Vivarium vs. screen top frustration

[ArchiesFamily]

I'm growing so frustrated. We have Vijah in a 20L tank right now and he's ready to be moved into his forever home. We drove around to 3 different pet stores today and can find 40 gallon breeder tanks, 50 gallon, and 75 gallon tanks. All are nice and fat and would be great. HOWEVER I cannot find a topper for it. The only ones I'm finding are ones where you have to remove the entire screen which means removing the basking bulb and the uvb EVERY time you need to get in. Another lid I found is a sliding lid where the ENTIRE lid slides leading to the same problem as above. WHAT DO I DO?!?!? Not one of the employees had any ideas.

My husband and I are not the build it types. We could potentially hire someone to do it, but would prefer to not spend that type of money if possible.

I thought this was going to be an easy problem to solve so I've kind of waiting to the next to last minute. Vij needs to move up.

Thanks for any insight.

 

[ArchiesFamily]

How would a top that hinged from back and front work with my setup? We have the basking bulb/clamp lamp sitting on top of the screen as well as the 36"uvb fixture.

Is 13" tall enough for a viv?

 

[sunkist]

I have a 55 gallon with a screen like that and I just tilt it up and do what I need. I might have to slide the lamps back a little bit but I don't remove them.

 

[ArchiesFamily]

Thank you for responding. If it was just me I know that would be okay. But this is my 10 year old's pet and I don't think he would be able to hold the lid up and feed, clean, or remove Vijah at the same time. He's been doing an amazing job taking care of Vijah and am trying to make sure he can continue to be the main caregiver (with supervision, of course).

 

[Ayres]

I have a bookshelf and a window ledge near my viv, so both of my basking lights are clamped onto those and hang over the tank.

I had my lights sitting ontop of the screen of my old tank and it was a major pain moving it back and forth all the time. If you can get clamps for your lights, it would make things a lot easier.. if not, I think they sell full stands that you can attach your lights to. I hope you find a solution to your problem!

 

[ArchiesFamily]

So you have no screen on at all? No escapees? Your setup would work for us.

I'm working quickly trying to find a tank that has the front sliding doors then it wont matter what type of screen I have on top. Not sure why I didn't think of that earlier; panicking probably. I found one in the "Vivs only" thread. It has the front doors that open/slide but has a bottom section that does not open. I like that option (the permanent bottom section) in case the dubias get out of the bowl - they woudn't be able to climb out. I'm having trouble finding this type of tank though. Any ideas?

 

[h0ndap0w3r]

i hung mine from the ceiling just a tiny bit above the tank so i can pull the screen on and off while leaving the lights exactly where they are. It works out quite nice, i got some light chain from home depot and some drywall anchors and some hooks.

It works great as long as you dont move the tank, otherwise you gotta move the hooks and all that ish

 

[ArchiesFamily]

Thank you everyone for responding. I JUST hung up from the glasscages.com folks and ordered a new viv. I am sooooo glad that I did since they only have one left in stock!! :shock: The delivery date for our general area is in about a week, she had me sweating it for a while thinking I wouldn't get it. Apparently they had a one come back from a reptile show that didn't sell.

I ordered a 65 gallon with sliding front doors so it wouldn't matter what kind of screen I put on top.