Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Do you see any flaws in this set up?
Tank: 20 gallon long w/ screen top
Substrate: Cage carpet by zoomed
Heating: Under tank heater
Shelter: U-log with spagg'm moss (away from heat)
There will be a flat rock 2-3 inches off the ground leading up to the hammock and some empty space to offer 3 different heat spots and the U-log and will be the cool spot.
Please comment if you have any better ideas that I can pull off on a low budget.

Is the U-log supposed to be the humid hide(Because of the moss)? If not, be sure to add one(The log may or may not contain the proper humidy level anyway). They're easily maid from tupperware/rubbermaid containers and moist papertowel. Take care.

-Brittany

No post.

Yup, the moss will go under the log, I just hope the wood doesnt rot or anything. If it does Ill try one of those hamster igloos, the larger ones seem fitting.

I would dump the cage carpet and just use paper towels to save some money. If you do stick with the carpet get 2 pieces so you can just swith them out when you need to clean them.

You will need some sort of temperature control device for your heat source. An inline dimmer from home depot should work. You just plug the heat pad into it and then into the wall.

You should have at least 2 hides but 3 is better. ( 1 cool dry, 1 warm dry, and 1 warm moist) I would just use a few overturned plant pot bases for the dry hides and then a butter bowl or disposible gladware container for the moist hide. These would be cheaper than one of those logs. Also the pot bases should feel more secure to the gecko since it is not open on both ends.

Also don't forget a calcium dish and water dish. But I would just use something like a spaghetti sauce jar lid for calcium and a peanut butter lid for water. Oh a a food dish if you plan on feeding mealworms.

Whatever you do I would try to keep it simple at first. Then, if you want, you can slowly buy things that look better once you feel you have a handle on things like temperature control and stuff.

Be sure to feed and water the prey items, such as crickets and mealworms well. I usually feed my crickets some crush dog food...something with protein so the crickets get nice and fat, looking like they are about to explode, and if you don't feed them enough protein they will start eating each other. You can try some unmedicated chick mash (which is high in calcium) and tropical fish flake food for varieties. For even more varieties some vegetable like shreded green beans, some winter squash (grated), grated parsnips, and calcium rich greens like collard and mustard greens and dadelion and a little bit of fruits. I heard the fish food really brings out the color. The way I water my crickets is I give them a shallow dish of water with gravel in it. From my experience watering the crickets this way will make them well hydrated, and they even ooze out water when you pick them up. THis helps with the shedding also when the crickets has a lot of moisture in them. Your gecko will get the extra moisture from it. I have never had my gecko having problem with shedding this way. You can feed mealworms some crush dog food also. Just spray it down with water to moisten it so the mealworms get some water into them. Be sure to change it frequently because moist dog food goes bad and get moldy quickly. Don't feed you pray items cat food because it contains a lot of stuff that isn't so good for a lot of animals besides cat, and it simply is too high in fat. Good luck!

I can do dogfood easy since I have dogs. How many crickets should I buy if I keep them in a big rubbermaid bin about 3 feet long, 2 feet tall and 2 feet wide? I dont want them to be so cramped that half of them die, but I dont want to go buy 5 crickets every day for the next 15 years. I'm thinking a weeks worth would be OK since I'm only getting one gecko. Also, how many do I feed it daily? And do they eat any veggies or anything, so just in case I cant get crix, it will have something so live off of for couple days.

For a week worth get 100-200 crickets, but you can certainly put about 300-400 in the rubbermaid container. Just make sure to put a lot of tollet paper rolls and egg carten in there for them to hide. And to answer your question, yes, crickets do eat vegetables, and that's one way to get moisture into them by giving them vegetables. Just make sure it is nutritious vegetable like I mention in the above reponse to you. Good luck!

as for crix dieing off, i mass order thousands of 1" crix (from wormman.com) and set up up to 5000 in a sweater box with egg cartons, a small heatlamp and a potato sliced in twochanged daily, they will survive up to 6 weeks in this type enclosure, especially smaller crix,
cheers,
mike