Popularity of Fish Tanks for Reptiles?

[Donnie]

Why is it that fish/glass tanks seem to be such a popular choice for new keepers in north America especially? I see a lot of posts on here regarding people asking about their xx gallon tank but hardly any about their vivariums (except keepers who have been doing it for a while). Is it just that the shops push to sell them to keepers rather than wooden or plastic vivs because they make more money from them or is there something else I am missing? Or have I got it completely wrong and more people use wooden/plastic?

[pdomensis]

Glass tanks are pushed by pet stores. I've neer seen totes suggested or sold at a pet store, much less any higher quality vivs. I don't think they'd sell as many ball pythons or corns if they suggested a $200 viv. As it is, they sell you the set up as a package deal (10 gallon glass tank, hide, water dish and heat lamp) and you get the snake free! I think glass tanks also appeal to the uneducated people who decide to buy a snake on a whim. Totes aren't very nice to look at so they don't make a nice show piece. Same mentality for stores not having enough hides in their cages, you can't sell what you can't see.

I've wondered if petstores are purposely selling bad husbandry so the animal will die and need to be replaced, but I think they would make more from customers with happy living pets.

[Alexa]

Glass tanks are easy to find. There are essentially no vivs for sale in a typical pet store. There are a few at specialty reptile stores, but most people who impulse by aren't at a reptile store.

[thinkbig317]

You can provide perfect husbandry in a glass tank if you know how. Now Im not saying that a high quality viv is not the way to go if you can afford one because it's certainly the better choice but glass tanks work too.

[Starbuck]

i think most people don't think about tubs etc as animal products because they are never marketed as animal products. You wouldn't know the benefits to using one without coming on one of these sites, and to be honest, how many members found this forum BEFORE they got their snakes? I used glass screen tops for all of my colubrids up until last June, partially because at the time that was what i had, most of my purchases came with their setups, and i wasn't ready to commit to expensive viva. I honestly think its an issue of not knowing.

If there was a tub that worked more like a vivarium, or looked a little more professional, i think it would be a lot easier to get new keepers to commit to that. Why can i go to walmart and buy a storage tote for 10$, but the same size plastic vivarium is 250$? I honestly think people get the sense that they are 'cheating' if they use a cheap 10$ tub instead of the more expensive tanks.

[EL Ziggy]

Are glass tanks really that bad? I'm a relatively new keeper of snakes and have all 3 of my colubrids in glass tanks. They don't have any special humidity requirements and all are have uth's controlled by thermostats. I definitely prefer display enclosures over tubs and will be upgrading to pvc or wooden enclosures in the next year or so. I can see how these types of vivs are better in some ways but I didn't know glass tanks were necessarily bad for the health of my animals.

[Starbuck]

I've felt the glass tanks can work very well for most colubrids with modest humidity requirements. I never had any issues with my glass tanks, and several of my snakes were in glass tanks for years.

[pdomensis]

It's not necessarily the glass, but mostly the screen tops with overhead heating. If you're measuring proper conditions in your tanks then there's no worries. I use glass tanks as well, but I modify them quite a bit to keep conditions right.

[pdomensis]

Just saw this on craigslist and thought it tied in nicely with the discussion.

Beautiful Colombian Red Tail Boa, most likely a female. Approximately 5 feet long; about 2.5 years old, friendly and in PERFECT physical condition. Eats live medium sized rats that I raise and also sell. Comes with a 40 gallon reptile tank with screen top, heat lamp and under tank heat pad, 2 branches and water bowl. She drinks a bunch of water....more than most snakes do, so you may want to give her a larger water dish or make sure it's full before you go to work or school each day.

[Donnie]

Don't get me wrong I am not saying glass tanks are bad and shouldn't ever be used as they work well for some species but they are just not used very much over here at all. Generally the glass ones that are used over here are the exo-terra type like this with front opening doors.

http://www.exo-terra.com/download/high_res/products/images/PT2614_Natural_Terrarium_Filled.jpg

In the shops here that sell reptiles they stock the ones like above and wooden vivs but never tanks (unless they sell fish as well). I guess it is just one of the differences in countries.

[poison123]

Reptile shops out here in San diego, CA also carry vision cages, critter condos and exo terras.

[Charis]

Yeah, pretty much none of the shops I've ever been to carry the larger sizes of the Exos or Zoo Med vivs like that posted and the employees at the stores push tanks for snakes and the Exos for lizards and geckos instead, if they push them at all. Although I have seen a few people get talked into what will be a way too small, tall exo for their terrestrial baby snakes that they will outgrow in months. Plus they are about twice the price of a similar sized tank.