I noticed some great prices on dubia.com for PVC enclosures and was considering purchasing a couple for some reptiles of mine, but before I purchase I’d like to know if anyone has used these enclosures before and if they could give me a bit of a review.
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I don’t know about the PVC enclosure. I always used a large dark green tote. Dubai roaches can not climb the plastic.
When I put the egg crates in , they only came half way up. I put a couple of 4" round screen vents in the lid for ventilation.
I don’t know how much those PVC ones are but totes are relatively cheap.
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I don’t keep Dubai (they give me the creeps!). Lol! but totes are great! They are cheap, easy to clean relatively light weight and durable.
I have my crested gecko, Mimosa, in a clear tote. It is huge so there is a ton of room for plants, hammocks and caves. He loves loves loves it! The lid has a mesh screen for misting and lights.
(I did some soldering on the lid for the screen)
Anyway, IMHO, tubs are great! 
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I’m pretty sure that it’s in reference to pvc enclosures for reptiles, sold on that website. They wouldn’t be used to keep dubias.
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LOL I think the post @garciademueller mentioned originally was questioning the use for reptiles. I thought it was the use for Dubai roaches at first too until I reread the post…. Lol! My bad!
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I have 2 36x18x18 coming in the mail as we speak. I’ll try to post something when they get here.
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I bought a PVC enclosure of the same kind, not from Dubia but from Symton (literally the exact same enclosure but with a different name on it) and honestly it’s really good for the price, requires a decent amount of hammering to put it together though. Mine is a 4x2x2 for a beardie because all the glass ones are way far out of my price range. If you are going to put loose substrate in it or make it bioactive I would suggest sealing all the panels to the frame really well with silicone and letting it dry as they are pretty loose. I did that myself and it’s kept his substrate inside so far, and the temps are staying consistent! Definitely doesn’t look as nice as glass but a lot cheaper.
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I grabbed two of the 4x2x2s for my ball pythons a couple of months ago. They’re great. Fairly quick and easy to assemble. They even provide a hammer for you. I think they’re at a pretty good price point for what you get. It’s not the most heavy duty thing in the world but it works well. I have 2 of them stacked on top of each other with a custom wooden riser. My only gripe is that you’ll need to buy some display case locks and that the massive screen on top is not great for keeping humidity in lol.
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These seem like another competitor to LeapHabitats and the “ships flat, assembles easy, is lightweight” trend going on. I have not tried any of these but conceptually they seem okay. I think rigor-testing as they enter the hobby more broadly will reveal some flaws the designer did not anticipate, simply by fact that no one can think of everything.
From a personal stand point, given the less substantial nature of these I do worry a bit about bioactive- or naturalistic-style setups and the mass of media and branches and rocks and the like causing the bottoms to drop out. I also worry about stacking multiples that have any kind of weight because you get the grain silo effect on the bottom most cage
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That’s a good point there. I think I’ll go with zen habitats which was my second option.
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They also sell support bars for stacking the enclosures. It’s a 1x1 piece of aluminum that you slide between the enclosures.
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I’ve seen a couple Zen Habitats, and honestly, I wasn’t all that impressed. Both the enclosures I saw were the “bamboo” version (in quotation marks because it looked like it was mostly made from particle board with a thin layer of bamboo coating on top), so I can’t speak to the PVC version. I’m sure they do the job just fine in most cases, but I feel like they’re kinda overpriced for the quality. I like the way they look, though.
I considered a Zen, but for the reasons mentioned above, opted to order an enclosure from Animal Plastics instead…which are supposed to be great, but I ordered mine back in July and have yet to hear anything about when it will ship. I expect to wait several more months, at least, so it’s obviously not a great option if you want/need it relatively soon.
I have a smaller (36"x18"x12") enclosure from All American Cages for my sand boa, which I love. Very sturdy, great quality, and I thought the price was very reasonable. I think it took about 3 months to make it to my door after I placed the order, which isn’t too bad, especially since I ordered a custom-sized screen cutout on top (though I ordered mine about a year ago, so I don’t know what their fulfillment times are like these days).
Just my 2 cents!
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I currently keep my ball python in an All American Cage as well. I am thoroughly impressed by the quality, but I chose zen habitats for the aesthetic and shipping time as well as some glowing reviews I’ve heard from people that bought the PVC version. I have definitely heard negative things about the wood version, but that’s not the kind I was looking for anyways. I also need the enclosure relatively soon so if I just bought another All American Cage it may be months before I get it. It took five months for my last cage to ship from them.
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Yeah, if you need it soon, avoiding the brands that make everything to order (like AP and AAC, among others) is the way to go. I have heard that the PVC Zens are a lot better than the wood version, so I’m sure it’ll work for you.
Is this for your blue tongued skink?
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I’d love to see a review or some photos of the one you choose to get whenever you get it. Always nice to know of a easily available supply in case something comes up
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I’ll be getting two in the next few months to upgrade my ball python and my blue tongue.
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This kind of thing has become the norm with them and is why I no longer buy from them. The cages themselves are good, but not good enough to suffer the horrific customer service.
Some other cage companies to look at:
FocusCubed - They have some longer wait times but they are great at communication and their lead times posted are pretty close to accurate. They have a plethora of options for customization and are also great about working with you if you want/need things they do not have listed as available
BlackBox - Probably one of the fastest turn-around times out there. Mine took three weeks and that was only because there was a mistake made with my order, that was immediately communicated to me. Without the mistake my order would have been done in twelve days. They do not customize to the extent of FC, but they have a really good selection of standard sizes and options that should fit just about every need
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I will say that I don’t like that they aren’t consistent with their lead times. The last two that I ordered got to me in two weeks from me purchasing them.
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Did anyone ever get any of these enclosures to try? someone i’m selling a ball to is looking at getting one or two of them. I didn’t realize shipping wasn’t expensive on these either, only the $7.49? just curious if its worth it.
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