What Gecko For Terrarium/vivarium?

[Iguana]

Hey everyone,

I've got an empty 45cmX45cm Exoterra terrarium, that I thought I might convert into a proper terrarium/vivarium, with live plants, UVB/UVA lighting, spring-tails ect.

I was wondering if there is any gecko species that would suit that size terrarium? Since the terrarium would be most likely tropical themed, with very high humidity, I feel i'm limited to my choices.

I was thinking leaf tailed geckos, but i'm not sure if the tank is big enough to hold even one.
Otherwise, i'm thinking maybe marble geckos? But I'd like something a little more eye catching if possible

Any advice is appreciated,
Thanks!

 

[kittycat17]

I've got no gecko experience at all but that terrarium sounds awesome I wanna see finished pics!!


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[Ella C]

Hi! I was wondering if you decided what gecko? I too am looking for a tropical species of Gecko to put in my 60x45x45 vivarium. I've done a similar thing, live plants, springtails and an expanding foam background. If you've completed this project, I'd love to see the finished result!

 

[Iguana]

Hi! I was wondering if you decided what gecko? I too am looking for a tropical species of Gecko to put in my 60x45x45 vivarium. I've done a similar thing, live plants, springtails and an expanding foam background. If you've completed this project, I'd love to see the finished result!

Hey,
sorry but as old as this is, i haven't gotten around to it haha.
I still wouldn't mind doing it, but it's gonna take a fair amount of time and money, of which I don't have too much of either right now lol.
If I do end up doing it, i'll be sure to post progress here

If you finish yours first i'd love to see it!

 

[Buggster]

That’s my setup for my Northern Spiny Tails. I’ve got a pair in there currently but it would easily hold a couple more geckos.
Spiny’s aren’t an aggressive species and I’ve heard others saying they’ve had colonies of 10+ in a single tank without an issue.

The dream is to one day make this a planted, but I’m currently toying with the idea of moving the Spinies out of this one and into a taller tank and move my Broad Tailed into here... not sure yet- either way I’m going to have to eventually move my Broadtail from her baby tank...

This one is a ReptileOne 2ft tank (too tired to remember the other dimensions... zzz). Rocky wall background which they love to climb around on. Wanting to get a vine to add more climbing area, but I’ll get around to that... eventually. UVA/B light running for a couple hours each day keeps them happy.

They each have their preferred places to sleep and hang out. Girl likes the rock wall and fake plants, boy is a bit more normal and sticks to the branches. Fun species to watch- huge personalities

 

[GhoulGecko]

Hey everyone,

I've got an empty 45cmX45cm Exoterra terrarium, that I thought I might convert into a proper terrarium/vivarium, with live plants, UVB/UVA lighting, spring-tails ect.

I was wondering if there is any gecko species that would suit that size terrarium? Since the terrarium would be most likely tropical themed, with very high humidity, I feel i'm limited to my choices.

I was thinking leaf tailed geckos, but i'm not sure if the tank is big enough to hold even one.
Otherwise, i'm thinking maybe marble geckos? But I'd like something a little more eye catching if possible

Any advice is appreciated,
Thanks!

I think a leaf tailed gecko would be okay for a 45x45. I actually kept one in that size and she was fine. They are alright in that kind of enclosure just make sure you buy a mister for the enclosure because they are a rainforest species and need lots of water.

 

[Ella C]

Hey,
sorry but as old as this is, i haven't gotten around to it haha.
I still wouldn't mind doing it, but it's gonna take a fair amount of time and money, of which I don't have too much of either right now lol.
If I do end up doing it, i'll be sure to post progress here

If you finish yours first I'd love to see it!

Sure thing, finished it just a day ago!

 

[Ropey]

Ella nice set up looks like the Daintree

 

[Ella C]

Ella nice set up looks like the Daintree

Thanks! When you say Daintree, I presume you mean the jungles in QL?

 

[Iguana]

@Ella C Oh wow, that looks amazing. I can recognize a lot of the plants in there haha
What are you planning on keeping in there?

 

[Ropey]

Thanks! When you say Daintree, I presume you mean the jungles in QL?

Yep

 

[Ella C]

@Ella C Oh wow, that looks amazing. I can recognize a lot of the plants in there haha
What are you planning on keeping in there?

Thanks! Probably some more frogs but maybe a gecko. We'll see, I guess.

 

[Bluetongue1]

Sure thing, finished it just a day ago!

Hey! What an excellent naturalistic set up. Love it. It is very aesthetically appealing and the choice of plants clearly indicates that you really do know what you are doing. Speaking of plants, please correct me where I am wrong, but my guess is you utilised the following species…
Bird’s nest fern – Asplenium nidus.
Parlour palm – Chamaedorea elegans.
Sphagnum moss – Spagnum sp.
Philodendron sp. – possibly Philodenron erubescens.
Bromeliad – Neoregelia sp.
‘Silver Lady’ – Blechnum gibbum.

That is an ideal set up for small frog species, or the Chameleon gecko Carphodactylus laevis if you add some more vertical climbing branches (http://www.livefoods.com.au/chameleon-gecko-caresheet). It is not as well suited to Leaf-tailed geckoes Saltuarius spp or the rainforest species of Velvet geckos Oedura spp as they prefer bare rock or wide rough barked trees (or the equivalent thereof) to climb on.

You've done a really good job on it. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Iguana]

I'd guess a monstera deliciosa in the back right corner maybe?

 

[Ella C]

Hey! What an excellent naturalistic set up. Love it. It is very aesthetically appealing and the choice of plants clearly indicates that you really do know what you are doing. Speaking of plants, please correct me where I am wrong, but my guess is you utilised the following species…
Bird’s nest fern – Asplenium nidus.
Parlour palm – Chamaedorea elegans.
Sphagnum moss – Spagnum sp.
Philodendron sp. – possibly Philodenron erubescens.
Bromeliad – Neoregelia sp.
‘Silver Lady’ – Blechnum gibbum.

That is an ideal set up for small frog species, or the Chameleon gecko Carphodactylus laevis if you add some more vertical climbing branches (http://www.livefoods.com.au/chameleon-gecko-caresheet). It is not as well suited to Leaf-tailed geckoes Saltuarius spp or the rainforest species of Velvet geckos Oedura spp as they prefer bare rock or wide rough barked trees (or the equivalent thereof) to climb on.

You've done a really good job on it. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks so much!
All the plant species you mentioned are included in the setup. What small frog species would you recommend for it?
Still debating what to put in...

 

[Bluetongue1]

@Ella C . Thanks for getting back to me on that. The purpose to identifying the plants is so other forum users now have a few more specific examples of plants they can make use of if they want to do something similar. The other important point to be made here is that some of these plants can grow quite large e.g. Bird’s nest fern, Philodendron sp., Parlour palm and even the ‘Silver Lady’ to a lesser degree’. The trick is not to fertilise them, as the frogs will do that anyway. You just want to keep them ticking over slowly.

Whilst I have raised several thousand tadpoles to froglets over the tears, my personal long-term frog keeping experience is very limited. Others here could no doubt help more and it would be worth getting a copy of Scott Eipper’s book ‘A Guide to Australian Frogs In Captivity’ (R.R.P. $55) if you don’t already have it. In general terms I’d suggest small species of arboreal tree frogs that will happily camp on the leaves, so you get to see them. Litoria fallax are a favourite of mine, although they show a preference for thinner foliaged plants in nature, but should still do OK. Some other not so big species are Litoria gracilenta, personiana, dentata and ewingi. The golden rule in frog keeping is of course: “All the same size” - otherwise the larger ones will eat the smaller ones.