# Worst hobby for buying enclosures



## ojo (Jun 8, 2011)

Ok apart from the Exo Terra faunariums (and all the other companies doing them) the only people who can supply clear acrylic tanks are House of Spiders, now dont get me wrong, their enclosures are really nice, but if im paying top dollar for their tanks surely they could add nicer looking vents.

Anyone know of anything else i can house 3 terrestrials and a pokie in? I've been researching for close to 5 hours now and cant find anyone/shop doing tanks either similar / same to HoS.

Why is it so hard to find nice housing for my nice T's? 

:bash:


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## 8and6 (Jan 19, 2010)

make your own, thats what most people do 

the reason they dont stick vents on them (me too) is because it kind of obscures the vision defeating the object of having nice and clear acrylic :lol2:

here's one i made earlier


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## ojo (Jun 8, 2011)

I would like to make my own but i worked out the cost of material and it works out just the same as buying one from HoS.

I get the point with the vents but a small chrome ring/square/any shape isn't going to take up that much room, you'll loose what? 5x30mm ring of view? (considering most people can see through mesh)

Just annoys me when the Americans have the containershop, tarantulacages, hundreds of huge outlet/supermarkets catering in EVERYTHING and we have next to nothing. 

Something should be done!

P.s Nice enclosure man, looks like a pro tank


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## Stoke Lad (Jan 26, 2007)

True, I emailed house of spiders for a custom build but they havent emailed back, I wish there was a company that made multi sectioned vivs like you see in some exotic shops


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## ojo (Jun 8, 2011)

Thats what im on about, there is loads of places that do random (why the hell would anyone need/want that) tank for reptiles or amphibians but hardly anywhere does a decent tank for inverts, even although the BTS is actually huge :O


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## VenomX51 (Mar 8, 2010)

Thread here about building your own. Wasn't too hard once the one-off job of building a mitre box is done. Cost's me just under £40 for an 8x8x16 (pokie sized) enclosure using the suppliers mentioned in there.

Or you could buy a fish tank and get some glass panes cut to size (dirt cheap), glue them inside with aquatic silicone, splitting the one tank into 3-4 enclosures. Although you'd need to make your own lid for the tank to keep the beatsies in.


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## jb1962 (Sep 21, 2009)

swallows aquatics sell tanks named boyu and these are very good,, I have two.. they come in many sizes.


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## lucozade3000 (Aug 16, 2008)

Stoke Lad said:


> True, I emailed house of spiders for a custom build but they havent emailed back, I wish there was a company that made multi sectioned vivs like you see in some exotic shops


There are companies doing this, house of spiders does. Just have to pay for it!
I think the problem is that people want particular stuff but still expect to pay a very low price for it.
Everything keepers need is out there. Never had any problems finding the adequate enclosure. If i find it too expensive and there is nothing else around pleasing me, i will save some money for a month or two and then buy it or have it made.
Gotta shop around!

-J


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## Stelios (Aug 28, 2009)

About the best I have seen is Richard777 "spider rooms".
Lazer cutter making my spider room terrarium vents - YouTube
I have one of his, Paid about £30 some thing.
















Don't know if he still doing any orders?
http://www.the-spider-rooms.co.uk/mn_terrarium.html


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## halfmanhalftarantula (Dec 7, 2011)

These enclosures look great


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## swift_wraith (Jan 4, 2009)

Ive been experimenting making my own, got a glass cutter and some 4mm pane glass. Took me about an hour to learn to cut it properly, Some silicone and bobs your uncle. As for vents, i'm using some mesh windows on the back of the box.


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## swampeh (Dec 4, 2011)

Its deffinatly worth having a go.
You could allways get a 18"x12"x12" fish tank and turn it on its side and theres your main structure and use perspex to do the front.
Well thats what im going to do when i can talk the missus into letting me get another T :lol2:


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## mayock69 (Sep 22, 2009)

Stelios said:


> About the best I have seen is Richard777 "spider rooms".
> Lazer cutter making my spider room terrarium vents - YouTube
> I have one of his, Paid about £30 some thing.
> image
> ...


i have the same one , his work is amazing an looks great


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## ojo (Jun 8, 2011)

Richard77 said he doesnt do the tanks anymore which sucks as i would have ripped his arm off for 3 of his terrestrials and an arboreal one


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## Stoke Lad (Jan 26, 2007)

ojo said:


> Richard77 said he doesnt do the tanks anymore which sucks as i would have ripped his arm off for 3 of his terrestrials and an arboreal one


Tell me about it, I sent him a message last week, I would try making my own but I'd know it wouldnt look as good, if you have any luck finding some1 drop us a pm  :2thumb:


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## ojo (Jun 8, 2011)

I did find a guy on ebay but hes asking stupid money for them, 3 terrestrials 10 x 8 x 8 £110? Hos quoted me 85 for the same and also the great customer service Mark has built up for himself.

And thats why i dont fancy making mine, they wont look good, and even if they did i would still notice the slightest little imperfection!


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## TeamCockroach (Nov 22, 2010)

I get on fine with rubs for terrestrials and exo terra glass terrariums for arboreals. Both look fine in my opinion and allow for clear visibility.


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## kris74 (May 10, 2011)

These things are so easy to put together its unreal. If you can find a plastics supplier local to you then half the battle is won. Get them to cut to size, sand your own edges with 400 then 600 then 800 grit wet and dry, a bit of DCM off eBay for 2.50 and you're laughing. The clasps and hinges are easy enough to source and should get you enough for a few enclosures which you would get out of a nice big slice of acrylic


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## ojo (Jun 8, 2011)

If its that easy Kris why not sell yours :whistling2:

I've got all of mine in rubs except my T.Stirmi and P.Ornata but i can hardly see through them, rather too opaque for my liking


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## martin lees (Jan 4, 2011)

I have 16 House of Spiders enclosures,8x8x14For my pokies and 3custom build 16x10x7stacked3high for my terrestrials.they are the best invert enclosure bar none.would highly recommend them.


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## spinnin_tom (Apr 20, 2011)

i use what i find. i use haribo 5p sweet boxes for smaller spiders and scorpions, faunariums for the rest aside from a house of spiders tank


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## 8and6 (Jan 19, 2010)

martin lees said:


> I have 16 House of Spiders enclosures,8x8x14For my pokies and 3custom build 16x10x7stacked3high for my terrestrials.they are the best invert enclosure bar none.would highly recommend them.


that would be in your opinion 


there have been a few reports of the bonding failing and they definitely scratch quite easily (in fact all acrylic do)

custom aquaria are easily as good, if not better, but glass.
although i do make a few acrylics for the pet store over the road and keep the seconds to use myself i think that most plastic food storage tubs are the best invert enclosures ever! :lol2::2thumb: (with the wilco £5 acrylic tank with lid a close second!)


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## swift_wraith (Jan 4, 2009)

someone should start making these in flat pack kit form. Everything pre-cut and a small bottle of adhesive. I'd look into it myself if i wasnt consistently skint at the mo.


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## ojo (Jun 8, 2011)

swift_wraith said:


> someone should start making these in flat pack kit form. Everything pre-cut and a small bottle of adhesive. I'd look into it myself if i wasnt consistently skint at the mo.


I would almost certainly be interested in that!! seems like it would be 1, a great money saving option. 2, a steady income for the person selling it with a high profit margain as acrylic is somewhat cheap and 3, a lot of fun!! :2thumb:


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## 8and6 (Jan 19, 2010)

ojo said:


> I would almost certainly be interested in that!! seems like it would be 1, a great money saving option. 2, a steady income for the person selling it with a high profit margain as acrylic is somewhat cheap and 3, a lot of fun!! :2thumb:


to be honest it would work out more expensive, the trade price on the sheet needed to make a 12" cube works out at £15 for 5mm, then it has to be cut and sanded perfectly smooth (the longest job in building a tank)
plus hinges at around £3, hasps at £3.50 a pair, an applicator £1 and a quid or so for the DCM
£15+£3+£3.50+£1+£1= £23.50 for the materials +1 [email protected]£20 to get it ready and packed for user assembly +RMSD @ £7.00 (it's not light) so it's have to go out at £50.50 shipped flatpack, not including any vents

the reason people make their own is to save that hours labour @ £20.
the simple bit is putting it together, takes about 20 minutes once everything is cut and ready to bond 

oh, you could save money by using thinner acrylic, or extruded instead of cast, but it will warp within a few weeks


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## Paul c 1 (Sep 30, 2009)

[email protected] said:


> that would be in your opinion
> 
> 
> there have been a few reports of the bonding failing and they definitely scratch quite easily (in fact all acrylic do)


It's funny you say that Steve, as at one point I was a big fan of the HOS enclosures as I'd actually bought a few second hand ones and they seem to stand the test of time,... however I bought one of the new front opening 14" x 10" x 10" and the right corner at the front has started to come apart from the joint, I've only had thing a couple of weeks and i've looked after it as best I can do ..... any tips/advice for fixing it?
-P


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## ojo (Jun 8, 2011)

Probably use DCM Paul, with an applicator or hard tipped, small brush and re do the join.

Steve, why do you shatter people dreams with an almight sledgehammer?

I just personally think getting Tarantula tanks, not cereal tubs/tupperware/rubs is really hard, I have a Exotic pet shop 10 mins away from my house who stock a good fair amount of T's but all they offer is either glass cubes, exos or rubs as housing, more should be done to get actual, proper T tanks such as HoS provide.

Oh and Paul, that doesn't bode well for me, i just ordered 3 terrestrial tanks from Mark lol


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## Timor (Oct 21, 2009)

ojo said:


> Steve, why do you shatter people dreams with an almight sledgehammer?


I think that's a bit unfair. He is just being realistic. Why should someone spend hours trying to find out this information to then see that it would not work.

Also, I don't keep any T's myself, although I recently bought a big tub of pretzels and the container is around 30cm high and is a cylinder of diameter around 20cm. Would that work? I am currently keeping Apioscelis Bulbosa (horsehead grasshoppers) in there and it is completely see-through. The lid however, isn't the tightest securing lid although that could probably be solved somehow.

What is the main problem people find with their enclosures?


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## joeyboy (Jul 19, 2008)

All my enclosures are custom made from Custom Aquaria. They sometimes deliver if it's not too far, otherwise they attend many shows. They're also much cheaper then acrylic albeit much heavier and a little less clear then acrylic. But when I can get a 45x45x60cm tank with front sliding doors and two areas of mesh ventilation(I choose where as I discussed my designs on the phone) for £35 I think it was, compared to say something like £59.99 for the RRP of a similarly sized exo terra, I'm happy.


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## Stoke Lad (Jan 26, 2007)

What is custom aquaras website? I'll go for them as HoS have ignored 3 separate emails from me :censor:


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## joeyboy (Jul 19, 2008)

Stoke Lad said:


> What is custom aquaras website? I'll go for them as HoS have ignored 3 separate emails from me :censor:


CustomAquaria_home

there you go mate. By the way don't bother trying them by email they don't really use it, best to phone them up. The guy who runs the place is called Matt, he'll probably answer the phone but if not you'll want to ask for him or just ask whoever it is if they're the right sort of person to be asking about having some glass enclosures made. 

They'll do it all your spefications. Smaller enclosures generally have vertical doors which you lift up/off to gain entrance. My 15"x8"x8" (lxwxh) terrestrial enclosures I had made have a vertical lift up door at the front end and the entire lid can just lift off as well(this was for mainly for my feisty OBT who kept doing a runner when I lifted the lid from it's old enclosure. So I could just lift the little door at the front and pop a roach in), being glass it's heavy enough so a T couldn't lift it up. I have ventilation on the back end but for some centipede enclosures I had to put on the top(he can do mesh in the lids themselves) so they couldn't reach the wire mesh and start to chew at it. 

They're based in Northhamptonshire. They sometimes courier to you if the distance isn't huge, I've had things taken up to Nottingham for a £20 courier fee, but I had to wait a little while for them to come up and it might have been because I was buying £200 worth of enclosures rather then just one or two. But they do attend many of the reptile and invert shows so you ask about that.


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## 8and6 (Jan 19, 2010)

i still dont understand why its the worst hobby for buying enclosures....there aren't many dogs or cats that would be happy in a £1 10 litre RUB from Home Bargains :/


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## Stoke Lad (Jan 26, 2007)

Thanks mate, well it will be rather large 2x 4ft with multiple sections (1 set terrestrial one set for pokies) so hopefully they can do it, I shall ring them tomorrow, thanks matey 
-A




joeyboy said:


> CustomAquaria_home
> 
> there you go mate. By the way don't bother trying them by email they don't really use it, best to phone them up. The guy who runs the place is called Matt, he'll probably answer the phone but if not you'll want to ask for him or just ask whoever it is if they're the right sort of person to be asking about having some glass enclosures made.
> 
> ...


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## ojo (Jun 8, 2011)

Its not its the worst for enclosures i ment it was the worst for buying enclosures like HoS do, noone really does them except Hos. Its more of a visability issue, RUBs tend to come in opaque rather than transparent which sucks.


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## Richard77 (Feb 19, 2009)

ojo said:


> Its not its the worst for enclosures i ment it was the worst for buying enclosures like HoS do, noone really does them except Hos. Its more of a visability issue, RUBs tend to come in opaque rather than transparent which sucks.


I agree, I have some of my T's in opaque tubs, and you really don't see their colour or beauty. I wish acrylic sheets were cheaper to buy, acrylic became so expensive it wasn't worth my while to continue making the tanks I was making. I have no idea how HoS make a profit.


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## jondee84 (Jun 1, 2011)

Really like the acrylic tanks, they look so crystal clear.

I'd happily pay £30 (ish) for something of this quality.

MODERATOR - where did you get the acrylic hinges from?


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## gaz2374 (Aug 29, 2005)

Iv got 8 sheets of 4mm A4 glass sitting doing nothing so gonna order a cutter tool see if I can Make one or two nice ones for myself, worth a shot I guess. We're can you get small hinges I can only find 5cm ones on eBay bit big I think .


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## ojo (Jun 8, 2011)

5cm ones seem to be standard i think. Just remember to make a decent jig before hand  Richard77 has some awsome tutorials on his website


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## gaz2374 (Aug 29, 2005)

ojo said:


> 5cm ones seem to be standard i think. Just remember to make a decent jig before hand  Richard77 has some awsome tutorials on his website


Ah right fair enough il try and find those tuts and have a look


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## ojo (Jun 8, 2011)

He hast posted above you mate, go onto his website (in his sig) then enclosures and the vids are at the bottom


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## gaz2374 (Aug 29, 2005)

Ha lol didn't even notice I have had a look now , very impressive I guess it's same with glass


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