Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey there everyone! I've been doing a lot of reading (and lurking) around here and in quite a few books and I have finally decided to get a Leo Gecko or two. They seem like really neat little friends!

But anywho... My question was: Since I am going to spend the money on these little guys and try and make their home as comfortable as possible for them, which type of "cage" (for lack of a better word at the moment) does everyone think would work out better? Would I be better off with an all-glass aquarium, or maybe one of the cages with the sliding doors in the front? I'm not sure how much more expensive they are than aquariums, but I like the accessibility feature better.

Oh, and one more question... Is a slate substrate hard to heat? I was thinking of an UTH, but I wasn't sure if I used slate as a substrate (for asthetic and cleaning purposes) if it would heat as well as maybe a basking lamp type setup.

Any information and opinions you guys can pass along would be wonderful! I want to get the tank and everything set up as soon as possible so I can get everything right before I get my new friends. I was hoping to go to the Columbus show in 3 weekends, if it's a good one... haven't heard much about it.

Thanks!
~AnnaLe~

I would go with an all glass tank...that is what I use and love them.
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Geckos will generally feel more secure with less clear glass around them. Some people use a backing on one to three sides of a glass aquarium to make their animals feel more secure. However, I feel that as long as you have enough nice hides, it is really fine to go either way- glass aquarium or cage with sliding front. Just make sure you have a latch on that sliding front, I have a gecko who has learned to climb up and open the sliding glass TOP of her aquarium (I have it clipped shut now!)

Here is a pic of pumpkin trying to open her screen top

Thanks guys for the info! I did a little searching for cages with sliding doors and they are a lot more expensive than what I'm willing to spend on just a cage!

I also found a previous post about using textured ceramic tile as a "substrate"... that doesn't sound like too bad of an idea either. This is getting a little easier to figure out post by post. Now I just need to figure out the heating/lighting dilema and I *might* be able to come up with a shopping list.

Thanks again!
~AnnaLe

Geckos need some kind of undertank heat, usually you will need a thermostat with that though if you use a human heat pad you may be able to do without. If you want to do a heat lamp in addition that is fine but is not neccessary as long as you have a properly heated substrate. I haven't used slate or tile myself but they are supposed to be good at conducting heat.

i have glass aquariums as my gex cages, but you can always buy or make a cage with a slideing glass front.

just a thought
ashley

For my female, I use a 20 gallon glass aquarium and it works fine. Fairly easy to clean, and pretty cheap. As for the tiles, i dont use slate or anything like that but i doubt it would be hard to heat. L8er
MaC