Reddit mentions of Rubbermaid Commercial Products Brute Tote Storage Container With Lid, 20-Gallon, Gray (FG9S3100GRAY)

There are many many options for housing a salamander. Nobody knows has a better internet presence for keeping them then the folks at caudata.org as mentioned by u/ye_ol_chuckaboo below. They have a helpful forum where you can get info advice and answers to questions. they also have care-sheets. So i suggest you spend soem time looking there.

Some simple ideas would start with something like:

go get a 40 gallon aquarium or larger. or 3 - 4 foot plastic storage box or like this

whatever you use it will need a lid to keep things out and the salamander inside but it must allow air to pass through

the main thing here is that it doesnt need to be more than 15 inches tall but should have as much surface area (footprint) as possible. A good minimum is about 4 - 4.5 square feet. or anything at or above the "40 gallon size " on the standard US tank sizes chart here

buy some organic untreated (chemical free, fertilizer free) topsoil from a garden store.

plan to use at least 6 - 8 inches of soil at the bottom

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order several cork bark hides like this logs or half logs will be good to partially bury and to keep on the surface so the animal can choose a hide.

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get a *large* smooth sided glass ceramic water bowl like this or like this

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use only smooth objects stones, smooth glass ceramic, plastic. no gravel no sharp rocks no sharp wood.

Moss and plants can help add humidity and attractiveness.

a water mister bottle is helpful to have around

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feel free to ask any specific questions

Try looking into a plastic tub, here's a good one which fits a 10 gallon tank absolutely perfectly.

You need to be very careful about who finds out you have a gecko though. I had fish my freshman year and people would always come in to look at them, which was fine because they were allowed in the dorms. However, other students decided to get banned pets like hamsters, and because word spread quickly, they were found out and had to get rid of the pet. That is a bigger concern than school officials or RAs walking into your room to discover the geck themselves, since they won't do it often. If you're not certain that you can keep it very secret, I wouldn't advise bringing it.

I would be careful with trying to fill up that sterlite container all the way either as a grow bed or as a water reservoir. On our first attempt at aquaponics, we used a cheaper, thinner container and it busted out the side.

We bought a "brute" from Rubbermaid and it works well as a grow bed for our small aquaponics system.


We bought this in the 20 gallon size:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B001B1C4G0/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1502282096&sr=8-2&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=brute+rubbermaid&dpPl=1&dpID=41uT2oDRwFL&ref=plSrch

I have 14 of these totes full of worms. They are expensive but sturdy and they stack with about 5 inches of space between each other due to the handles which is perfect for worming.


https://www.amazon.com/Rubbermaid-Commercial-BRUTE-20-Gallon-FG9S3100GRAY/dp/B001B1C4G0

I've read your replies to comments and recommend this. I'm in a tiny apartment too! just drill holes on the sides/top.

I also have a lot of nitro waste and obvs no easy access to carbon since I don't clip my own lawn but I've been using paper bags from groceries, toilet paper/paper towel rolls, and going around my neighborhood with my daughter and picking up dead leaves/twigs to dump in for carbon

I use this 20 gallon rubbermaid brute filled up about 3/4 full with my RO water and I have no bowing whatsoever. So if you are looking for a quality tub I would definitely recommend it.

The Brute line has food grade commercial totes. Have you seen em?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001B1C4G0