We specialize in producing beautiful tropical live vivarium environments for enthusiasts, breeders, businesses, and museums. Whether you are looking for a beautiful conversation piece for your living room, a show piece for your office, or a larger living exhibit for an institution, we'd love to work with you. Our process focuses on balancing realism, ecological function, and the ideal husbandry conditions for a result second only to Mother Nature.

Despite how detailed and intricate these living environments are, they are deceptively easy to maintain once built. Aside from misting (which can be automated), most of our terrariums require the user to do little more than occasionally wipe the glass & prune the plants. They are long lasting, too! Effective lifespans of our environments typically range from 6-10+ years before a quick environmental refresh is required.

Our experienced team of vivarium designers includes fanatics, breeders, and former breeders of a huge variety of different animal species. We put our decades of experience to work to ensure each inhabitant's needs are considered during the design process. Our goal is to create living ecosystems which are equally enjoyable to both the human viewers and the (optional) animals residing within the display.

Please Note: Our plants, substrates, microfauna, and supply lineup are geared toward humid ecosystems ranging from 55-99% R/H. We do not specialize in arid/desert environments.

Not every ecosystem we design is intended to house a primary inhabitant like a Reptile or Amphibian, but that is our company's specialty. Every design decision is made based around the requirements of the inhabitant species. We build each of our environments for the specific species of animal that will be residing within it. For example, if we were creating a vivarium to house Dart Frogs, we may design a custom glass top for the enclosure which utilizes adjustable brushless fans to ensure humidity stays high, while encouraging healthy airflow. On the other hand, if we were building for a Day Gecko, we might utilize a larger portion of stainless steel screening on our custom top, to be used in conjunction with an appropriate UVB producing light source. Substrate, hardscape decor, environmental controls, lighting, and more can be adjusted & customized so that the inhabitants are as comfortable as they possibly can be in captivity.

Looking for a plant-only environment?
We're happy to design a live terrarium ecosystem to house any array of

Our showroom stocks terrariums from respected brands like Aqueon, Exo Terra, Zilla, and Zoo Med. Each of these consumer-grade enclosures can be upgraded by our team to include drainage bulkheads, "feeder proof" gaskets, better airflow control, and proactive double-silicone seals to ensure long-term leak-free performance. With over 30 enclosure sizes to choose from in stock from Exo Terra and Zoo Med specifically (our favorites!), we've probably got the exact model you are looking for with no lead-time.

For clients looking for an enclosure size which isn't offered by our favorite brands (above), we're happy to use a client-supplied "off brand" glass terrariums. Just include the specific brand and size enclosure you are considering in your quote request, and we'll get straight to work.

For those looking for hyper-specific specifications or a completely bespoke finished product, custom glass "euro style" enclosures are another option for an additional fee & turnaround time. Our glass enclosures are made right here in Connecticut, with top-quality glass cut by licensed glaziers and assembled by veteran terrarium designers.

Note: Sorry, we do not manufacture custom glass enclosures (empty) for sale at this time. ♥

One of the most visually interesting parts of a live vivarium is the custom background or freestanding hardscape. We're happy to create whatever design style you'd like, and we'll keep durability in mind as we build, based upon the specific animal(s) the enclosure is being built for. Our team has created backgrounds for species ranging from tiny "thumbnail" sized dart frogs, all the way up to massive species of Lizards. Whether you are looking for a rocky outcrop, rooted stump, or arboreally oriented "tree" style background, we'd be glad to help bring your thoughts into reality.

Option 1: Custom Background
Words.

Option 2: Cork Tile Based Background
While most of our custom background is completely bespoke from top-to-bottom, we're also happy to work from a cost-cutting approach by starting from our Heavy Duty Background Kits. This kind of background is a little less detailed and only built on the back panel (vs. back + sides), but they are incredibly durable and still plenty realistic.

What Makes Our Backgrounds Different:

What Makes Our Plants Different:
We don't just sell plants, we're one of the leading indoor growers of terrarium-specific plants in the hobby. Our little shop propagates tens-of-thousands of organic terrarium plants each year, and we're glad to offer some of the highest quality examples available.

What Makes Our Substrates Different:
Quality. No other substrate is made with higher quality ingredients, and that's not just a marketing gimmick. There are so many ways to cut corners and make a "cheap but profitable" vivarium substrate, and we chose the hard route. Consider the differences listed below:

WHAT WE USE:
• New Zealand Tree Fern Fiber ✓
• Pet Grade Heat Treated Fir Bark ✓
• Pet Grade Cypress Mulch ✓
• Pet Grade Coconut Fiber ✓
• OMRI Organic Canadian Peat ✓
• Hardwood Charcoal ✓
• New Zealand Premium Spahgnum ✓

WHAT WE DON'T USE:
• South American Tree Fern ✗
• Generic Fir Bark ✗
• Generic Cypress Mulch ✗
• Generic High Salt Coir ✗
• Chilean Peat ✗
• Bamboo Charcoal ✗
• Chilean/Chinese Spahgnum ✗

In-house testing of a bunch of major brands of lighting led us to author the most popular free Vivarium Lighting Guide on the Internet. To put it politely, the owner of NEHERP is a lighting nerd. Everything we carry needs to meet high standards in terms of PAR output, price-vs-output, color accuracy, and operating temperature. With a lower-than 2% return-on-warranty rate average across-the-board for our lighting lineup, we're confident in the long-term performance, too. (All lighting purchased from NEHERP comes with a limited warranty!)

You can see the brands we carry and recommend on our store's Vivarium Lighting Menu, and what we might recommend for your specific size enclosure on our Vivarium Lighting Kit page. You can rest assured that the lights we carry & recommend will perform beautifully for you, your terrarium, and it's inhabitants.

If your inhabitant species requires UVB light, we carry the most recommended brand of Reptile UVB lighting on Earth. Zoo Med Labs invented the UVB bulb, and their UVB lights have maintained an excellent reputation with enthusiasts and professionals since the 90s. We stock & recommend Zoo Med's UVB Producing T5HO, CFL, and LED bulbs for the ultraviolet side of our custom work.

We authored the most popular and most referenced Vivarium Lighting Guide on the Internet.

Limitations:

Please read this before requesting a quote ♥

• You must be 18+ to request a quote
• Due to market prices, quotes are valid for 30 days
• Sorry, no freight/shipping options are available
• Pickup or delivery within 90 mins of Central CT
• No water features outside of ideal husbandry
• NEHERP does not offer NET terms to any client

Pricing:

• Product prices are the same as our online store!
• Skilled labor is billed at $50/hr for basic designs
• Tips (optional) go 100% to your specific designer

Logistics:

• Usually 4-8 weeks from deposit to completion
• All projects require a 70% deposit to begin work

Request A Quote:

Ready to learn more and bring your project to life? Select the option below which best suits your

Add To Cart

Standard Glass Terrarium
Built from mainstream glass terrariums
(No quote deposit required ♥)

Custom Glass Terrarium
We'll design a glass tank to your specs
($100 quote deposit required)

Custom XL Exhibit
For large custom enclosures over 4ft
($300+ quote deposit required)

Quote Deposit Fee Explained:
There are no quote fees for standard vivarium design work, residential installations, and all designs based on "off the shelf" brand name enclosures. For customers requesting bespoke custom made glass enclosures of any size up to 48in, we've introduced a $100 quote deposit fee to be put towards the labor bill, in an effort to cover the expenses associated with designing such an enclosure. For museums & institutions requesting a quote on exhibit design work, we've introduced a $300 quote deposit fee to cover the first six hours of initial investment for travel, design, consultations, discussions with contractors, and 3D modeling if necessary. All quote deposit fees are non-negotiable, non-refundable, and may not be placed on a NET term account.

Important Billing Note For Institutional Clients:
We'd love to work with you, but your institution's billing policies may preclude our involvement. Our small business does not offer NET terms to any client, which means all custom designs will require the typical 70% downpayment all customers pay - even for famous Zoos, Museums, and Universities. If your billing department is the type which abhors all types of payments other than NET90 terms, Are you a staff member of a Zoo, Museum, or University interested in working with us? Great! We've greatly enjoyed the opportunity to work with institutional clients in the past. Before you submit a request-for-quote on this page, we recommend talking to your billing department, to ensure they will not have any trouble accepting the fact that NEHERP does not offer NET terms to anyone. All projects require some form of upfront payment to begin work - even with the most famous and well respected institutions in the Country.