Lens caps as feeding hatches?

[WarrenB]

I'm currently gathering and preparing containers for new colonies, in anticipation of the spring and of people willing to ship me live insects again. Some of the roaches I have in mind (listed in the 2022 ambitions thread) seem a bit escape-prone compared to what I've already kept, so I've been thinking of ways to make sure they stay contained.

One of these is a feeding/maintenance hatch, that would lessen the need to pull the whole lid off the container, every time. I like the idea of the flip-up feeding hatches that the Spider Shop sells, but at 30mm diameter they seem good for a single cricket, less so for introducing or retrieving piles of veggies. I can't find anything bigger with a similar flip-up function, apart from bulky rifle scope covers. Anything that screws open or friction fits feels like it might loosen the half embedded in the container, over time. (Though that's probably me being paranoid again.)

Then I stumbled past something I'm already familiar with: camera lens caps. The type that clamps against the inside edge at the end of the lens housing. Here's a test of my 52mm cap (guess the brand) in a ~51mm hole, cut into a piece of scrap food container. (A little thinner than Braplast containers)

It's nicely snug and holds on pretty firmly. A big tarantula might be able to force it out, but not a bunch of tiny roaches. Maybe some infinitesimal climbing nymphs (like, knee-high to a fruit fly) might be able to squeeze through the gaps in the mechanism, but I don't know. I'd have to let them try, first. Also, not quite sure how it'd grip into thicker plastic, as of yet.

Off-brand replacement lens caps look to be pretty cheap on ebay, a couple of £ for sizes up to 82mm, 3 1/4" diameter. The 'side pinch' types seem a lot less convoluted than the 'centre pinch' types, like mine here.

[GardenDrag0n]

This is a bright idea. I was looking into adding a feeding hatch to an enclosure I have for some micro geckos and I like the idea of the flip cap.