A terrarium is a clear container (often plastic or glass) used to grow plants and to examine or hold small creatures. They may be cubical, spherical, rectangular, or other shapes. Often in terraria the species' ecosystem is copied in smaller size and is even controlled in humidity, temperature, and water chemistry. In ecology, an ecosystem is a naturally occurring assemblage of organisms (plant, animal and other living organisms—also referred to as a biotic community or biocoenosis) living together with their environment (or biotope), functioning as a loose unit. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Temperature is the physical property of a system which underlies the common notions of hot and cold; the material with the higher temperature is said to be hotter. ... Water (from the Old English word wæter; c. ...

Animals commonly held in terraria include reptiles, amphibians, fish, insects, spiders, and scorpions. Many kinds of plants are suitable for a terrarium, including bromeliads and African Violets, as well as any kind of underwater plant. Orders  Crocodilia - Crocodilians  Rhynchocephalia - Tuataras  Squamata   Suborder Sauria- Lizards   Suborder Serpentes - Snakes   Suborder Amphisbaenia - Worm lizards Testudines - Turtles Superorder Dinosauria  Saurischia  Ornithischia Reptiles are tetrapods, and also are amniotes, animals whose embryos are surrounded by an amniotic membrane. ... For other uses, see Amphibian (disambiguation). ... Groups Conodonta Hyperoartia Petromyzontidae (lampreys) Pteraspidomorphi (early jawless fish) Thelodonti Anaspida Cephalaspidomorphi (early jawless fish) Galeaspida Pituriaspida Osteostraci Gnathostomata (jawed vertebrates) Placodermi Chondrichthyes (cartilaginous fish) Acanthodii Osteichthyes (bony fish) Actinopterygii (ray-finned fish) Sarcopterygii (lobe-finned fish) Actinistia (coelacanths) Dipnoi (lungfish) A fish is a poikilothermic (cold-blooded) water-dwelling... Classes & Orders Subclass: Apterygota Orders Archaeognatha (Bristletails) Thysanura (Silverfish) Monura - extinct Subclass: Pterygota Infraclass: Paleoptera (paraphyletic) Orders Ephemeroptera (mayflies) Protodonata - extinct Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies) Diaphanopteroidea - extinct Palaeodictyoptera - extinct Megasecoptera - extinct Archodonata - extinct Infraclass: Neoptera Orders Blattodea (cockroaches) Isoptera (termites) Mantodea (mantids) Dermaptera (earwigs) Plecoptera (stoneflies) Protorthoptera - extinct Orthoptera (grasshoppers... Suborders Araneomorphae Mesothelae Mygalomorphae See the taxonomy section for families Spiders are invertebrate animal(s) that produce silk, have eight legs and no wings. ... Superfamilies Pseudochactoidea Buthoidea Chaeriloidea Chactoidea Iuroidea Scorpionoidea See the classification section for families. ... Genera See text Bromeliads include epiphytes, such as Spanish moss, and ground plants, such as the Pineapple. ...

There are various forms of terraria, including:

• aquarium
• aqua-terrarium
• desert terrarium
• insectarium
• formicarium
• tropical terrarium
• vivarium
• paludarium