Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Well, this isn't necessarily about geckos, however I think it could inspire some great cage set ups for just about any gecko species!

So, I've been thinking about the T-rex foam backgrounds, and just couldn't decide what I wanted to put in a cage utilizing them. There are so many animals they would work perfectly for, however I wanted to do something new and different. If you're not familiar with their foam backgrounds, you owe it to yourself to check them out. They're fitted pliable foam backgrounds that come in a variety of sizes and themes. They're very easy to clean, and since they're pliable and porous, they can work as a filter if a water pump is utilized ( in fact, many of them come with tubes nestled inside to help them function as a filter).
Here's what I came up utilizing the 'tree trunk tropics' background for round one in a 10 gallon aquarium to house 4.5 Vampire crabs.

Another thing that makes these backgrounds so versatile, is the fact that you can add plants or sticks to them just about anywhere you want. You can take a pocket knife, and make an X slit, and press plants down into the background, or what I've done in multiple places is put decorative sticks around using the same technique.

A shot from the top

and a couple others of the crabs loving their new habitat


I've seen them moving around just about everywhere in the cage, and the background really helps utilize the upper half of the cage, where normally it would be barren, or difficult to easily make use of the space.
Definitely check them out if you haven't already!

Oh yeah, and just for fun, here are a couple of better shots of the newly acquired crabs.

Questions, comments, and suggestions are welcomed as always!
Andrew

That looks great. I think those foam backgrounds are a serious improvement to a bare piece of glass. Now to the crabs. I'm assuming they're some kind of land crab, yes? Sure are colorful little rascals. I LIKE EM!!!

Quig

The crabs seem to be equally comfortable in the water, as they are on land. I was told to give them 1/2-2/3 of the cage land, and the rest water, so that's what I did, and they seem to be making use of all of it really. They're freshwater, and are scavengers and eat just about anything. You can read more about them here

Cool! I'm not normally a crab kinda guy but they look to be pretty interesting little critters. Thanks for the link.

Quig

I know, same here! I've never kept crabs in my life ( except for one fiddler crab when I was like 6). Just thought it'd be something new and different to keep around, and they're pretty neat!
Andrew

Those foam inserts are great. When the plants start to grow into it and moss over the top, it looks really cool. Love those vampire crabs! Josh