Dart Den
Serving the Dart Frog Community Since 2004...
Dart Den

Serving the Dart Frog Community Since 2004...

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BioVivara Introduction
#1
Hi my name is Seth. My wife, Rachel, and I run a company called BioVivara (short for biotype vivariums). We’ve been making custom vivaria since 2008.

I’ve been keeping herps on and off for over 20 years but being in the Army meant putting off a lot of what I wanted to do in the hobby. But being in the Army did have one upside for my love of animal enclosures: I discovered the dart frog hobby in Belgium while stationed with NATO. I had never seen vivariums like these! It looked like they had recreated a rainforest and set it in their living room. I was hooked.

When I got back to the States I couldn't find anything to compare as far as design and function. I started making my own vivariums by retrofitting aquariums, then recreating what I saw in Belgium, the Euro Type vivarium. But, all the enclosures I created never felt quite right. They didn't have the level of control I wanted.

So, I began doing more research, breaking down vivarium construction theory to the very basics. Then, I started developing prototypes that would have the level of control I was looking for, along with the beauty and simplicity of the European designs. My father was impressed enough with my work that he gave me free rein in his fabrication shop and Biovivara was born.

A couple of weeks ago, we created a Kickstarter campaign to help us take our designs to the next level. Kickstarter is a crowdfunding platform where we can pre-sell our vivariums and use the funds to purchase the equipment we need and materials in bulk. We started by sharing my simplest design, the Miniature Orchid Desktop Vivarium. But when we started getting questions about whether dart frogs could be kept in them, we decided to add the larger vivariums that I specifically designed for darts.

At this stage, I’d like to invite the dart frog community to check out what I’ve designed and let me know what you think. Because our business model is designed around developing the best solutions for the dart frog community, we welcome your feedback! I’ve been disappointed that no company has yet made a vivarium specifically for dart frog hobbyists and I hope that our solution will more than meet your hopes and expectations.
Developing Nature Emulating Enclosures for the Best Animal and Plant Husbandry
http://www.biovivara.com/
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#2
Welcome Seth and Rachel. Great looking website and custom vivaria !

Are you going to be attending Frog Day 2012 in Chicago ?
https://www.facebook.com/dartden/

https://twitter.com/DartDen


"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana".
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#3
Thanks Philsuma! We are currently looking at the logistics for attending Frog Day. If we can get things aligned, we will be there!
Developing Nature Emulating Enclosures for the Best Animal and Plant Husbandry
http://www.biovivara.com/
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#4
I just now took a more thorough look at your project, specifically kickstarter (I'm a big fan of the kick start BTW) and I apologize for not delving more into your unique design.

Airflow is critical in Orchid cultivation - we know that....but it's very important and cutting edge for dart frog husbandry as well. I'm excited to see your progress with this important aspect of our hobby.
https://www.facebook.com/dartden/

https://twitter.com/DartDen


"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana".
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#5
Hello Seth and Rachel, welcome!!! These are very impressive!! You've obviously put a lot of thought into these vivariums. I love that you have the foresight to think about water features in the vivarium. Your built in water flow system will save many many dart frog keepers a lot of headaches. I'm very interested in learning more about your products. I hope to see you at Frog Day 2012 and talk to you in person.
Jon
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#6
@ Philsuma - thank you! We are excited too. Smile

@ Rusty - thanks, Rusty! We learned about water features the hard way. There is nothing like creating a beautiful enclosure and then... your pump dies. And you have to tear the whole thing apart to replace it. (And because we like learning the hard way, we actually repeated this several times with various enclosures. lol)

Because there are conflicting opinions on water features in dart enclosures, and because moving water is so important, we wanted to develop a way to include moving water without forcing everyone to have a water fall or water feature in their vivarium. It was also important to us that we present a platform that incorporated the essential systems, but was flexible so that other hobbyists could build off of and customize our vivariums to how they want it to look and act. Our full size prototypes of these new designs have performed extremely well and we look forward to seeing what the community chooses to do with them.

-Rachel
Developing Nature Emulating Enclosures for the Best Animal and Plant Husbandry
http://www.biovivara.com/
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#7
We just confirmed our Frog Day booth with Chris. Looking forward to meeting you all!
Developing Nature Emulating Enclosures for the Best Animal and Plant Husbandry
http://www.biovivara.com/
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#8
Excellent ! See you there.
https://www.facebook.com/dartden/

https://twitter.com/DartDen


"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana".
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#9
Hey ya go Jim....another type of enclosure!
https://www.facebook.com/dartden/

https://twitter.com/DartDen


"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana".
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