I think naturally the more animals you have the less you handle them. My animals get handled once per week, during cleaning time. Males also get handled when pairing with their females. I currently have about 125 ball pythons to care for. The less you have the more time you can devote individually. As to the tub question, building your own racks is the way to go. You can build it to suit your needs. Most build rack to use tubs without the tops, although I have saw people build them to use tops on, just a personal preferene. Personally I like to go topless!!!