tank with entrance from its "roof"

[leafling]

Hi all, I'm trying to figure out which snakes/lizards feel comfortable in a tank with a top entrance, for cleaning and handling. I do not want to stress out any animal, and most of what I've read about certain behaviors mention that predators attack from above, and this stimulates a fight/flight reaction. Are there any that won't react to this, really? Should I just use my 30 gallon tank for...amphibians or fish? I'm particularly interested in rainforest herps, but will want to be making a desert viv too. I'm going to start making a front entrance tank for a GTP soon, but would love to use this tank safely.

[EvilLost]

I think the reason most herpers prefer front opening is for ease of access, not because of the animals. They will stress out regardless of what angle you reach in from.


But since the lights/etc are on top, its annoying to move them everytime you want to reach in, and so a front opening tank is much more user friendly

but if you have a 30gal tank already, you can use that. I have some frogs in a 30gal tank with the lights mounted above (so its easy to reach into the tank) and this works perfectly fine.