Reptile & Amphibian Forums

assuming some mods would be made to this design (i.e. artificial lighting (for the plants) and a full length door to prevent escape at the bottom, what would the feasibility of this design be?

obvious concerns:

1) the wood in regard to the humidity. can it be treated/ coated/ lacquered (etc.) to prevent water/humdity damage? if so, what products can be used safely?

2) humidity - obviously hard to maintain with so much screenage. a rubbermaid tub of water in the bottom would probably work. the plant would need some sort of elevation though ...

3) feeding - i would imagine that in this set-up, it would be nearly impossible to feed geckos crickets. was thinking maybe a shelf for CGD and baby food ... will they find the food on shelf in a *large* enclosure?

i'm sure there are other concerns, ideas, etc., i'm missing - please help. last thing i want to do is sink all my time and the money into building something useless.

i would heghly suggest you post this on the cage and habitat design forum.

as for sealing the wood , ask them on that forum, they will know

for humidity you could use thin 1/8" acrylic for the sides, back and top and screen for the door. or even thin plywood if you are going to be sealing wood anyway. if price doesnt matter i would suggest plastic like sintra or HDPE. another trick for humidity is to use an ultrasonic humidifier, i have one hooked up to my RETF tank (pic below) just connect it to a timer.

for feeding you could get a 10 gal tank at walmart for 10$ and put it in the enclosure with crickets in it. the geckos can climb the glass in but the crickets cannot get out (if the geckos are "mentally challenged" and run into the glass to get the crickets, cover the sides with paper or paint the outside, they will figure out how to get into the top. once they have eaten just take it back out.( if you cover the sides with paper they may noy be able to climb it and you may need to prop a branch for them to climb ) as for the shelf that would be fine, they will find the CGD and keep coming back

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1.1 Gargoyle geckos
1.1 leucistic leopard gecko
0.0.1 asian golden tree frog
1.0 oriental firebelly toad
0.1 european firebelly toad
1.0 albino betta
1.0 orange tabby
0.0.1 asian painted frog
1.0 broad headed skink
0.0.1 fowlers toad
1.1 red eyed tree frog
1.1 red eared sliders
476.769.47 feeder crickets

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1.1 Gargoyle geckos
1.1 leucistic leopard gecko
0.0.1 asian golden tree frog
1.0 oriental firebelly toad
0.1 european firebelly toad
1.0 albino betta
1.0 orange tabby
0.0.1 asian painted frog
1.0 broad headed skink
0.0.1 fowlers toad
1.1 red eyed tree frog
1.1 red eared sliders
476.769.47 feeder crickets

those enclosures are intended for chameleons, they wouldn't really work that great for smaller geckos. it would be hard to monitor their feeding in my opinion.

it is a neat idea because they would have so much room, but overall i dont think it would work that well.
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I wouldn't use them they don't look like gecko cages and the humidity would be to hard to keep up it looks like. I would look at Reptariums if you want something like that or those racks from Anthony

Just my 2 cents

Derek

1. Wood and water dammage ...Just put a couple coats of poly. Ive been using 9 wooden screen cages for over a year with no problems what so ever . and a very large one for a iguana for 6 years.

2. Humidity and screen cages --humidity and cresteds is misunderstood and overrated. Thier country isnt a constant 75% humidity. It rains humidity goes up the sun comes out it goes down .Your cages should completely dry out as well.Reptiles like to dry out and mold will be a problem if your cage is always damp.
Secondly cresteds dont require high humidity for thier health.a misting each day seems more than adequate.

3.Crickets ..put the crickets in a tub they wont be able to climb out but the geckos can climb in .After a few feedings the cresteds figure out how to get them.A plastic tub is better than glass cresteds never really catch on to see through walls and bang thier heads alot.

4.size ...I dont think cresteds need to be in a small enclosure to survive .Im sure they would enjoy the space.However males will stake out a territory and do battle till thier tails come off.So a large enclosure doesnt mean you can have more cresteds (Although I suppose thats how its done in the wild) But who knows how big a territory a male crested would own?

where do you live? what is the humidity in your house usually? unless you live in the desert, i agree with drkfantasy, humidity is over rated with cresties, and yes, it is also important for the whole place to dry out a little before misting again, once to twice a day is fine even in a screen cage. allen repashy breeds his cresties in screen cages and has pics of them in his book. and i believe he is in california, which isnt the most humid place. i say go with that design it is good for what you need and econimical.

you could make the whole thing out of 2x2s and window screen. the fiberglass screen is easier to work with but the crickets could chew through it. aluminum screen would last longer. also you wouldnt need too many tools for this, a handsaw and hammer would do the whole job.
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1.1 Gargoyle geckos
1.1 leucistic leopard gecko
0.0.1 asian golden tree frog
1.0 oriental firebelly toad
0.1 european firebelly toad
1.0 albino betta
1.0 orange tabby
0.0.1 asian painted frog
1.0 broad headed skink
0.0.1 fowlers toad
1.1 red eyed tree frog
1.1 red eared sliders
476.769.47 feeder crickets