Zen Habitats VS Exo-Terra - Which Enclosure Should You Get? 

The color of the zen habitat is exactly what keeps me from buying. It costs way too much for such a specific look. Make it black and im sold.

‘Now time to break things’ 😂😂😂

To me Zens just aren't worth their cost...yet. I've seen too many complaints about how difficult it is to set it up, door issues, and the mesh top issues. Plus I really don't like the look of them, the brown wood is ugly to me but I would like them if they came in a white and black color in addition to the brown. Maybe in a few years if they expand I'l consider Zens but for now I have other brands I like for large enclosures in the same price range.

I just think the Zen Habitat is… ugly? I really don’t like that wood color. If they were all black they would look SO much better. That’s just what I think, I would love to try zen habitats one day but i will probably wait until they make other varieties, or get one before then and build a background that covers all of the sides.

A Zen Habitat with black PVC and matte black metal would look incredible!! 10/10 would purchase, waiting for the collab.

If I had to choose between Exo-Terra or Zen Habitat, I'd choose Exo-Terra.

While exo terra has issues the zen is just way too expensive.

Another thought, I’ve always wondered why zen habitats isn’t offering discount codes for their affiliates to offer

Hi!! I was the person who came and said hi to you and Maddie at Sad Summer Fest. Thank you for this video. I am just getting ready to upgrade my crested gecko tanks!

FIY there’s someone in America selling custom pvc lids (with holes drilled) for exoterras. Lots of people who keep tarantulas use them as the screen lids are dangerous for tarantula claws. I’m sure if anyone wanted one they could just ask on a tarantula fb page and someone would tell us where to get them

Whilst I'd like a zen, I live in NZ and exos are much easier to get my hands on. And I think the zen is kinda ugly

I have a Zen Habitat and I absolutely love it

I know that zen habitats has gotten a lot of attention and praise recently, but they are definitely not for me. They are too large for my space, honestly kinda ugly looking, and of course, very expensive compared to exo terras. Especially as someone who only keeps small geckos, I'll likely stick to exo terra for a while. Side note, but it kinda made me angry when you dropped the juice and broke the exo terra lid. While it does demonstrate the lid's flimsiness, The lid was made to hold a few lightweight lamps and light fixtures, not the force of a heavy juice bottle being thrown on it.

I have both exoterra and zen habitats, the exact sizes shown in this video. I haven't had any issues with either but overall do prefer the zen habitats out of the two. I think it would be a great idea for them to provide a few color options. I personally like the bamboo coloring but I get that not everyone will. I'll be getting a custom reptile habitats enclosure here in a few weeks and I'm pretty sure it will top them both.

I have only looked at zen for my larger reptiles that you can’t find a proper enclosure size in stores. Like my snakes and BTS. But you can find proper sized gecko enclosures in stores so that’s why I use exo-terras for them. But I can appreciate cool enclosures like zen but don’t see myself buying them for my geckos. I am actually planning on buying a zen habitat for my adult snake when I can. And if I like them maybe upgrade my others to them.

i found this researching the zen habitats, and now they have black! im excited to get mine

I use white PVC enclosures, would LOVE if zen habitats came in white. Hopefully in the future they will have more colour options. In Canada, there are still few customizable options compared to in the US. Looking forward to seeing this company continue to grow/expand.

Love the enclosure video! . .

RIP to that Exo terra lid 😂

perfect timing i think im getting a crested soon

Zen habitats enclosures are way better… if you can’t deal with the color of it then you can paint the wood. Most animals do need so many lights thermometers bulbs ect.

Ellie: "I do-" *WOOF* "What-" *WOOF* "I WANT!!" *WOOFWOOFWOOOOOOF* *BARK!*

Been using exoterra for my Cali Kingsnake, Hognose, and Corn snake. My BCI is in a Boaphile enclosure.

I like the Exos because of the option of having a wet area at the bottom for humid loving or semi/aquatic species- I think if one was keeping something arboreal which like high humidity and will use the water, they are great.

how do you feel about custom reptile habitats? I'm looking to get an upgrade for my corn snake; I've been looking at custom reptile habitats & zen habitats, and I'm honestly having a hard time deciding between the two. I'd like to do a bioactive enclosure, but I know that doesn't really make a difference in choosing. All I know is I want a front-opening PVC enclosure with a customizable mesh top (to fart around with the humidity). Both have those things! so hard to choose from really nice enclosures lol

The one nice thing about the lid for exo is that you can get replacement lids pretty easy. But now that i have enclosures with spacer to hide all the lights and cords i don't think i can deal with anything else now lol

I love the color! My beardie is frickin out with the glass exo terra because he sees his reflection and I'm having a hard time keeping the temperature right. About to order the Zen this week. 😌

Exo-Terra if you respect your wallet. I just use Aivituvin. Is it meant for tortoises? Yes but my king snake is doing just dandy. I feel like Zen Habits is ridiculously priced even by large enclosure standards. I also feel like having an enclosure open on one side only good for non-bolty pets, they learn that there's one side to get out from, exoterra let's you have alternate sides. Aivituvin also allows combining of enclosures.

I love exo terras and zen habitats! I've never had a zen but I have had exoterras. I was going to order a zen habitat for my beardy, but I just found a 2x2x4 and 3 foot by 14inch custom built enclosures for less than buying one zen habitat on Craigslist so I'm going to try to get those instead. Also, I'd love to see a gecko room tour/where you keep all your breeder geckos!

I lost it when you said mago and showed your bird 🤣🤣🤣

These are almost perfect! These look so nice, but yeah I need something water tight for sure. I’ll probably go with a custom made cage. Needing to get a full sized enclosure for my Brazilian Rainbow Boa that I’m planning on making bioactive. I really like the screens on these though. The ReptiZoo screens are also much better than the ExoTerras

i love my zen habitat for my blue tongue skink :) Depending on the species, I like certain tanks for certain animals.

I was wondering about the screen tops. I bought a 36x18x18 Exo-Terra for a California King Snake I ended up not getting and was terrified of one of my cats getting on top and breaking it after me cousin had his cat break the top of a fish tank he was keeping a ball python in.

Love the enclosures themselves, haven't had the best luck stacking them and feeling safe about it though

I use both enclosures but I would definitely use Zen for large reptiles like bearded dragons, certain snake, maybe even certain tortoises ...but use Exo for things like frogs and geckos. It's too bad Zen's enclosures use acrylic as a standard though because it scratches, but it's probably the best option because glass may break while shipping and things like that and the glass would be huge. I'm probably going to buy the glass though because my beardie has destroyed the acrylic 🤣

For small reptiles I don’t mind exo terra, even the thrive hexagons for my cresties. But for larger lizards diy builds all the way!!

I love this video I love animals 💘💘☺️☺️😍😍👋🏻♥️♥️

I used to have a business called Zen Reptiles in the early 2000s that I never could really get to take off, I was trying to sell pretty enclosure design pieces, like a lot of printed backgrounds stuff like that, never the actually enclosures. I'm sure they are great but I love Exo Terra.

I use an Exo Terra for my bearded dragon and he loves it. I’ve never tried Zen Habitats but I’ve heard lots of PetTubers talking about them. Thank u for this video 😃 Edit: It’s actually a Get Your Pet Right enclosure but somehow I convinced myself it was an Exo Terra. Idk how I did that but basically I have a Get Your Pet Right not and Exo Terra. Sorry for the confusion I even confused myself 😂

What about if you want a bioactive- humid set up? Will the zen hold substrate?

What about not having a lip for substrate in the zen habitat? How would you do a bioactive in something like that?

I have that exo terra for my dart frogs. I find it great, I put it in a rolling plant stand, so I can move it and clean around it. But Zen habitats cost a fortune to ship in my EU country.

I would like black and black pleeeeze!

You can get the exo terra in 24 x 24 x 24 and 24 x 24 x 36 or 36 x 24 x 24T or 36Tall

So is there anyone promoting these that isn't clearly biased or affiliated with Zen Habitats? I keep seeing positive reviews from people but they are all really unconvincing. I've found easy work arounds to every "issue" that exo terras are said to have, while zen habitats really falter when it comes to aesthetics and pricing.

i just wish exo terra would get bigger enclosures for species like ball pythons! i have an adult male and would like to get an exo terra thats between 80-120 gals but they don’t make them that big! not for terrestrial animals at least. that would be awesome if they offered bigger sizes.

💚💚

Really sad that Zen Habitats are not available in UK. I like Exo Terra doors better, but the top is really easy to brake, especially when you have a cat at home, and would be nice to have a cover that goes on top to secure the mesh and to keep humidity in. But do agree that Zen Habitats could do more size options.

Wow

The Zen bio basin looks really flimsy and ugly. Plus I'd worry about misting the side walls of the tank, and over time, having water seep behind the bio basin. Anyone have issues with the bio basin?

Tyler! How did you know I needed a new tank for my beardie and have been looking forever to decide which one to buy... literally the two I was stuck on! Thank you for this

I've never been so early to a video 😬 zen is a whole lot more expensive than exo terra

Ok so right off the bat when you showed the lid of the exo Terra I automatically knew I won't be able to a keep a reptile in there safely I don't know what type of tank I have right now but I have a corn snake he is still a baby so he's in a 10 gallon currently we bought a starter pack 10 gallon it had a came whith a lamp repti carpet and a light bulb and was pretty cheap we obviously didn't use the repticarpet but the top is not mesh it's wire its very sturdy that was a a big issue for me because I have a super High drive cat he has killed and ate lizards from outside before so security was a top priority and already my cat has jumped on the enclosure before it did bend but because it's wire it wasn't bad and didn't break or affect it. It just bent when he was standing on it Zeus would break an ego Terra soo easily so I think mabey for my snakes upgrade I'm gonna buy from a different brand 👍 oh yea my cat is 11 pounds yea so I think If I got a 40 gallon exoterra to upgrade Gizmo when he's older I think my cat would break it especially because a 40 gallons bigger so is the lid so it's easier for him to get on top of it and break it

With the Zen I dont mind either of the colors on their own, but together It just doesn't work with me. like black and wood would look nice, gray and white would be nice but grey and wood bleh 🤣

*wii sports music* ✨TIME TO BREAK THINGS✨ 😎🤠

One big add

My cat broke my gecko's screen. My boy passed away. I will get a zen habitat before I get another gecko.

I didn’t like how u had to throw the juice

Ellie could have went through the screen, and got all cut up. 😭 That tore my nerves up, lol.

In my opinion, you get exactly what you pay for with these enclosures and it’s up to the individual to decide whether it’s worth it to pay extra for more durability and stackability. Personally, I wouldn’t pay extra for the Zen Habitants enclosures, as I keep my reptiles in a cat/dog free room. They’re also a little ugly in my opinion, but maybe I would pay for them if they where darker or lighter. (The shade of brown just doesn’t work with silver or golden imo)

Zen’s are just not worth their price at all. Exo terra’s are great & adorable.

I couldn’t ever own an Exoterra. I mentioned this on Twitter but I want to put the story here I had to babysit my sister in laws crested gecko. We had it for maybe 2 days and I woke up one morning to the lid caved in. The lid, for reptiles, that imo, should be able to hold a cat because cats are cats, caved in from a cat sitting on it. It surprised all of us. No, the crested gecko did not survive, a large animal landed on him. I’d never go with one similar, ever. I’ve been sticking to detolfs and aquariums for myself.

This makes me so mad dude, I can’t find the 18x18x24 extra or any of there tanks any were and you just broke one for fun😤

Yeah everything I keep just doesn't stay in cages the small for very long so to me I'd rather buy a used Exo Terra for say an iguana z e n habitats would just be a waste of money for me I'd rather save money on the temporary enclosure and use it to build the final enclosure and I definitely wouldn't keep my Burmese pythons in either of these I just love Vision cages these are both cool though for say a smaller lizard or a starter cage for an iguana and they would definitely both be a pretty cool cage for an emerald tree boa or green tree python not knocking them everything I keep is just too big but I did recently buy an exotera for a rhinoceros iguana I plan on getting to start him out in he will obviously have a pretty gigantic cage once he starts growing cool video though

First hi

I can say I would buy zen habitats enclosures if they came in all black. I love the idea of them, just really not a fan of the silver and fake wood look.

🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰

Definitely biased lol

Zen Habitats are just too expensive, if I can get an enclosure for 150 and one for 400, and they do the exact same thing, I'm going with the 150 one

A very biased review. You should never stack either as you are blocking off the air ventilation. Zen habitat is terrible for holding substrate as there is no depth so substrate falls out. Zen habitat are terrible with water and zen habitat can mould and rot. And the steel mesh can rust. Exo terra 8/10 Zen habitat 4/10

I know you not trying to be bias but clearly you have a bias towards Zen habit. The video just felt like a giant ad for them 🙄

As someone who only has exo terra, I have to agree the flimsy screen can be a major issue. Zen habitats is only clear at the door, so that provides a safer feeling for animals, and while some say the wood is ugly, I have to say the rest of it looks nice. And exo terra don’t stack well/safely. I do wish they were cheaper as well tho.

Exoterra screens are the worst! I have cats, so I’ve replaced our screen at least 4 times

On the ex o maybe no throw the juice

You could’ve tried not being so obviously bias. 😐

I would assume this is an undisclosed sponsorship or was sent free enclosers to compare to their biggest rival and say how much better Zen is than exo ... I highly doubt he would compare just as a video idea and say how much better Zen is even though it's 3 times the price ... And to make it look like it's not sponsored they have to give a couple cons to a whole lotta pros... And did you notice how high he went when he dropped the gallon on the eco but only maybe 6 inches off the Zen ... Lol ... So obviously sponsored... And was totally dishonest when saying to use his link ... He says it's an affiliate link then says he would appreciate it if you use it but didn't mention why he would appreciate it and it's because if you use his link he gets a percentage of money from the sale using his link ... Why can't youtubers just be honest.

You don’t have an opinion because zen habitats pays you to do this video so saying you don’t exclude you opinion is bs. In my option zen habitats look cheap, is very expensive and isn’t anything special… Your better off buying 2 exo Terra’s then one zen.. probably off cheaper to

Or... hear me out. For bigger reptiles, that need larger and MUCH STURDIER enclosures, just go with Animal Plastics. They are cheaper, larger, and much more sturdy than these flimsy things. You can stand and jump on an animal plastics and not break ‘em. So for all burm, boa, retic keepers, just go animal plastics.