Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Fake Rock, foam or other bases...

I am wanting to make my own setup for a breeding group of AFT Gecko's, 3 adults in all, and was looking at doing something more natural. I currently have them and 5 juvies in a rack system they while practical lacks a lot in terms of viewing enjoyment. They are such cool looking animals and viewing them is a big part for me...something I miss with my rack system right now.

My current thought is to build my own structure (box) and then add the foam type fake rock as the substrate...my main concerns are two fold:

1) How to give them efficient "belly heat" since a basking light is useless for these nocturnal guys and 2) sanitation of such a structure.

I have been thinking that making a "mold" of the rock type surface in the box and then making a fiberglass shell of it...this would let me reduce weight and possibly give me a thinner shell to be able to attach heattape to the underside for heating...

As far as cleaning the best method I've come up with is a hand held steam-cleaner of some sort...

A removable top...for ease of cleaning and handling the animals....sliding glass or plexi doors for the daily feeding or watering needs...

Possible red light or blue lamp for night time viewing...

Any other thoughts or comments before I commence to driving myself nuts?

Thanks,

Lee
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1.0 Fattail - Amel het Stripe
0.2 Fattails - Normal het Amel, het Stripe
0.0.5 Fattails Juvies - Amel het stripe
20 Corn Snakes (many different morphs)
2 tubs of Mealies, a ton of Roaches and too many crickets

Typically to provide belly heat one leaves bare areas of the floor and covers it with a substrate with decent heat conductivity. Sand, gravel, etc. or whatever does not cause a digestive hazzard to the animal. You can have areas of fake rock on the floor, just don't cover all of it.

Or, the fake rocks for the floor can be made individually and removed as needed. This is a neat way to provide sub-terranian areas, etc.

I'm not entirely sure a basking light is "useless" for this species. At the very least it will provide some ambient heat as well as nocturnal viewing.

Only other comment I might have is that having a top opening cage has never seemed that much more convenient to me vs. front opening. With a double sliding door system it's easy to remove both pieces for those times you need to do a thorough cleaning.

But your peace of mind is what's most important here. If you want top opening you should include it. You might be able to come up with a lid of some sort that hid the lights, etc. and also allowed for the cage to be completely opened when you need it.

Ok, so if I am understanding you and following what your saying...it would be easier to just do the fake rock stuff on 3/4's of the viv setup and leave a sand area and place the UTH/flexwatt under there and use that area for my main heating source?

I appreciate the advise and insight on the removable top...I just wasn't sure how much value there would be for ease of cleaning with the hand held steamer but I guess I should go find a small unit to see the size of one first.

If anyone else has any more input or setup pics or examples, etc I'd love to hear it and see them...

This particular Forum is very neat and has some awesome potential...I'd love to see it get more useage.

Thanks,

Lee
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1.0 Fattail - Amel het Stripe
0.2 Fattails - Normal het Amel, het Stripe
0.0.5 Fattails Juvies - Amel het stripe
20 Corn Snakes (many different morphs)
2 tubs of Mealies, a ton of Roaches and too many crickets

Sort of. What I would do is make "permanent" foam rock work on the sides and back walls of the cage. The front (obviously), floor and ceiling would be bare. The floor could then be decorated with sand and removable rocks, wood, and other stuff.

The UTH would go under the floor as you said.

You might try to do this with my "storage tote" cage design.

What I do is take a 50 gallon storage tote and mount it on an epoxy-sealed face frame. The top of the tote is routed out and screen is attached with rivets and hot glue.

It would be very easy to spray foam on the sides and back wall and carve it to your liking. Then you would coat it with plaster of some sort and seal it.

Here's a picture of the front view of one of my storage tote cages. You would have to build yours horizontally.

In this picture you can see how the tote comes off the face frame and the screen attached to the top of the cage.

The joint between the tote and the frame is very strong. I was able to put my 40 lb. nephew in the cage and carry it around by the face frame. I use dozens of screws and a very strong polyurethane based caulk to attach the tote.

I think you would want to build sides for this cage so it would be free standing. Obviously you'd also want the cage to be oriented horizontally rather than vertically.

OK, I understand what your saying...good stuff.

I guess I go ahead and begin drawing up the look of what I want and see where that takes me...

Thanks again for the help and advice.

Lee
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1.0 Fattail - Amel het Stripe
0.2 Fattails - Normal het Amel, het Stripe
0.0.5 Fattails Juvies - Amel het stripe
20 Corn Snakes (many different morphs)
2 tubs of Mealies, a ton of Roaches and too many crickets

Frankly, basking lights work fine. I have uth and a basking light. My leopard geckos bask at night, AND they come out to bask during the day occasionally. They may be nocturnal, but they don't sleep ALL day, and if they're comfortable in the enclosure, they'll come out and lounge under the heat light and snooze, regardless of what time it is. A basking lamp heats the air, and if you place it under over a hide, it will heat the hide, too.

Thanks for the opion WingedWolf...

I am not so sure my Fatties would come out to bask...I tried a basking light setup when I 1st got them and they never came out until I turned it off at night...they seem to really dislike the like...LOL But maybe with a red or blue light bulb I could get them to change their minds some on the subject...

Thanks again for the input.

Lee
-----
1.0 Fattail - Amel het Stripe
0.2 Fattails - Normal het Amel, het Stripe
0.0.5 Fattails Juvies - Amel het stripe
20 Corn Snakes (many different morphs)
2 tubs of Mealies, a ton of Roaches and too many crickets