4 geckos in a 20-Gallon Long tank?

[StatikStepz]

Most geckos i ever have in a 20-Gallon long aquarium is 3... one male, 2 females. However, there is a gecko in the classifieds that i REALLY want and am almost certain i'm going to purchase it, because it will fit right in perfect with one of my projects i have going on. But if i purchase it, it'd have to go in this tank with the others, cuz that would be the only reason why i would be purchasing it, is because it'd go perfect with the male... but i am not getting rid of any of the other females it is with, cuz they are perfect for the male too, lmao.

So my question is this... Since i have absolutely NO MORE ROOM to get another tank, would 4 geckos (1 male, 3 females) fit fine in a 20-Gallon long tank... comfortably??? I have always heard that for 2 or 3 geckos, a 20-Gallon long tank is perfect, and thats the rule i have always lived by and always done myself, and if you have a larger group of leo's together, that an upgrade to a 40 gallon breeder's tank would be necessary. So without gettin a 40 gallon breeder's, can i do this, or would they all be cramped????

Would 4 geckos in a 20-Gallon long tank be...

ADVISED -or- ILL-ADVISED?!?!

Thoughts please! Thanks in advance!​

 

[Tony C]

I would say no, how will you quarantine if you don't have room for another tank? They may or may not get along, but failing to quarantine is definitely ill advised.

 

[acpart]

I voted yes, but I have to qualify it:

--you do have to quarantine, so you're going to have to find a place for a tank (even a 10 gallon) for awhile

--I easily fit 4 geckos in a 20 long by building an upper level which gives an extra square foot of space. It's simple: 4 legs (dowels stuck into PVC "feet" for stability), two 12"x12" ceramic tiles one on top of the other with a mini UTH (1-5 gallons) in between.

Aliza

 

[WUMPUS]

I have 4 leos in a 20 gallon long, I HAD them in a 55 gallon but they only stayed on one side of the tank. So to save room I went ahead and threw them in a 20 gallon long which they are doing prefectly fine in.

 

[roger]

I think 100 square inches per leo minimum of floor space

 

[Gregg M]

In my opinion, 4 per 20 gallon is pushing it a bit... Then again this is coming from someone who houses most reptiles individually... However, I do have some pairs of leos together in natural set ups and the monitor groups are housed together in natural set ups...

For the most part, the leos, colubrids, pythons, and hots are all housed singularly and are pretty much only brought together for breeding....

Also as others pointed out, it is very important to quarantine for at least a 90 day period...

So, I think 4 to a 20 gallon is too many even if you add an additional level because they will still compete for optimal heat gradients and food...

 

[GeckoTrouble]

Personally I would not do it.
Space aside, you have to consider a 30-90 day quarantine which is going to require at least a 10g tank, plus you also have to think what you are going to do if they don't get along. Where will you put the gecko then?

I prefer to keep singly (I do not breed). My two big males are in 20L on their own and use all of their tank.
The only geckos I have in 10g is my yearling female, who will move up to a 20L as soon as I pick up another tank and stand. My blind male is also in a 10g, as the large space of a 20L makes him very nervous.

 

[gitrdone0420]

I think it would be wayyy too cramped, even after the obvious quarantine period. My general rule is 10G per leo. So, the most I have in a 20G is two leos.

 

[GeckoNub]

I wouldnt put 4 in. I had 2 in a 20ish (think mine works out as 26) and i still felt they could do with more room

Also as others have said quarentine is very important so you dont accidentally infect your healthy 3.

I know its very tempting to buy more geckos, im onto my 5th atm, but you have to think of what is best for the animals. If you dont have room for more then dont get more

 

[T-ReXx]

I wouldn't do it. As already stated you need to quarentine. Also, established groups of females will often pick on a new female. And theres no garuntee they'll get along.

 

[StatikStepz]

As far as the quarantine part, ya, i gotta do that, totally slipped my mind, lol... all i was thinking about was the housing of it 1st... so i'll polly just get like a large pastic "critter keeper" thing that is about the size of a 10 gallon tank. I was starting to get excited tho when i read like the 1st 3 or 4 responses yesterday, but now just about every one of them after says no.... hmmm..... guess i'll just have to pass then... cuz i really have no more room for another setup. As it stands now, i'm already going to have 300+ eggs this coming season! But this is one gecko i really couldn't pass up! You have no idea how perfect it'd be for one of my groups! lol

 

[Riyo]

As far as the quarantine part, ya, i gotta do that, totally slipped my mind, lol... all i was thinking about was the housing of it 1st... so i'll polly just get like a large pastic "critter keeper" thing that is about the size of a 10 gallon tank. I was starting to get excited tho when i read like the 1st 3 or 4 responses yesterday, but now just about every one of them after says no.... hmmm..... guess i'll just have to pass then... cuz i really have no more room for another setup. As it stands now, i'm already going to have 300+ eggs this coming season! But this is one gecko i really couldn't pass up! You have no idea how perfect it'd be for one of my groups! lol

I don't really want to be a downer but hey, that's what I'm good at. Honestly I'm a bit perturbed by your response.

If you don't have space for even a 10 gallon tank, where are you going to put all those racks? 300 eggs...even if you hatch a fraction of them.. that's a lot of animals. I hope you can find homes for everybody.

But on the topic, I have to agree with everybody else. Quarantining is a must, no matter where you got the animal from and 4 to a 20 gallon just doesn't seem like enough space.

 

[robin]

no way that's too many!

 

[StatikStepz]

I don't really want to be a downer but hey, that's what I'm good at. Honestly I'm a bit perturbed by your response.

If you don't have space for even a 10 gallon tank, where are you going to put all those racks? 300 eggs...even if you hatch a fraction of them.. that's a lot of animals. I hope you can find homes for everybody.

But on the topic, I have to agree with everybody else. Quarantining is a must, no matter where you got the animal from and 4 to a 20 gallon just doesn't seem like enough space.

Ummmm, i already have all the racks, lol... I have enough racks and space for more than 500 eggs. I'm all str8 on that end of it. And this isn't my first breeding season either. I know what i got goin on. lol. So please don't be "perturbed"... i know what i'm doing. And i always have a 100% hatch rate. MAYYYYYBE 1 or 2 might be lost, but for most people, if they know what they are doing, as far as incubating, this really isn't much of an issue and will not get drowned or moldy eggs, or scrambled eggs lol, or whatever. As far as what i am talkin about with not havin room for this leo i want to get, all the shelf space that i have is taken by breeder's tanks. I just don't have any more space for breeders tanks. Thats what i am talking about. Yes, i could get a 10 gallon tank and just sit it on the floor, but i don't want to do that, i'm kind of a neat freak when it comes to stuff like that, and like everything to be in order and nice and organized, so a tank sittin on the floor just wont work for me, lol... And also because i have 2 cats, so it is just that much easier for them to mess with the tank if its already at their level.

...And i agree with Robin, if you are a breeder and have the resources and you put your full care and devotion into it, then no way is 300 eggs too many! For most breeders, 300 eggs is just from they get from one project! (for example, all their breeding sunglows, etc. Some people may have 15 or more breeding female sunglows, and just that rite there will yield almost 300 eggs!)... So yeah, 300 eggs is almost nothing compared to some, lol...

 

[Riyo]

I was just going off the information provided in this thread. I don't know you so don't take it the wrong way if it doesn't apply to you .

I just found it off that you couldn't house one more adult gecko but were planning on having 300ish offspring.

 

[StatikStepz]

I was just going off the information provided in this thread. I don't know you so don't take it the wrong way if it doesn't apply to you .

I just found it off that you couldn't house one more adult gecko but were planning on having 300ish offspring.

Yeah, i know, its all good! I didn't take it that way! lol

I was just sayin so you knew that i wasn't in over my head, lol... I know how people that have geckos themselves and take care of them responsibly look down on people that get a bunch of geckos and have no idea what they are doin or what all they will need when they start havin babies! lol

 

[Alusdra]

I have 4 in a 20L~size cage, and it is working out ok for these specific geckos. My other 20L has 3 and having a bit of issues, I may have to separate them out. The four living together are 1 older female that is pretty chill and 3 enigmas that have extreme syndrome issues. The three with issues in a 20L are all more dominant and pose at each other occasionally. They would probably do that no matter how large the tank. No one is injured, but I'm very seriously considering rehoming some and/or getting another tank.

So basically- it can work, but I'm not sure it will if you don't have neurological semi-dwarf animals that can't tell up from sideways, you always need to be prepared to separate and QUARANTINE!

 

[lady.gekko]

I wouldn't recommend it! Overcrowding can lead to stress, and possible fights. Leo's are more of a solitude reptile. Trying to "pack" em together just isn't fair to your geckos. I agree if you are maybe able to put in a level in the tank to provide more floor space. But even then remember that with every additional leo you put into a cage with another leo, you have to add extra hides. Plus like everyone else mentioned what about a quarantine period? Or what happens down the road if one does need to be housed aside from the others?

IMHO - If you aren't able to provide proper enclosure, whether now or for possible situations that could arise later on, you probably shouldn't be getting another Leo. Considering if you really wanted the one in the classifieds you could just house it in a tupperware container, which I'm sure you could make room for one small enough, if not even place it on top of your existing Leo cage. All my geckos are housed in singles. I've seen to much nasty-ness between even just females to want to risk housing any of my geckos together.

 

[lady.gekko]

Sorry I missed your post on the quaratine answer! So ignore mine, ha!

 

[JaZ]

They compete for food and the smallest one will stay the smallest one. Its better to keep them separate to make each gecko as strong a possible. Especially for breeding purposes.

I've tried keeping 3 girls in a 55 and sure enough the smallest kept loosing weight. When I separated her she beefed up like a champ. I put her back in with the rest and the middle girl started loosing weight. That's how I came to my conclusion.