Bin/Tub Enclosures with Leos

[CheapInk]

Hello!
So I'm thinking about getting a leo and at this point I'm looking into the mechanics of setting up for one. I'm preferential to bin enclosures besides my one big glass viv for one of my snakes because I just find them much easier to control parameters in. The thing is every youtube video I watch on making them for leos seem kind of half-baked, all focused on cutting costs and not about good husbandry. I keep my snakes in bins (most of them anyhow) because it's a nice enclosed environment that gives me good feed responses. I'm not looking to brag about housing a poor lil gecko in an 8 dollar set up. Does anyone have experience with using bins in a non-rack setup (so heatmat on the bin, not on the back of a rack). If so, what size tub did you use? I use 66qt Sterilites with my younger corn snakes but I'm worried about humidity. Bins are great for keeping a nice temp but always a bit of an uphill battle with the right humidity.

 

[acpart]

I do keep my leopard geckos in glass enclosures except for an overflow hatchling rack. As far as I know, people do keep them in bins. It seems that the essentials are:
--thermostat to keep the heat mat from getting so hot it melts the bin
--adequate ventilation

Actually, now that I think about it, I do have a really interesting stacked enclosure that I bought that's made with plastic bins (I'll put a picture of it below). Each bin is set on its side and there's a fairly large rectangular hole cut and covered with wide mesh (you won't see that in the picture). As long as you use a bin that has floor space roughly equivalent to a 20 gallon long (30x12"), you should be fine.



Aliza

 

[CheapInk]

Thank you for replying! That's a nice set-up. My usual bin for my snakes is a 116qt sterilite. It's 33" long and 17" wide. Only 12" high or so but I figure that wouldn't be an issue since leos are more ground dwelling. As for ventilation I usually buy mesh screen inserts (they have a metal frame, they're used for windows as an insert next to window AC units but they work great because they've got a nice solid frame and once you cut and sand the hole, you can use twosided tape and hot glue to fix them). I really wish I had the space for a nice rack set-up. Keep my eyes peeled on junk day for someone throwing out a decent wooden shelving unit to cannibalize!

 

[acpart]

I keep most of my geckos in front-opening enclosures on shelf units. Here's a picture of one area from a few years ago:



Aliza

 

[Tongue Flicker]

I'm using open top bin enclosures only because my indoor condition and geographic location allows me to do so.

Just having a moist hide and wide shallow water dish should already suffice. You don't need to maintain an average amount of humidity inside leo enclosures anyways unless you live in dead humidity locations like Colorado, Chile or Mongolia