Foamarium,,anybody heard of it?

I was in a pet store by my house and I saw a thing called a foamarium. It was in a 10 gallon tank and it was for geckos. I was wondering if anybody knows if they make bigger ones for larger tanks? It looked really cool. I asked someone that worked there but they didnt know.
thanks
Mike Habel

I remember seeing that used a couple of yrs ago and I think it was available for up to a 40 gallon tank. There was also a style that you could use more than one for larger sizes.
Darin Gray

Some guy used to sell them on ebay, though I don't know if he still does. Check there, and good luck!

Myself and one other guy have some left. The company went out of business a few years back, But we have alot of left overs. THey only come in 10-20 gallon sizes. The guy who made them still does cutom orders, But they run at least $100+. I am sure he can make them as big as you need if you want to pay the cash? Let me know if you want some smaller ones. Thanks, Jon

they are kinda hard to clean, and crickets just love to have them for lunch. I used to use them in my store, they looked great. I even had them custom cut so you could check out the animal from the end of the tanks. They came in all kinds of sizes, up to 40 gallon. However, for insect eating lizards, it was a nightmare as the crickets ate them to peices. And it seems that UV lighting breaks the material down slowly, into a kinda powder. I gave up on them long ago, and because they were kind of pricy, I stopped selling them too. I guess they are out of business now. The company was call Fish and Chimps. It seems they were first developed for the aquarium trade. The owner, whom I had met several times, had a pet chimp. Nuff said.
Ken Foose

I have several and only use a couple (holding the rest in reserve). As mentioned above, crickets do kind of munch out on them. Bearded dragons are way to messy for foamariums - at least for me, since I don't like excessive cleaning. Wouldn't want a lot of lizards in them either, since they do need to be rinsed and require more upkeep than plain newspaper or paper towels. They look a whole lot better though.

They are GREAT for leopard geckos. Several of mine have built in 'caves' for hides, and the leos I've kept in them seem quite happy. The foam gives a nice base for fake plants (probably real ones too, but I haven't done that myself).

It looks good and is easy to clean if the critters inside are fairly clean. Being able to check on my leos while they're hiding - and without disturbing them - is probably my favorite feature.

Got mine from the guy in eBay (wamsuttar was his ebay id). Reordered twice 'cause I liked them so much.

Thinking about trying them for crested geckos because I'm having a hard time keeping the humidity up without having excess water in the cage too.

Good luck, whatever you end up doing.

i'm the originator of Foamarium and thought i might be of some help answering any questions about it's construction and uses. my normal email is Foamarium@hotmail.com but i had to long on using a new id since it was impossible for me to post this response otherwise?! my interests include most species of animals and i have worked in the veterinary field for almost 30 years primarily with exotic animals in large veterinary teaching hospitals and wildlife rescue facilities in New York,California and Florida. i don't own any pet chimps but i do currently work with several facilities that house and maintain chimps and orangutans(as well as many other kinds of critters) either as "retirement" sanctuaries or with them working in movies and TV. many of the chimps and orangs you see on TV or in the movies i consider my personal friends and i'm very involved with trying to assure they live happy comfortable lives especially when they retire. i got the idea for Foamarium more then 10 years ago after a conversation with a marinelife veterinarian at Marine World about trying to help prevent bacterial disease such as the dreaded red leg disease of captive amphibians. around that same time i was trying to setup a saltwater aquarium quarantine tank using a small "sponge filter" as the source of essential biological filtration. one day the idea of modifying the tiny sponge filter into a large functional habitat just seemed to click! after several years of testing and modifications i tried to start a business to bring Foamariums to the public. we sold many thousands around the world. although i think my skills working with animals are very good my business sense is less so and the company went under due to my lack of a good understanding about mass manufacturing/distributing business practices. Victor,the person selling Foamariums very successfully on Ebay for awhile, bought his from the Salvation Army at below the cost of the foam itself when my brother donated the few remaining unsold pieces to them when we went out of business. i believe Victor's sold out of them now and they're generally only available custom made thru me at this time. he had great success but his pricing spoiled people somewhat in that you couldn't even buy the raw foam for the prices he was selling completed Foamariums for! (it's VERY IMPORTANT to know that the Foamariums are made from Aquarium Grade Filter Foam as many types of commercially available foam are made with toxic materials to inhibit fire and mold in most upholstry cushion and packaging foams). Chris at Reptile Haven in Oceanside,Ca. has also been selling and using the custom Foamariums i make for him for several years now with great enthusiasm and success. Foamarium won the IRBA Vivarium Contest in San Diego in the year 2000 and was featured on the cover of "Vivarium Magazine". i've made hundreds of custom Foamariums for zoos, hobbiests and schools around the world and i believe i've pretty much perfected the design and function to assure a healthy, comfortable and beautiful home for your pets to live in and you and your family to enjoy. they aren't as expensive as some think if you compare them to any other product available and they offer features not available any other way. the cost for a 10 gallon Foamarium that can be set up for geckos,colubrids,tarantulas and other critters is about $30 and if you contact me i can provide a link to pics of various set-ups. Foamarium is made of an open celled flexible foam material, the same stuff that the very common and useful aquarium sponge filters are made from. it's essentially a giant sponge filter and functions exactly the same when used with water in aquatic or semi aquatic environments. sponge or foam filters have been a staple of the aquarium hobby for many years. their simple and easy set up and maintenance and their excellent function as a biological filter is well know to provide the best conditions for keeping healthy fresh and saltwater fish. in the reptile and amphibian world Foamarium is unmatched for keeping any aquatic creatures such as frogs,water turtles,salmanders,newts and the like in the same way it works in an aquarium. i know most reptile folks have been educated to hate bacteria and spend alot of their time and money on keeping their animal's homes as sterile and bacteria free as they can. the aquarium industry learned long ago that in order to maintain a balanced healthy environment for their pets they need to provide friendly place for beneficial bacteria to live and do their work. these very necessary and useful bacteria process the toxic wastes produced by the fish and convert them to harmless by-products readily removed during regular simple water changes. while this can be accomplished in a variety if ways it's safe to say that without this natural biological activity it's almost impossible to keep fish of any kind in a well balanced healthy environment. it takes several weeks for the beneficial bacteria to establish themselves but this process can be speeded up by the use of the new "bacterial seeding" products that are now being brought to the aquarium industry by several large aquarium product companies. if you want to set up a dart frog habitat or any other aquatic or semiaquatic habitat you can't find a simpler or better way then to use a Foamarium. when used in a dry environment with small ground dwelling reptiles and invertebrates Foamarium doesn't function as a biological filter but it does provide a versatile matrix to build your pet a nice looking,functional and healthy home. because Foamarium is made of a soft flexible material i can shape and color it to mimic almost any type of habitat. Foamarium's light weight and one piece open celled flexible foam construction means that i can make caves in cross section that allow you to see your pets actually living happily in their "burrows" from outside the cage, yet you have easy and simple access without having to tear down the cage to get at them if needed. it also allows better control of humidity levels "underground" very much as a animal's burrow is in nature. Foamarium is meant to be used as the base for your pets environment and particularly when used "dry" should include the use of regular substrate materials such as gravel,rocks,sand,leaves,wood or bark chips etc. these materials not only make the habitat look more natural, they make cleaning the Foamarium simple and easy. because Foamarium is constructed of an open cell material it allows excellent ventilation and air circulation in much the same way as it allows optimal water circulation when used in water. this discourages any dead air areas and allows any waste products to dry out quickly and be readily removed. the coating on the surface of the Foamarium combined with the use of the above mentioned substrate materials also means that the waste can be easily removed leaving little to no residue. any residue that does remain can then be removed by using a damp sponge to wipe the surface clean. although it shouldn't be necessary very often Foamarium can be taken out of the cage and washed or bleached readilywithout harming it. Foamarium was never designed for large reptiles such as adult bearded dragons,boas or monitor lizards living in relatively small cages. it IS one of the best ways to keep geckos, small snakes,lizards,tortoises,tarantulas and the young of many other species in an enriched, healthy and easy to maintain home. crickets will indeed "eat" the dry Foamarium in certain areas if there's nothing else for them to eat(they don't seem to eat it if it contains any moisture though). this is more an indication that your husbandry needs to be adjusted then a fault of the Foamarium since the crickets will also eat most anything else available and bother your pets if allowed to remain in the cages unfed and in large numbers. the Foamarium is nontoxic so it doesn't cause any apparent harm to the crickets but it isn't meant to be a substitute "gutload" and doesn't provide any nutritional value! superworms will also burrow into the Foamarium and pupate if allowed to go unchecked. Foamarium is uneffected by most commonly used cleaners and can be handled much like any sponge when it comes to cleaning. soaps,bleach etc can be used as needed as long as they're rinsed completely before being returned to the cage. it's also uneffected by most UV lighting although prolonged exposure to unfiltered sunlight will degrade it over a long period of time. i have and know of many Foamariums that have been in continual use for over 5 years with little evidence of wear and tear but it depends greatly on how it's handled. although the easily worked nature of Foamarium has led some people to modify theirs to fit enclosures they weren't specifically made for Foamariums function best when used as i designed them for. the versatility is endless so i can make habitats that include waterfalls,streams,caves,cliffs,nesting chambers and other features that enable you to enjoy a more natural appearing functional home for your pets. they're meant to fit the enclosure snuggly and inhibit the animals (and crickets) from gaining access to areas they weren't designed for. i'll finish this by noting that in addition to all the features mentioned above, the decorations,plants(live or plastic)driftwood etc..can be firmly attached to the Foamarium to prevent constant disruption by the animals or fish and since there's no heavy rocks to move or fall on them is much safer too. all the commonly used equipment can be secured and hidden in the Foamarium protecting them from disturbence and sheilding your pets from them. Foamarium can also be plumbed with air or water hoses for water or air bubble effects.and some of the new low wattage lighting can be used while keeping the wires and fixtures secured and hidden too! hopefully this gives you a bit of an idea about the many and various ways a Foamarium can be used to provide you and your pets a healthy,beautiful habitat to enjoy. please let me know any other questions you might have and i'll try and give you as honest an appraisal as i can for any uses you might want to consider. thanks, Tom McDonnell