhausted this run) — left out as a facet per the two-source rule rather than built on one source.
- Warranty length/price: generic to any durable good, not terrarium expertise — excluded per the price/brand/rating rule.
- Heat lamp/UVB wattage, thermostat type: covered by the sibling habitat-heating category, not this enclosure leaf.
- Substrate material/depth itself, background decor material: covered by the sibling aquatic-decor category; this register only covers the enclosure's substrate-shield and background-mounting *features*, not the substrate/decor products.
- Fish-only aquarium glass/acrylic tank specs: covered by the sibling aquariums category.

## Corrections (2026-10-26)
- Added `door_material` facet (acrylic/tempered_glass/standard_glass), distinct from `shell_material`; sourced to zenhabitats_guide and zenhabitats_vs_competitors (both re-fetched and grepped), added to the glass_or_pvc_vivarium branch's then_ask.
- Added a `moderate_humidity` branch to the `humidity_regime` split (then_ask ventilation_design; makes_irrelevant water_tightness/basin_depth_class), mirroring arid_low_humidity since it was the only value with no branch.
- Added `shell_material` to the `screen_mesh_cage` branch's makes_irrelevant list (none of its 5 values fit a mesh cage).
- Resolved the `nominal_volume_gal` 7-120 range contradiction by scoping it in `definition`/`backfill_note` to vivariums/paludariums, noting invertebrate_enclosure equivalents run down to ~0.2 gal outside that range, instead of widening a single-sourced floor.
- Added vocabulary entries for "Arboreal" and "Terrestrial" (undefined jargon in `height_class`'s why_experts_care).
- Rejected: `panel_thickness_class` facet. Only one fetched source (zenhabitats_vs_competitors) states panel thickness, and it anonymizes the three competitor brands as "Brand A/B/C" so no second independent source could be matched; WebSearch budget was exhausted this run. Extended the Noise justification instead per the two-source rule rather than build a facet on one source.