Branch vivariums

I love the contrast that some vivarium and aquarium designs show between the chaos and complexity of a natural plant display and a more formal or abstract setting. The vivariums below illustrate one way of achieving this – through highlighting a single branch or a few branches isolated from their wider setting. The examples without backgrounds or substrate in particular are a high impact way of showcasing epiphytic plants such as bromeliads or miniature orchids or even arboreal animals such as tree snakes and tree frogs.

Naturalistic vivariums at London Zoo

I really like the direction that London Zoo has taken its aquarium and reptile and amphibian displays over the last 5 years or so. They are quite simple and seemingly casual, but feel very natural in their lack of clutter or obvious design. The enclosures for their Chinese Crocodile Lizards (Shinisaurus crocodilurus) and Emerald Tree Boa (Corallus caninus) particularly caught my eye this time around. Perhaps I just like the look of plants and wood overhanging water, or reptiles looking happy and relaxed?

The botanical art of Makoto Azuma

I see some great inspiration for terrarium and vivarium keepers from the work of ‘botanical artist’ Makoto Azuma (www.azumamakoto.com). I’m not sure many of us will want to freeze our prized plants or shoot them into space, but her caged and suspended epiphyte exhibits perhaps suggest a direction for modernist tree frog vivs and her stark minimalistic terrariums a way to focus attention on underappreciated individual plants in our collections.

All images are ©AMKK