# Exo terra tanks. yes or no?



## chelskisw6 (Nov 27, 2008)

Hello,

Im new to the hobby, and looking into setting up a viv. 

Im thinking of getting an exo terra viv due to cheap price and availability. 

What is the general consensus on these? Are they suitable for frogs? Are any mods needed to make them more suitable? and how are they in terms of quality?

Cheers!


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## divingne1 (Mar 21, 2008)

Exo's are great for frogs. The front opening makes it easy to set them up, for feedings, misting, cleaning, etc. You can modify them a little (rubber seals or weather striping around the doors) so you have less fruit flies escape. The only downsides to me is trying to keep the humidity up since I have not added the weatherstripping, and you have to have a piece of glass cut for the stop. 
Candy


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## RobP (Aug 16, 2008)

divingne1 said:


> and you have to have a piece of glass cut for the stop.
> Candy


I just cut pieces of clear overhead projector film to fit over the screen. It seals it up nicely and I have no problems with humidity.


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## MD_Frogger (Sep 9, 2008)

I love the Exo's. I had 2 pieces of glass cut for the top screen and the humidity maintains 87-99%.


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## divingne1 (Mar 21, 2008)

Do you have weather striping on the front to keep the humidity in? I can't get my humidity to stay up without spraying twice a day.
Candy


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## jubjub47 (Sep 9, 2008)

I've just set up my first exo terra for my variabilis and it seems like I have to mist it a few times a day to keep the humidity up as well. I've got acrylic panels covering the screen top, but that's all that I've modded. I'm hopping that its just not soaked in enough and that the humidity will sort itself out. I've not had these issues in my non exo terra vivs though. I'm setting up my other exo terra this weekend so it should be interesting to see how it does since they are side by side.


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## chelskisw6 (Nov 27, 2008)

Which model do you guys have? Do you have any pics showing your set ups? Thanks


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## roxrgneiss (Sep 30, 2007)

chelskisw6 said:


> Im thinking of getting an exo terra...
> 
> Are they suitable for frogs? Are any mods needed to make them more suitable? and how are they in terms of quality?
> 
> Cheers!


I think exo terras work well for dart frogs, if you go to some lengths to seal them. To me, it seems like they were designed for lizards or some animal that needs more ventilation/less consistent humidity.

To help them hold humidity well, I have glass cut to fit the top (I bring the top with me) at the picture framing dept of a craft store, then lay it in the top frame and silicone it in place, above the screen. This is pretty cheap, since the glass for picture framing is thin.

I also seal the vents along the bottom with silicone - there will still be some venting along the door jams and when the door is opened to feed/mist - but the vents along the bottom make holding humidity more difficult.

In terms of overall quality, I think they are put together well, but I cannot comment on durability over the years. I will say the exo terra door latch has a better design than zoo med.

Good Luck!

Mike

Edit: I have the 18X18X24


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## ChrisK (Oct 28, 2008)

On my small temporary one for some pumilios (I'm putting together a much bigger one cuz that one is too small for them), I siliconed the front plastic vent closed since I thought I would use the screen top for ventilation (wound up putting 2 pieces of lexan on top of the screen anyway because of too low winter humidity), then for the edges of the doors, I just cut 2 pieces of 1/4 inch airline tubing the height of the doors, slit each one once lengthwise down the middle, opened the doors, then slipped the tubing onto the edges of the sides of the tank, then closed the doors. Totally ff-proof, and you can take them off ond on as much as you want, here are pics where you can see it and a youtube clip: 

YouTube - cayo de agua pumilio in exo terra


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## Scott (Feb 17, 2004)

At least one very well respected (obviously not me  ) frogger surprised me by telling me he was replacing all of his tanks with Exo Terras.

Till that point - I had really not taken the tanks too seriously. Given this information + the fact that I'm having an incredibly bad time trying to find the tanks I really want (pre-made *or* custom built), I am thinking about trying a few.

I'm not real confident that they'll be around for a long time though. There seems to be the occasional massive sell off of them (like someone deciding they don't want to carry them anymore and doing anything they can to get rid of them) - which doesn't give me a lot of confidence in their retail future. 

Whatever tank I decide to go with - I want to be able to get at least 10/12 of them over the next year.

s


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## MJ (Jun 16, 2005)

I'm in the process of building a complete frog room/building at the moment and I'm pondering using purely exoterras once it goes together.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

I think they have thier place for some people. I have a couple since I was able to get them cheap enough but I plan on eventually replacing them with much larger enclosure like the 90 gallon cube front opening enclosures (24 x24 x 36) available through one east coast manufacturer. 

I think one of the advantages to an exoterra is the availability of extra ventilation in the tanks as well as the ability to modify the top to allow for better air circulation. 

Ed


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## jubjub47 (Sep 9, 2008)

I put black electical tape over some of the vents on the front when I got home from work today. The humidity was at 69% at the time and within 10mins went up to 79%. Right before the lights went out tonight it was sitting at 88%. I'll probably have to experiment with the number of vents to cover up, but that seems to have me on the right path. I still think that as the viv ages I'll be able to remove more vent covers.


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## nish07 (Mar 16, 2008)

Has anyone tried the zoomed terrariums? It seemed to me the single swinging door sealed better and not having the seam of two doors in the center looked a tad nicer. 

I'm still looking for the perfect size tanks for 48"x24" deep racks. I'm thinking something around a 22"x22" and about 30 inches high or so would be perfect for two to a rack but I can't find anything that quite fits the bill. Otherwise something 15" wide and 22" deep would be great for three to a rack.

I have more space on the racks that could be going to the frogs.

-Nish

P.S. I know which 90 cubes you're talking about and they do seem cool but are darn expensive.


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## zBrinks (Jul 16, 2006)

I'm in the process of switching over all of my darts (with the exception of a large plywood viv) to exo terras. I already have frogs in 4 of them, with two more under construction. My Uroplatus/Rhacodactylus rack consists of 9 exos, and I love them! I think that brings my exo total to 15, 3 x 24''x18''x24'' and 12 18''x18''x24''.
They are a little pricey, but not too bad compared to other front opening vivs. I was able to find a couple privately owned pet stores in need of animals I breed, so it worked out. I do plan on removing the screen top and replacing it with a pane of glass and a 3'' vent in the front - the screen top with glass above it blocks too much light, imo. 
Concerning the zoomeds - I've heard several cases whereas the front door latch ceases to function fairly quickly. I also don't like the fact you need 2 hands to close it.


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## MonarchzMan (Oct 23, 2006)

The prices aren't that bad when you take everything into consideration. An 18x18x24 is approximately 34 gallons. Getting a regular tank that's 30 gallons will be ~$60. Converting it to a vertical, front opening with the same sort of features would cost minimum $20, I'd guess. So to convert a regular tank to a vertical front opening would be at least $80. 18x18x24 exos are around $100, I believe, and they're worth the extra $20. They're not that much more expensive than an equivalent set up for a regular tank.

Awesome tanks. I really like them over regular tanks!


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## false_ideals (Sep 13, 2008)

I personally think the exo-terra setups are pretty nice looking and minimal mods are required to get it PDF appropriate (glass top instead of screen). I'd be curious to see the background in person that it comes with. As someone is who is still fairly new to the hobby, I already find myself wanting to set up some type of rack system because I know I'm going to need multiple tanks because there's several different types of frogs I want to eventually get. I've considered the exo terra tanks for that, as I'm not opposed to paying a little extra to get a nice front opening tank to save myself the hassle of doing a DIY job. Plus I want my rack to look very clean cut and cookie cutter, which the exo-terras would do a good job of. But unless I'm measuring wrong or missing something, I just don't feel like the exo-terras utilize a standard baker's rack all that well, and as I've said before, I don't care for DIY jobs, so I'd rather buy a rack than build one to suit multiple exo-terras.

Regardless of what I end up doing for a rack setup, my next bigger tank will probably be the biggest exo-terra.


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## JJuchems (Feb 16, 2004)

If you have the opportunity to compare the ZooMed and Exo-Terra take the opportunity. I have seen both and prefer Exo-Terra. I see the Exo-Terra’s being better build and the screen is replicable at the top. I have a dozen Exo-Terras for various projects. 

The massive sell off of Exo-Terra’s is for a few reasons. Hagan, the parent company of Exo-Terra is a direct ship company. You must work with one of their sales reps and they ship directly to your store’ warehouse for chains. I know one local shop who stop dealing with Hagan because of the high freight fees and the inability to advertise a sale price for Hagan products. 

PetCo sold out of theirs to bring in the ZooMed tanks. PetsMart sold out to being in the Exo-Terra kits. Apparently there is a higher profit margin for selling the kits over the single tank.


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## jubjub47 (Sep 9, 2008)

No, they don't utilize a rack completely. That might actually be a good thing though. I've got a 4ft rack that when I have it completely done will hold 4 18x18x24 exos and two 10g grow out tanks on the bottom rack. There is about a 8in gap in between the tanks that allows a bit of storage and even a decent place to grow plants out under the viv lighting. I also like that it makes me think out additions a bit more since I don't have a ton of space for new frogs.


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## jubjub47 (Sep 9, 2008)

JJuchems said:


> If you have the opportunity to compare the ZooMed and Exo-Terra take the opportunity. I have seen both and prefer Exo-Terra. I see the Exo-Terra’s being better build and the screen is replicable at the top. I have a dozen Exo-Terras for various projects.
> 
> The massive sell off of Exo-Terra’s is for a few reasons. Hagan, the parent company of Exo-Terra is a direct ship company. You must work with one of their sales reps and they ship directly to your store’ warehouse for chains. I know one local shop who stop dealing with Hagan because of the high freight fees and the inability to advertise a sale price for Hagan products.
> 
> PetCo sold out of theirs to bring in the ZooMed tanks. PetsMart sold out to being in the Exo-Terra kits. Apparently there is a higher profit margin for selling the kits over the single tank.


Petco started the phase to zoomed tanks because of Hagen switching to a direct purchase model. Very similarly to many pet stores reasoning.


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## JJuchems (Feb 16, 2004)

You can always custom build a rack.


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## maverick3x6 (Jul 31, 2008)

didn't get to read all the comments... HOWEVER

if you want a cheap fix to cover the screen on top of the exos... I apply 2 sheets of clear vinyl wrap...

3' x 25', 4 Mil Crystal Clear Vinyl Sheeting, Packaged

I retain well over 90% humidity and if you need ventilation, you can simply fold back a corner and place a fan on top.

I place the lights right on top of it in order to weight it down. I've got a ton of compact fluorescent lights, and a 40W exo night glow bulb... it makes the material really warm, but it won't melt - at least with that wattage. haha. It also helps keep my tank in the mid 70s during the cold new england nights here. 

Also if you're wondering... I have a special ordered 18" x 18" x 36" exo amongst others... it's the 2nd largest currently. They make them plenty big.

http://flickr.com/photos/maverick3x6/collections/72157606621373479/

cheers!


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## divingne1 (Mar 21, 2008)

BTW...when they say the measurements are 24x18x18. They mean the outside including the trim. I made a rock wall that is 23 1/2" wide...I am looking for my husbands cement chisle....damn it.
Candy


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## jubjub47 (Sep 9, 2008)

I did the same thing for my first one. I used egg crate to make the background an insert and when I tried to put it in I got a whammy. I had to break the egg crate with pliers then saw the background. For my second one I used the insert that came with the tank as my measurement.


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## UmbraSprite (Mar 2, 2007)

My opinions:

The exo's are worth the few extra dollars over the ZooMed. Having tried both the Exo's are made a little nicer and offer some little "nice to have" features that the ZooMed's do not. I recently had the "push down" door on my ZooMed snap off and now need to remove the screen to feed. You get what you pay for.

I question the need to cover the screen tops. I suppose if you have very dry conditions but I at most only cover the back...and that is so my riccia or other mosses don't dry out. If you have a water feature, misting system or mist regularly there is no need. We often talk about appropriate levels of humidity but I am not sure anyone has objectively looked at what is necessary. My tanks are misted every 8 hours and the humidity stays around 40-60%. My pums are happy, healthy and breeding. 

I also find that the screen is not where the flies escape. It is the gaps in the plastic around the tops, the space in SOME of the tanks doors (not always the same on every tank) and the venting at the bottom of the front. All in all if I have good seals on my doors I don't mod them.

The only downside I have found to these is the comment already made about fitting in a standard rack.

Chris


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## zBrinks (Jul 16, 2006)

With the help of a friend, I've trimmed off the side and back plastic trim off the exos, and found a 24''x18''x24'' and two 18''x18''x24'' fit together on the 5 foot shelving I use. I really like the way they look, and the fact that they have two front doors instead of one.


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## Bcs TX (Sep 13, 2008)

I love mine it is a 24x18x18, another thing I like is the Euro look of the stand, the shelf on the stand is nice as well.

-Beth


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## Philsuma (Jul 18, 2006)

zBrinks said:


> With the help of a friend, I've trimmed off the side and back plastic trim off the exos, and found a 24''x18''x24'' and two 18''x18''x24'' fit together on the 5 foot shelving I use. I really like the way they look, and the fact that they have two front doors instead of one.


Awesome...please get us some pics of your "trimed" Exos.

I love the no black plastic trim Euro-look...


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## zBrinks (Jul 16, 2006)

The rack I was talking about is the gecko rack I posted in the lounge. I like how the exos look on the racks, and am planning on carrying it over to the frogs.


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## Philsuma (Jul 18, 2006)

zBrinks said:


> The rack I was talking about is the gecko rack I posted in the lounge. I like how the exos look on the racks, and am planning on carrying it over to the frogs.


Link please....


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## zBrinks (Jul 16, 2006)

http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/lounge/34946-nice-gecko-rack.html


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