Reptile & Amphibian Forums

For my highschool senior project I am planning on creating a living vivarium. I was originally considering dart frogs but would like to expand and consider other possible species that are suitable (and also im having difficulty evoking a response from any amphibiheads in the forums). The cage would be most likely around 40 gallons and incorporate a full surviving ecosystem minus the reptilians food source which i would add on a regular basis. would any sort of day gecko or possibly a pair be suitable cage spectacles? ANY input is appreciated no matter how small. thanks!

A pair of small day geckos like the gold dust day gecko or the peacock day gecko would do fine in a 40 gallon. However, do not put them in with any frogs. The smaller dart frogs require a different terrarium as well as different size food. And the bigger Frogs will kill your geckos. My baby red eyed tree frog just killed my baby gold dust day gecko.

Peacocks and Gold Dusts are great and a pair would most likely thrive in a 40 gal tank but they are F-A-S-T. P. klemmeri (Neon Day geckos) are also a good choice along the same lines as Peacocks and Gold Dusts.

One of the small leaftail species could work as well. A trio of satanics would be great in a 40 gal. And they're not going to zip out every time you take the lid off the tank which is a bonus. High humidity and low temps and they'll do well.

Problem is that these species are usually available as wild caught rather than captive bred. You could house a crested gecko in a 40 gal without any problem and they are easier to maintain than any of the aforementioned species as well as quite a bit cheaper up front.

Pros and cons of everything so far:

Day geckos:
Pros: gorgeous, small, day active, fun to observe
Cons: Fast, fragile

Leaftails:
Pros: small, hesitant to flee, amazing camouflage
Cons: virtually inactive during daytime, very fragile, almost always wild caught

Cresteds:
Pros: hardy, captive bred, "laid back"
Cons: larger gecko=more food and more space

That's my 2 cents anyway. Good luck!
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lost in the jungle somewhere
Z

YES, thank you guys! Finally there is some information that I can use. Ill look into those species.