This is something that I was thinking about and it will not happen now because the conditions are not right. I was wanting to make a big leopard gecko enclosure with secured stacked rocks, calcium carbonate sand, a few soft cacti that would not be too abrasive to the leos skin, some climbing limbs that I picked up in west TX, a few humid hide boxes hidden within the rocks and lots of random hides throughout the enclosure. I am thinking of housing all of my leos in there. Six of them in one enclosure. I was thinking of making it 4'x3'x2'. The bottom would be wood with a piece of plexiglass on top of the wood. Underneath the plexiglass would be a strip of heat tape that would run about 1/3 of the front side of the enlosure so that I could watch the leos bask.
The top of the enclosure will be hinged with regular florescent lights on top. with a wood/wire mesh top with holes small enough that crickets cannot get out. Will also put some clear plastic tape around the edges of the enclosure to keep crickets in. I might also line the top with weather stripping for extra security against cricket escape.
I want to also place in this enclosure a large feeding bowl in which I can put as many as 200 meal worms in it. I will put places in food bowl for some of the mealies to hide so that they are not all consumed right away and it will keep the hunting instinct strong. I'm thinking of forming a wood structure in it that they can burrow into. I want to make it so so minimal amounts of mealies can get out of the food bowl and about 30-50 mealies are consumed per day.
I have 2 males so I need to have 2 ample spaces for them to claim territory and for them not to be too competitive towards each other for mates. There are 4 females which will also need enough room to claim their own territories within a males domain. Hence all the hiding spaces.
I want to have this on nice stand with a rack system underneath of it, which will hold 6 ten gallon aquariums and a 15 gallon long aquarium all equipped with lids, lights and heat tape. These tanks will house 3 baird's rat snake, 2 corn snakes, and a tiger salamander in the 15 gallon tank. I'd have one extra 10 gallon tank left for baby leos to sell.
I'd also want to build a smaller rack system to be used as a quarantine/equipment storage rack so that I have a place to store my various herp medications, newspaper and woodshavings used as substrate. I'd make another rack system for insects. I'd have a cricket breeding thing going on as well as mealworms. These would be used to feed my leos, tokay and tiger salamander.
This would all be too sweet, but will not be done until I get my own place. Right now my "zoo" is in my bedroom. Trust me new herpers don't ever do this. My room always smells no matter how much cleaning I do, and it keeps the women away.
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My Critters
6 Leopard Gecko 2.4.0
1 Tokay Gecko 1.0.0
2 Ball Pythons 2.0.0
1 Black Kingsnake 1.0.0
1 Mex Black/cali king hybrid 1.0.0
3 Baird's Rat Snake (Thanks Vadoni!) 2.1.0
***1.0 Loma Alta***1.2Hawkeye 04 stock***
2 Gray Ratsnakes 0.1.1
1 04 Amel Cornsnake 0.1
1 04 Anery Cornsnake 1.0
3 Dekay's Snake 0.1.2
1.0 Ambystoma tigrinum nebulosum
1.1 Green Tree Frogs (H. cinerea)
Critters under my care
3 Red Milk Snakes 02
2 Mexican Milk Snakes
2 Black King snakes 03
2 Mexican Black/California King Hybrids
11 California Kingsnakes
1 Eastern Kingsnake
11 Graybanded Kingsnakes
2 Baird's Rat Snake
1 Yellow Rat Snake
1 Everglades Rat Snake
25 Corn Snakes
2 African house snakes
1 Green Tree Python
2 Boa c. constrictor
1 Mottled Rock Rattlesnake
