they actually have proper names for it.

Vivarium
A vivarium is an area, usually enclosed, for keeping and raising animals or plants for observation or research. Often, a portion of the ecosystem for a particular species is copied in a smaller scale, with controls for environmental conditions.

There are various forms of vivarium, including:
    * Aquarium simulating a water habitat; for instance a river, lake or sea; but only the submerged area of these natural habitats.
    * Insectarium (containing insects)
          o Formicarium (with species of ants) - see ant farm
    * Paludarium is a vivarium, simulating a rain forest or swamp environment.
    * Riparium is a vivarium, simulating a river, this vivarium could also be seen as an aquarium interconnected with a terrarium, having both the underwater area as well as the shore, often used for aquatic lizards.
    * Terrarium simulating a dry habitat, for instance desert or savannah.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vivarium