Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am new to keeping herps, I've tried some dart frogs and that is it. What I have noticed when it comes to housing is that most people prefer to make their own custom set up for what ever they are keeping. Why is this? Is it because design features for housing in stores don't meet their own personal requirements, or are they to expensive to buy? The reason I wonder this is that I am thinking that simply buying a housing for a certain species might not meet my requiremets when I learn more through experience about what I really need. And how come you do not see as many backgrounds in herp cages like you do in fish aquariums, is there a reason?

backrounds cost money and they dont benefit the herps in any way. wots the point of them then?
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UroKnight...coming soon
1.1.0 mali uromastyx
1.1.0 green anole
1.0.0 brown anole
0.0.1 fowlers toad
1.0.0 emperor scorpion
1.0.0 cuban knight anole
1.0.0 ribbon snake(currently escaped)
1.0.0 african clawed frog
1.0.1 green iguana
0.1.0 eastern kingsnake
0.0.3 crayfish
0.0.1 3 lined salamander

Well i know i build my cages... well i've built one and will be building an other when i get back from college around christmas.
It going to be a 4'x4'x2' enclosure... i can build it and finish it and everything for like $250, its not going to win any beauty shows, but that beats paying probably more for a similar cage that won't have my "quality" workmanship. Also a lot of cages offered for real cheap around $100-150 are usually made of acrylic which is fine if you have a snake, sometimes, however with lizards thier claws will scratch and make the acrylic look bad.

Also tanks for frogs or turtle or fish are usually all glass... These arn't often made by people because its just easier to get one from the store, less chance of leaking and breaking. However they are ususally highly customized by the buyer once the actual tank has been purchased.
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Later,
WhisQuila