Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hey guys,

i have a 40 Gal breeder tank, and was wondering what the best gecko woul dbe to have in there being just one or a colony???

thanks

mike

I'm not sure what you mean by "breeder tank" are we talking a 40 gallon long, tall, or balanced? That makes a huge difference.

Also what are you interested in? Most geckos are nocturnal, but you can get a great range in temperatures from room to high desert. You also have to consider how much maintenance you'd like to put into the gecko or geckos and whether you want a more display animal or one with a higher tolerance to handling.

We're not ones to just throw out gecko species, you need to consider what your preferences, herp experience, and lifestyle will allow you to keep, rather than what will just fill your space. If you give us some more information, we can help you narrow down your research, but we all like to feel like you are looking for a new companion not a space filler. That's all.
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0.1 Albino Leo Gecko
0.1 Crested Gecko
1.0 Dear Boyfriend
Departed: Harvey and Spock

yep and im not one to throw an animal away, i have lots of experince with Rhino's, and other cyclura iguana's , its a 40 Long, i like the viper gecko's they seem really intresting, or the gargoyle gecko's, its really between the two, its for more of a show enclosure, not much handleing only handle them when im cleaning out there cage... money is no object, and neither are light set ups, i have a bunch of flour. repti sun bulbs, and heat lamps and tons of heat pads and such ...

I say just pick one you like and adapt the enclosure for that species, if the enclosure isn't good enough buy a new one.
Foot Hill Reptiles

Auriculatus has my vote!

Thanks, that helps a lot. Hope I didn't sound mean, just we get a lot of "throw aways" around here sometimes and it becomes frustrating.

Well, if it is between vipers and gargs, you're going to have to edit that cage for both. Vipers are soooooo small, you might want to block off part of the terrarium even for a bunch of them. I've been looking into vipers myself, they seem very easy to care for and just too cute. Gargs on the other hand are going to want height, but given enough branches and vines you could make the space work well. While you'll have more than enough room for two gargs, they can be very aggressive to each other, even two females. You can get the relationship to work, I'm only saying it isn't as easy as say dropping two leos or two cresteds together. For the gargs you might even want to consider standing the enclosure on end and fill with plants(real or fake), vines, and other climbing stuff (our crested loves a parrot ladder of all things) then it would truly be Rhac heaven.

From my limited experience vipers seem to be a bit more active scampering around whereas gargs are a little more relaxed and content to just sit still. When I wanted a Rhac it was between a crested and a garg, I spent a lot of time with a friend who happened at the time to have both and I chose the crested for the higher activity level. Just my opinion, stop by the "crested" section here for more information on Rhacs, we tend to talk about gargs a lot and any other Rhac that comes up. (Help me, my Boyfriend wants a leachie!)

So now that I've babbled on as per my usual state, I chose against gargs because I like to watch my pets and my crested keeps me entertained rustling her leaves all night. In addition, I have been personally looking into vipers myself, but the independent pet store we drive an hour to (because she's just that good) warned me about loose vipers, she thinks she might have a "wild" colony in her store. Other than that, she loves them. In summary, I'm no help at all. But with a little work, you could do either in that enclosure, maybe then consider things like daily misting vs having to deal with REALLY small crickets?

Good luck, let us know what you choose!
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0.1 Albino Leo Gecko
0.1 Crested Gecko
1.0 Dear Boyfriend
Departed: Harvey and Spock