One thing...buy a good lid. Walmart and some pet stores sell these plastic sort of lids and they are just escape nightmares (I have a few on the rat tanks and hate em!) Look for the good metal framed lids and then grab a couple of packages of lid clips. They are black metal, usually come 2 per pack and are rated for the size of the tanks. Invaluable things. If my daughters sneaky escape artist milksnake can't squeeze by them...nothing much can.