Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey all,

After a week of research, I finally decided to get a pair of mossy leaf-tailed geckos for my 20 tall tank. I'm refurbishing it a bit so I can add some live plants, but I still added a photo so you get the general idea. It's pretty much staying the same, I just redid the background with sphagnum mulch so it looks better, and put a pot behing the driftwood on the right side. Will I need more cover and branches than what I have already? What is your favorite substrate, and what is the best way to get the buggers to breed? They're only 7 months now, but I figure the better the habitat, the better my chances are when they're old enough....

Any other ideas/suggestions are welcome and appreciated!

i would layer some black topsoil on top of the pea gravel ( possibly put some fiberglass screen down ontop of the pea gravel) and then i put eco earth on top of the soil. climbing and hides are necessary. the back looks like it may provide for some good hides but i would definately add some criss crossing branches towards the front of the enclosure, that looks quite empty.

Crestie,

why put eco earth on top of the black soil. If its organic soil, there should be no difference in having the soil or eco earth on top. this should give some good insight though, my satanics and eban's that are kept on organic potting soil lay eggs regularly, those kept on cocotek/ecoearth have laid eggs for me maybe once or twice. Big difference huh?

Damn LA and its lack of organic soils!! I miss San Francisoco!

Jason

Cork bark tubes or any wood that has some naturally occuring moss on it is good. Check out black jungle. They have some awesome ghost wood there. They also have some type of wood that has a propensity to grow moss and other odd forest floor dwelling items on it. I'm looking into buying some of that.

Cheers
Jason

i don't know why i put eco earth on top, i guess maybe i just like the way it looks better .

Ok, I have the eco-earth, its just shredded coconut fiber, so I actually did know what it is, just not by the real name.

I didn't like any of the driftwood the petstore has, its all small knotty stuff like what I have on the back of the cage, so I was going to go down to the river and find some good branching driftwood. Does anyone have a recommendation for how to treat the wood when I get it? Bake it, bleach it???

I'll also be getting some bark circles. The other petstore (closed for the 4th) just got some in. Too bad they don't sell driftwood, LOL.

Lastly, I've always wanted some of the live moss that LLLreptile sells. Does anyone here have an opinion on this stuff???

http://lllreptile.com/store/catalog/reptile-cage-supplies/bedding/-/live-terrarium-moss/

Ok, one last question. Does anyone have a book recommendation? I've got all the basics down, but I'm always up for buying a good book to have on hand.

I wouldn't bother with driftwood. Since you're inquiring about U.sikorae, look for fallen branches in the woods or branches on trees that have lots of texture and and moss growing on it. I personally just run then branches through the dishwasher without detergent. Never had an issue with them developing problems with that method. I'm not a big fan of bleach to be honest.

Jason

Whats your second alternative for someone who doesn't have a dishwasher???

By hand haha. That's what I do. If they have come from a forest where I know no fertilzers or anything have been used then I just rinse and scrub, sometimes just rinse. I avoid the old rotten stuff and just find fresh fallen or dried pieces and sometimes break off some fresh branches if they suit my needs. A good book is Leaf Tailed Geckos - The Genus Uroplatus by Van Duin and Svatek, hard to find but a good purchase, try amazon that i where I found my copy. Good luck.

Mike

Also, where do I get eco-earth and fiberglass screen. I've never heard of it.

And if you're using topsoil as a substrate, how often do you change it???

this is just the way i have mine set up... i'll post a couple pictures. email me about screen... mylude90@gmail.com

here's another picture...

you can get eco earth or bed-a-beast from just about any local pet shop.

Awesome photos, thank you!

Are the plants you have planted directly into the soil substrate, or are they in some sort of container?

there's a pothos plant planted directly into the substrate on the bottom, and in each 1/2 of the cage there are hanging plant baskets.