Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am finally deciding to move my 12 inch baby dwarf out of his 3 foot by 12 inch tank and move him into either a 6 foot by 18 inch tank or a 6 foot by 24 inch one. right now I can afford to buy him a 125 gallon tank for the meanwhile. This should last him at least one year if not 1.5 years. By that time I should be able to custom build a cage for him. What size tanks do you all keep you 12 inch gators in? any takes on this topic?

PS: By the way he finally ate a thawed pinky mouse
BIG TANK, he still won't eat your dish (raw meat mixed with reptocal) ...LOL
OHHHH WELL, maybe he is still too young for that.

For now a 125 should be ok. I would say that the 24" would be best as it will give him more room to turn. I have two small alligators (12-16" in a 125 right now and there in plenty of room.
Another idea would be to save some money on buying the aquarium, and get a stock tank from your local feed store. They are much cheaper and much larger. A 300gal runs about $175 and would be perfect for him for a long time. You can even use it when you build a custom cage as a pond.

John Paner

I looked into your idea John, about buying a 300 gallon stock tank. They have some nice ones on www.stockyardsupply.com. The only problem is it's 6 feet wide and I dont have that much room to offer right now. When i buy my own house though I will buy that one. It saves money
I have an option of buying a 125 gallon tank for $300 which is 6' by 18 inches. OR I can buy a tank that is 7 feet by 24 inches ( I believe its 210 gallons) for $500. Its $200 difference and I think its not worth the extra foot of space. I will get the 125 gallon for now and after two years just get a stock tank for him. I think its my best bet right now.

PS: how long are you planning on keeping your two gators in your 125 gallon tank? Just curious length wise and time wise. Thanks

There are other sizes of stocktanks. There is a nice 150gal one that runs about $80 that may work out for you also. We have alot of alligators and those will move out when we get smaller ones in, or when it seems small in there. Maybe when they are about 20-24"

John

Well,
been a while since I posted, but thought I'd throw my two cents in here to help you out.

The 210 gallon aquarium is actually a much better deal. You may not get the full value by using it as a terrarium, but let me tell why it's better value.

A tank taller than 16-18 inches needs a bottom piece of glass much thicker as the pressure from the water is significantly greater. Thus, this extra foot in length and 18" in width, is actually giving you 1.5 sqaure feet of a very expensive glass (it's most likely 5/8" - thicker than the sides)

$500 for that tank is cheap - I would grab it in a sec if it was in Canada. Don't forget it's 3 cubic feet more of space.

Mr. F

Yeah, you are right about that. Its actually 24 inches in width, not 18. $500 is a killer price. Unfortunately the space that I have is exactly 6 feet. A 7 foot tank will not fit. So I have purchased the 125 gallon tank. With taxes it came out to be $296.47 (brand new). This is still a sweet deal. Most 125 gallon tanks go for $350 to $450 here in chicago. My dwarf will love it, as he can now actually swim.

I built a 3.5 foot land area on top of the water. So he now had 6 feet of water and 3.5 feet of land on top. Hope he won't complain for a few years. hehe