Best terrarium covers according to redditors

I'm glad your snake is back home! but "tank with heavy books stacked on top" is probably why you lost her. You can get tank clips that are more secure than heavy books - snakes are stronger than you think and heavy books will fail. The books could also break through the wire mesh and squash your snake. You can get some really cheaply on Amazon

I've owned one.

It was nice until I went to bed. Then when I woke up it was like someone had snuck into my apartment and stolen my aquarium water.

TL;DR: Evaporation is a major problem with this nano. They make a lid for them now, get it. You'll want it.

Although if you like the vertical rectangular design, I'd get the new 12 gallon Fluval edge.

they're great little snakes, overall docile for handling and easy to care for. i'm copy/pasting this comment from a recent thread about KSBs:

here's my adult female's setup, with links to specific products, to give you some ideas.

• 20 gallon tall tank with this lid and two pairs of these lid clips.
  
• 10-12 inches of carefresh bedding. shredded aspen is also suitable.
  
• UTH on a thermostat set to 90-95 F for warm side temperatures at the bottom of the tank. a second UTH on the cool side is set to 75-80 F. a porcelain base lamp and ceramic heat emitter keeps the substrate surface at 90F on the warm side. her heat sources currently have these thermostats, but i plan to upgrade to a herpstat like i have for my other snakes. inkbird thermostats are a low-budget option with better quality than hydrofarm thermostats. i've started replacing my hydrofarms with inkbirds for temporary usage [i have extras of everything on hand for emergencies or unplanned rescues].
  
• small water dish on the cool side.
  
• a humid hide with sphagnum moss, also on the cool side. i made the humid hide by cutting/melting an entrance hole in the lid of a plastic food container, then filled it about 2/3 with damp sphagnum moss.
  
  here is a full tank shot. left is the warm side with both a UTH and the CHE. right is the cool side with a UTH, water dish, and humid hide. her substrate is a bit lower than usual in this photo as it was right before a substrate change; i scoop out poops from the bottom of the tank for a few weeks then do a full cleaning at least once a month. one 60L bag of carefresh bedding fills her tank very well. when she was a baby, i kept the substrate shallower and did full changes more frequently, since little poops are harder to scoop.
  
  here is a close up of her shallow water dish sitting on top of her mostly-buried humid hide. stacking them like this helps keep most of the substrate surface clear.
  
  some other notes about the snakes themselves:
  
  
• adult males will max out around 18" and eat fuzzy or hopper mice. adult females can get up to 30" and eat adult mice.
  
• males are more likely to be fussy eaters, often requiring live prey, especially once they reach sexual maturity. they are also more likely to be generally nippy when you reach into the enclosure or while you're picking them up, but should calm down once you're holding them.
  
• young babies of both sexes tend to have a strong feeding response, which means they're likely to strike at anything moving above the substrate surface. reaching into the enclosure should be done carefully, but once your hand is underneath them, they're fine.
  
• all KSBs will spend the vast majority of the time burrowed in the substrate, but you'll see them peeking out at the surface, and they do fully emerge occasionally to look for water/food.

If a fish is inactive, it usually means they don't have enough room to swim around and explore. 5 gallons is beautiful for a betta, you should do a 5 gallon with live plants, it's beautiful to look at! If you're concerned about price as well, here are some good options:

• Petco has 5 gallon Aqueon tanks for sale for ~$16 dollars.
  
• A good filter to use for these would be the Aqueon Quietflow Internal Filter AT10. I use one of these in a 1.5 gallon hospital tank, but the gph is good for up to 5 gallons. And it's only $15!
  
• You can use anything for a tank lid, but if cost is an issue, these guys work great, ~$7.
  
• A good, inexpensive heater is the Hydor 25 watt heater. ~15 bucks and from what I've heard (I'm getting one tomorrow for my new Spec V so I'll update if anything goes wrong) it's amazing.
  
• You can use any substrate that supports plant life, but I personally use Eco-Complete Plant Substrate. It's around $20 for a 20 lb. bag, so it's a pretty good deal as well.
  
• Plants in general can be quite inexpensive. If you just buy a couple of Anubias (the large variety) and some java ferns, maybe some Anacharis to float or bunch, you're looking at ~$34 dollars (give or take) for the entirety of your tank's plants.
  
  All in all, you're looking at ~$107 for a better tank for your fish, or ~$53 for just the basic set up (minus the live plants/plant supporting substrate). If you want lighting, I've heard that basic desk lamps like this one work great in lieu of expensive LED setups.
  
  OR
  
  You can buy a Fluval Spec V, they're on sale for $59.99 and come with a filter, lighting, lid, etc. All you would need is substrate and a heater.
  
  Let me know if you have any questions!

Cool! You could use a terrarium screen cover as the top. They're metal so the heat lamp can rest on them https://www.amazon.com/Zilla-Reptile-Terrarium-Covers-36x12-inch/dp/B000QFRMRI

Yea of course! I got this lid on Amazon, but there was another hinged lid one on Petco's website that I was also looking at which has a horizontal hinge.

I went with the one on Amazon since the mesh wasn't as thick as the Petco one, and I will be putting my UVB light on top since it's a T5 bulb.

Here are the links:
https://www.amazon.com/Exo-Terra-Screen-Cover-Hinged/dp/B00LH09T2W/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1483082092&sr=8-3&keywords=screen+lid+for+40+gallon+tank

http://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/product/petco-heat-resistant-screen-top

They apparently sell a cover for the Fluval Chi now (link).

You'd be surprised at how they can curl up into a tiny ball once they leap out and dry up. My parents lost a Betta to jumping last year and when I was looking for him I initially overlooked a tiny black lump that I took for dust at first. I picked it up after a few minutes and I was shocked to find it was the Betta, curled up and coated with a fine layer of dust.

I tried my best to clean him off and revive him as Bettas can survive for a surprisingly long time out of water. He did began to move around and appeared to be trying to bounce back, but sadly when I checked back on him a couple of hours later, he had passed away.

Sorry for your loss. :(

Yeah. The Chi lid has a big hole in the middle for the light/filter box, so it won't be a perfect catch-all here.

Stronger, metal screen mesh lid

Here is a review from someone in your exact same boat:

I purchased this to go over the top of my Zilla 36x18 "Critter Cage" when the original lid screen was damaged by my cat with an overzealous sense of curiosity. He likes to lay atop and soak up the heat that was meant for my 2 Mali Uromastyx reptiles in the terrarium below. Attempts at repairing the original tank lid proved to be a waste of time as the screen would only collapse again when the cat decided it was time for another sunbathing session. A lid this size was extremely hard to find, that is until I went to Amazon.com. When I did find it, I was still a bit nervous it would not fit my "Critter Cage" becasue of it's unique "slide-front" lid design. I'm happy to report that not only does it fit like a glove, but it also holds the weight of my buff kitty in search of a tan! Problem solved!

The top is this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000QFQ30K/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1474116162&sr=8-1&keywords=zilla+fresh+air+screen+cover&pi=SY200_QL40

The holes are quite large at 1mmx2mm in a diamond shape. Is that still small enough to filter light?

I use a temp gun.

You could use a reptile lid. I'm not sure if the following actually fits a 5.5g TopFin tank, but look for a reptile lid if you want a mesh top:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000QFMRVY/

Here's a list of everything I bought to set up, excluding decoration (you can go as expensive or as cheap as you would like in that department):

20 gallon tank - $32.99

Top for the tank $25.28

Heat Mat - $17.46

Dimmer for the Heat Mat (to control temperature) - $12.75

Tile - $0.88/each x 10 = $8.80

Calcium with D3 (for dusting food) - $8.69

Calcium without D3 - $5.41

Digital Thermometer - $6.99

Hygrometer (to measure humidity) - $6.99

And, of course, the gecko - ~$30.00


Total: $155.36

Then, you'll still need to buy or make hides and buy crickets/kricket keeper/food for the crickets and/or mealworms/food for the mealworms.


Disclaimer: I may be forgetting something, I'm not at home right now.

Sure thing! It’s a little expensive but definitely worth it!! https://www.amazon.com/Zilla-Reptile-Screen-Hinged-8-Inch/dp/B000VB138G

Oh, sorry! The top looks like this one, but of course fitted for a 36"x18".

https://www.amazon.com/Exo-Terra-Screen-Replacement-Terrarium/dp/B001B59N2Y/ref=mp_s_a_1_7?keywords=exo+terra+screen&qid=1571864192&sr=8-7

They make a cover for the Fluval Chi. Here is a link for you:

http://www.amazon.com/Hagen-A13957-Fluval-Chi-Cover/dp/B005QRDEDM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1332723783&sr=8-1

It does an excellent job at covering as much of the surface as possible, and is only $7. Also here is a decent heater (The same one that I use in my Fluval Chi, and Fluval Edge):

http://www.amazon.com/Fluval-Edge-25W-Compact-Heater/dp/B002Y2LEG6/ref=sr_1_1?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1332723831&sr=1-1

Zilla Reptile Terrarium Covers... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000QFQ30K?ref=yo_pop_ma_swf

Exo Terra Repti-Glo 5.0 Compact... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00101JI2Y?ref=yo_pop_ma_swf

BYB - 150W 110V Ceramic Infrared... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HFNZ59Q?ref=yo_pop_ma_swf

REPTIZOO Dual Lamp Fixture for... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CWKXYPP?ref=yo_pop_ma_swf

MUST Swap the UVB bulb every 6 months.

I got a mesh top for my aquarium (this thing https://www.amazon.com/Zilla-Reptile-Screen-Center-8-Inch/dp/B00BUFTYXS) and I only just realized that I have a HOB filter and there's not really an easy way to put the mesh top on with the HOB filter. I tried googling for examples on how other people might have done it, but I haven't really found anything.

Any suggestions? I could just kinda not cover the entire top and leave some space for the HOB filter, but I also don't want my fish jumping when I'm not home. I would like to avoid spending money on getting another filter.

It sounds like the top to a Zilla enclosure. Not sure on what size you need but is it something similar to this?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00SC8HTVK/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_yyMXBbWCRDGGX