ok well i got a second gecko in the fall... and shes finally starting to get to where shes big enough to live with my older one... im planning to sell all the hides and everything i have in my 20 gallon long tank and start completely over... and i want it to be completely awesome... i have a heatpad under one side... and also a ceramic heat lamp... usually the heatpad is plenty warm...(87-93 deg F) right now i have 2 pretty large hides in there.... but i have someone willing to buy them both for the same amount i payed for em... i was thinking i would get some playground sand since that seems to be generally considered the best right now... but beyond that i need ideas to make the thing look completely awesome... and im alright at making things with my hands... so ideas for making things would be good also... im a poor starving college student but money isnt too too much of an issue... if i need more... ill just go sell more plasma... but generally cheaper is better...
Take the heat pad off. because if you dont you'll only heat up the bottom of the tank so first off get a heat light. you should get some large branches that spread across the whole tank and get alot of fake vines an stuff :wink: :mrgreen:
Have you thought of making the sides and back of the vivarium out paper mache and then painting and sealing it ? or how about making it out of polystyrene and melting parts of it to make it rough then spray painting then sealing it. LIZZY10 suggested Leopard Gecko's are TERRESTIAL so why would they need large branches ? unless they are on the substrate Also she said the heat mats will only heat the bottom of the tank ..DUH.... thats where LEOPARD GECKO'S live. I would change the heat mat, but only because they dont heat very well under sand. If the sand is VERY shallow (1/4 in) then I would use one with great care otherwise i would use a RED spotlight in conjunction with a thermostat I made a 48in long 24in wide 15in high for leo's and used 1/2 of calci-sand and a few broken bricks with some cleaned roof tiles and black plastic roof guttering to make an "urban jungle". It sounds crap but it looked good and different.
Leopard geckos are terrestrial, but they do climb. Terrestrial just means they're not arboreal (living in the trees). That doesn't mean they won't climb rocks, wood limbs, etc. And they will given the opportunity, although I would go with rocks & caves rather than wood.
hmmmm polystyrene?... like styrafoam?... the white blocks they use for packaging things? the paper mache or polystyrene for making stuff to go along the edges... i might have to experiment with that some... and i do have a ceramic heat bulb i can use on it... but usually the heatpad seems to be doing fine... altho it is heating a pretty limited area of the tank...
I use a human heat pad (because I too am a poor starving college student) under sand, which I keep on all day and night, and a heat lamp that runs from 8 A.M. to 8 P.M. I also bought some $.50 terra cotta pots that I cracked parts out of with a hammer and sanded the rough edges to make my hides, I have three and a half-log hide in a ten-gallon tank. I also put a fake cactus (because I thought it was funny) and some fake plants with suction cups on them between the pots. I have a repti-hammock too that I angled so that Memphis can climb to the top of a pot easily, and hang out if she chooses. I dunno, for pretty cheap, I think Memph's cage looks pretty awesome. I think it cost me about $15 to decorate it
the terra cotta pots sound like a pretty cool idea.... lol could prolly even get some from one the university activities...(they do this activity where you paint little pots...)
I love the look of coconuts, but Memphis is too big to crawl her fat self in them. She tries to hide from me in her log or pots, but little does she know that she's too big and her tail sticks out. She's not very stealthy.
I just responded in another thread about my enclosure. Slate tiles are awesome for a substrate. I use a under tank heater with a thermostat and it heats the warm spot to 90 degrees. I'll try and post pics here of what it looks like. The slate tiles are only $2 a piece and they fit perfectly - except for about a 6 inch gap at one end of the tank. Terry
ooo slate tiles sound real cool... could even put a thin layer of sand down under the tiles and between them... hmmm i'll have to think about that... could maybe even get "damaged" tiles for even cheaper... ones with chips or cracks or whatnot in em.... i was also thinking like getting rectangularish bricks or sandstone rocks and kinda stack them semi randomly so theres lots of holes and climbing steps and stuff... would just have to make sure they were stable and wouldnt fall over easily
Would really like to see pic's of enclosures with different substrates. My juvi's are a couple of months from getting off of paper towels and I would like a nice looking but easy to care for and clean enclosure.
Same thing here bidden mines bout 4.5-5 inches hes growing fast and i cant wait to get him off those anoying dull towels(i hate placing them exactly straight makes me go nuts!)
Personally I won't use any type of sand ( or anything else small that a leo could ingest). I've lost 2 reptiles due to issues with sand (play sand), and have heard of many others. I use carpet and heated tile 'caves'. The caves allow for the leo to go underneath in the warm, dark area or on the top in the open.
