best enclosures

mamadori · Oct 31, 2007

I am selling out my small furry animal breeding business to go into strictly arachnids (true spiders, T's, Scorps, centipedes, millipedes, etc...).

I am struggling with including all my ten gallon tanks in the buy-out. I really like the critter keepers, but what would be the best uniform looking enclosures to invest in? Since I already have these tanks, I could hold onto them. But if I switch over to something else later, there will be no one to sell them to to make my money back. Any suggestions, opinions?:?

Another thing to keep in mind is that I WILL be eventually decorating rooms in tropical, desert, and other themes for display. I will want something that looks nice too.

thedude · Oct 31, 2007

10 gals can be sued for different sp of scorps/Ts/centipedes and all other inverts but some people dont like using them for the smaller spp but as far as i know you can get away with a ten gal

butch4skin · Oct 31, 2007

Uh, for pure aesthetics you cant really beat glass, in my opinion. That said, have a large collection with adults housed solely in glass tanks can quickly become very expensive. Most proffesional breaders use some kind of sterilite or tupperware type stuff for the vast majority of their stock and breeders. If you plan on using glass tanks, you may want to seriously look into making them yourself, as that would be much cheaper.

cacoseraph · Oct 31, 2007

do they all have to be in the same rigs?

that would be kind of hard for me to pull off... an arboreal tarantula and a fossorial aren't really going to need or make optimal use of the same setups or cages.

plus, presumably you will be breeding... so then you are going to need a crapload of 1-2oz condicups or whatever.

and you will need some decent shelves. just a 10G glass tank by itself weighs about as much as my average ~juv-subadult rig, complete with dirt and bug

The_Thunderer · Oct 31, 2007

I say get rid of the 10-gallon tanks. If you like glass you can buy the 2.5 gallon tanks or the 5 gallon tanks. I personally would buy the 2.5 gallon ones but would rather spend the money on T's. So, I build my own tanks out of glass that comes into a Thrift Shop (close by) or sheet acrylic. Initially, they cost more than a 10-gallon tank, but once you have the tools, the cost is a little less (you can buy 10-gallon tanks at Wal-Mart for $9-$10).

Good luck with your endeavor!

PhormictopusMan · Oct 31, 2007

I use the boxes you can get at hobby stores that are used to display collectible dolls, baseballs etc. The plastic is very clear and non-distorting. I have taken many decent photos through it. They are light and very portable if you exhibit and need to be moble with them. Also there is not a lot of obtrusive frameword that you can get along the rims and bases of glass enclosures, which can inhibit viewing on some of the smaller tanks.

--Chris

Tunedbeat · Oct 31, 2007

Exo-terra tanks will work nicely for display.

The_Thunderer · Nov 1, 2007

PhormictopusMan said:
I use the boxes you can get at hobby stores that are used to display collectible dolls, baseballs etc. The plastic is very clear and non-distorting. I have taken many decent photos through it. They are light and very portable if you exhibit and need to be moble with them. Also there is not a lot of obtrusive frameword that you can get along the rims and bases of glass enclosures, which can inhibit viewing on some of the smaller tanks.

--Chris

Wow... I'd love to find some like those... I find the tall ones easily, but have never found ones that can house terrestrial T's easily and nicely. May I ask where you've found these? Gonna go hunting tomorrow (DAY OFF!!! WHOOOHOOOO!!).

Fred

PhormictopusMan · Nov 1, 2007

Hi Fred,

I get those from a local hobby store. The next time I'm there I'll try and get the brand name. Check places like Michael's, though I have not found these there myself. They are acrylic and are made to display dolls and other collectibles.

--Chris

The_Thunderer · Nov 1, 2007

PhormictopusMan said:
Hi Fred,

I get those from a local hobby store. The next time I'm there I'll try and get the brand name. Check places like Michael's, though I have not found these there myself. They are acrylic and are made to display dolls and other collectibles.

--Chris

Yeah, at the 3 or 4 Michael's stores I go to, the don't have these length-wise boxes. BUT, I do know some sports stores that may have them... hopefully not for an arm & a leg. Thanks!

Fred

mamadori · Nov 1, 2007

THis is all very helpful guys. Keep talkin'

cacoseraph · Nov 1, 2007

dang it

there is a kind of plastic small animal cage that i do not like! i can't find pics on the internet though. the ones i have seen where all a sort of light blue color and made of two large pieces of plastic... one for the floor and walls and then one for the top (plus maybe a couple tiny pieces of plastic for hinges). they are all swoopy curves and the top is mostly vents. i don't like them for a lot of reasons.

i hate having to open the whole top.
the curvy plastic makes taking pics through the tank almost impossible.
combined with the colored plastic... pretty much useless as a display cage.
the vents are fabricated by casting plastic and are NOT smoothed after being popped from the mold. this leaves very sharp edges. i had a prepenultimate male that was exploring such a cage had his foot wedged in the vents... when i came in the room it startled him and he SLICED HIS DAMN FOOT OFF! so... i don't use that kind anymore.

The_Thunderer · Nov 1, 2007

mamadori said:
THis is all very helpful guys. Keep talkin'

Well, I certainly hope this wasn't sarcasm...

You asked for best enclosures and, I think that these are VERY GOOD ones for terrestrial juvies or slings. They should be cheaper than tarantulacages.com (although those do look AWESOME), while meeting all the requirements a VERY GOOD enclosure would. Helping to answer your question regarding enclosures AND possibly where to get them. :clap: LOL.

If it was sincere thanks, I apologize for my presumption and hope that this helps. LOL.

PhormictopusMan · Nov 4, 2007

The manufacturer's name of the enclusures I am currently using is Pioneer.

Here are some links to their site. They have display case sizes from hot-wheels to larger tonka toy sized. I use the baseball cubes for large slings and the larger rectangular ones for subs. They have some that are recommended for animals with prepared holes for ventilation but I have not used that style. I just drill the holes myself and have not had any problem.

http://www.pioneerplastics.com/our_products.htm

http://www.pioneerplastics.com/display_cases.htm

Good Luck.

--Chris

Stylopidae · Nov 4, 2007

mamadori said:
THis is all very helpful guys. Keep talkin'

If you're going to be going into a large scale breeding operation, you don't want to be keeping them in display tanks. You want to keep them in rigs that allow as little maintenance as possible.

I currently use a combination of one and half gallon jars, film canisters, thornton plastics vials, deli cups, kritter keepers, plastic cups with lids...etc.

A lot of breeders on here use clear sweater boxes which take a hit in visibility, but are highly stackable and are able to be modified to a high degree.

I do, however keep a few that I use for presentations in display tanks (read as very heavily modified kritter keepers). If you're planning on having hundreds of adults and thousands of slings, don't plan on keeping a lot of them in display tanks.

Choose your favorite and then go with a rig that allows you to do almost no maintenance.

I have well over 100* specimens in my collection, ranging from roach colonies slings less than 1/2" to centipedes that are nearly a foot long and all numbers of legs inbetween.

Total maintenace per week:

15 to 20 minutes. Including feeding.

I also keep all of these on a 6'HX36"WX24"D shelf in my bedroom.

Not counting roach colonies

mamadori · Nov 7, 2007

The_Thunderer said:
Well, I certainly hope this wasn't sarcasm...

No, I really meant all of this discussion was extremely helpful. And I am finding it very valuable.

mamadori · Nov 7, 2007

quote-I have well over 100* specimens in my collection, ranging from roach colonies slings less than 1/2" to centipedes that are nearly a foot long and all numbers of legs inbetween.

Total maintenace per week:

15 to 20 minutes. Including feeding.-quote

Now THAT's what I'm talkin' bout. hehe

problem: how do you do it so quickly dealing with lids coming on and off?

Stylopidae · Nov 7, 2007

mamadori said:
Now THAT's what I'm talkin' bout. hehe

problem: how do you do it so quickly dealing with lids coming on and off?

I simply gather all the roaches I'm going to feed into one container right before I feed.

It takes me less than a second to grab a roachling, open the vial, toss it in and close it.

Everything's on a three week feeding rotation...I feed one group once a week, another group another week, another group after that and then start over again.

The only problem with this is that everything's cumulative. If you miss one week, you need to do do two weeks worth of work.

I think I underestimated the amount of work I do...I actually think it's about half an hour to fourty minutes per week if you average it up over the course of a year.

My house is currently 60*, so there's not really a whole lot of activity going on.

Lorgakor · Nov 7, 2007

Note to all regarding those clear cubes that can be purchased at Michael's and other craft stores, tarantulas CAN LIFT THE LIDS OFF! I have been using them for a while with some of my smaller slings and juvies. Recently one of my Ornithoctonus sp. "Koh Samui" juvies decided to push the lid off and go for a walk, I haven't seen it since. The lids seem like they fit nice and tight, but a tarantula is quite a strong creature and can push them off with no trouble.

Anything larger than a sling now has something heavy on top of the cubes to prevent any more escapes. Just wanted to warn everyone that these display cases aren't as perfect as they seem.

The_Thunderer · Nov 7, 2007

Lorgakor said:
Note to all regarding those clear cubes that can be purchased at Michael's and other craft stores, tarantulas CAN LIFT THE LIDS OFF! I have been using them for a while with some of my smaller slings and juvies. Recently one of my Ornithoctonus sp. "Koh Samui" juvies decided to push the lid off and go for a walk, I haven't seen it since. The lids seem like they fit nice and tight, but a tarantula is quite a strong creature and can push them off with no trouble.

Anything larger than a sling now has something heavy on top of the cubes to prevent any more escapes. Just wanted to warn everyone that these display cases aren't as perfect as they seem.

Hmmmm. Seems to me like that thought I had about putting some masking tape on them is not in order! Thanks for the warning!!!

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