Me him a horrible keeper and i have never trusted my self to make the right decisions for my captives, so i have always provided large caging with a large range of temp and humidity extremes to give my captives (what ever they were at what ever time ) the means to pick and choose what THEY want. Anything not ever used by my captives are eliminated from future enclosure designs and it just keeps getting whittled down from there till only what is USED by my animals even for a short amount of time(like a 145F basking spot) is left. Most people do not use this approach. They just follow the example of a bare minimum care sheets or the girl next door with the 2 leos and a rainbow boa. I feel that this is why most people in this hobby do not see or experience all that their charges have to offer and is why most keepers standers of success are just laughable. What is up with this, in my opinion horrible approach to captive husbandry standards?

Jsin.

'Tis better to be silent and be thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt.'

Abraham Lincoln, (attributed)
16th president of US (1809 - 1865)

She is housed in a 40 gallon terrarium. Most sources say a 10 gallon is the right size, but I think 10 gallons is too small for any herp. There are three hiding areas in the terrarium. One in the cool side, the middle, and the hot side.

The cool side is 76-80 degrees. The warm side is 90-95 degrees. I let the temps drop at night about 7 degrees on the warm side. These temps are not what a lot of sources recommend, but she is doing very well. She spends most of her time in the middle and warm areas but rarely the cool side.

I don't think you should just guess at what a herp needs. It could cause a lot of unnecessary stress.

1 albino reverse stripe leopard gecko Yoshi 

1 silver miniature poodle Midnight

Exactly, and some herps actually don't like wide open cages were they can freely do whatever they want. It could stress them out and make them feel un-secure. And I mean is going over the limit really nessecary? The people that give the minimum to there herps are the people that buy there stuff at petsmart. Everybody on this site knows how to keep there herp in a nice, comfortable enclosure (or at least I hope so). Having one side 110 degrees and another 80 degrees for a reptile that dosn't need that extreme of temps. dosn't make sense to me. And it also sounds like a waste of space.

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0.0.1 Python regius
0.0.1 Eublepharis macularius
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"Life is so unlike theory"-Anthony Trollope

It is all about doing your research on the animal. Bare minimums can be two different things. You can do bare minimums because the animal is small and in time you will have to upgrade the cage. This is good sometimes when dealing with small reptiles. Where if they were in a larger cage they might not be able to find their food. It's knowing that you will have to upgrade and don't is when it becomes a problem. Bare minimums can be on cage decors you need the necessities but rather then going live plant you do fake.

I have tarantulas and most people go way over board on them, in the end they think they are providing them with best care when in reality it may be doing more harm then good.  Take a rose hair tarantula, I have people come into the store I work and tell me they have a tarantula. Of course I start asking questions. I usually find out that they have them on a thin layer of sand, in a 10 gallon tank, with a heat lamp on it and a sponge in the water dish they feed them every other day or put a bunch of crickets in the tank until they are all gone or they have died. Okay here is the truth. First sand is too abrasive of a substrate. Yes they come from a very arrid part of Chile but it is more scrub land and coco fibers, peat moss or even cheap potting soil is all you need. A 10 gallon tank is much to big for them a shoe box size container is all you need but if you have a 10 gallon go ahead and use it just make the substrate very deep. The height of the tank should be no more then 1 1/2 times the leg span of the spider. Why you might ask, because they can die from a fall greater then that. You don't need the heat light or any other other heat source because it dries out the spider especially when the are molting they need moisture. If you keep your house above 65 degree then they should be fine. They also don't need a sponge because it harbors bacteria. A shallow water dish is fine or spray the sides of the cage. A hide maybe needed but if they are in a dark room or shelf it may not be needed. They don't have to feed everyday, once a week is fine, some even do it every other week. You should never leave uneaten crickets in the tank weather they are alive or died. Alive they can harm the tarantula if it is molting and if they are died can carry other parasites.

That was an example on one tarantula's needs. Now cage requirement change with each species. Some require larger cages then others, weather it is height or length, some require more humidity then others. It is doing the research that is what is required to provide the proper environment. You can make an enclosure look great but it isn't always necessary and sometimes bare minimums are better.

Bearded Dragon

2 Viper Geckos

Sinaloan Milksnake

145 Tarantulas and counting

1 trap door spider

8 scorpions

4 Birds

3 gallon Male Betta

Baby red devil/Midas cichlid

7 gallon nano reef tank

125 gallon freshwater tank.

Then you have the people who really love their reptiles, but have fallen on hard times and just can't provide that amazing, huge terrarium. Bare minimums may not be the best, but they work for people.

In my case, yes, my male leopard geckos live in ten gallon tanks. I have never purchased a ten gallon tank, people give them to me because they know I use them. I would definently love for Pongo and Kirby to live in their own personal twenty gallon tank, but I can't afford it right now. Pongo was a rescue, a little kid didn't want him anymore so he was letting it loose in his yard. I had to nearly go broke to give him bare minimum. I am also rescuing Pongo's tank mate, Maestro: yes, two male leopard geckos were housed together, yikes. But I have to save up the money.

On the other hand, my two female leopard geckos are housed in an elaborate thirty-five gallon breeder tank.

Money dictates everyone's decisions here lately. It sucks, I know, but some people just can't afford it.

 My herps: 
2.3.0. Leopard geckos 
                      (High Yellow X Albino), named Kirby
                      (Tangerine Tornado), named Esmerelda
                      (Rainwater Patternless Albino), named Kiwi
                      (Regular Jungle), named Pongo rescued
                      (?), named Maria rescued
1.0.0. Red Eye Tree Frog
                      (Heterozygous Xantic), named Rufus

 I'm convinced that the idea that snakes, especially babies, get stressed in large enclousere is a myth. It's a myth that does not get challenged. Being restricted in movement is more stressful. The key is providing plenty of nice tight hides and substrate deep enough to burrow in.  When I first got my bull snake I had to keep him in a 40 gallon until my Boaphile was delivered. He was constantly climbing the glass. When he was switched into a 6ft cage, he stopped.  My hognose is starting to climb the glass, witch tells me it's time to get her out of a 20 gallon.

0.1 Mexican Black Kingsnake
0.1 Western Hognose
0.1 Childrens Python
0.1 Everglades Ratsnake
1.0 Bull snake
1.1.2 Crested Geckos

  "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence" - Carl Sagan

I think as long as the animal feels safe it will be ok.

I like to go overboard when possible but like other have said money can be an issue sometimes. 

1.0 Burmese Python

0.1 Ball Python

1.0 Spider Ball Python

Again if you have only a couple of animals and you want to go all out that is great, knock your socks off. We have 150 tarantulas and we don't have huge tanks for each of them. There are a few that have a bigger cages but most have minimum cages. We do research on each of the animals to provide them what they need. We move them to a different cage as the animal grows.You would not put a spiderling in a huge cage. It is hard to provide proper care if it has higher humidity needs it is hard to keep the humidity up and they would have a hard time finding food.

Bearded Dragon

2 Viper Geckos

Sinaloan Milksnake

145 Tarantulas and counting

1 trap door spider

8 scorpions

4 Birds

3 gallon Male Betta

Baby red devil/Midas cichlid

7 gallon nano reef tank

125 gallon freshwater tank.