ReptiFiles Rating: 5 stars
At this point I’ve seen and evaluated a lot of reptile enclosures, both formally and informally. Almost every reptile enclosure has something about it that makes it stand out, or at least makes it worth buying: Sometimes it’s the budget price point. Sometimes it’s functionality. Sometimes it’s lightweight. Sometimes it’s aesthetic. Sometimes it’s brand innovation. Sometimes it’s a balance of all of the above. In the same vein, these enclosures also come with significant drawbacks: Sometimes it’s outdated. Sometimes it’s more expensive than it’s worth. Sometimes it’s weak or easily damaged. Sometimes design clashes with functionality. Sometimes it’s difficult to assemble. Sometimes it’s ugly.
Etcetera, etcetera… You get the idea.
It’s tricky to do a review on a manufacturer that specializes in custom enclosures, because I have to balance my own experience with the manufacturer’s capabilities, as well as take into account the experiences of previous customers. As I evaluated the enclosure I received, looked at Toad Ranch’s track record, and explored their website, I can’t be anything but impressed. Blown away, even. Every aspect of Toad Ranch that I looked at held up very well under a microscope, and the fact that Toad Ranch promotes some of the best animal husbandry in the hobby is just icing on the cake.
Toad Ranch’s commitment to helping reptile owners provide the best possible care for their pets is my favorite thing about them. Sure, attractiveness is nice, but if they were just a pretty box with minimal ventilation — even with the fancy materials — I wouldn’t be awarding them 5 stars. It’s the fact that you can customize the ventilation to safely and easily arrange all of the lamps you need, while still having a generous amount of airflow. You can adapt the dimensions to the exact depth of substrate preferred by your animal. The amount of space you can provide isn’t limited by the manufacturer’s inventory. You can add large, strong built-in ledges to safely increase usable space for larger and heavier species. You don’t have to worry about security. And they even go out of their way to emphasize to keepers the importance of preventing direct contact between heating/lighting equipment and the animal. The enclosures and the site leave no room for doubt that animal welfare is Toad Ranch’s top priority.
It’s hard to come up with complaints for this enclosure. If I could change anything, I’d ask for a more generous screen relative to the total top surface area. Call me spoiled, but I like me a full screen top for maximum flexibility in lamp and fan placements. As-is, the mesh on this enclosure was just enough for me to install all of the equipment I needed. The lack of a frame does makes me worry about stacking strength, but Toad Ranch is established enough that if people had complaints about the way these enclosures perform under pressure over time, I would have run across them in my research — after all, people love to complain and criticize! And yes, these enclosures are pricey, but these are high-end luxury enclosures with all of the bells and whistles, not mass-produced budget boxes. If they were less expensive, I’d suspect a scam. As things stand, I think the asking price is very reasonable — Toad Ranch would be justified in charging more.
From sizing to color to backgrounds and special features, a keeper can get really granular about exactly what you want from an enclosure, and Toad Ranch’s can-do attitude comes shining through. Keep in mind, however, that when ordering from Toad Ranch, the functionality of the enclosure you get depends on the choices you make. In theory you could use the customization options to make an overpriced pathogen incubator, but at that point the fault is yours, not the manufacturer’s.
