Building a LARGE communal tank

[aaronhome27]

I am finishing up my sons communal gecko tank. Looking for pointers and suggestions. What we have is a 75 gallon glass tank. We have a 3/8 tile floor in it. I am NOT using uth but rather a 150w ceramic heat emmitter (exo-terra professional series) on my vivarium electronics x300 controller. I have flexwatt but the tile and ambient air seemed to stay much more consistant with the heat emitter. My warm side is steady at 92 at the hotest point and slowly goes down to 77 on the cool side. I know the tank setup is not the norm but it is full of hides and two different temp moist hides. One moist hide stays 88 and the other 80. I am keeping the food in the middle and using 2 water dishes to make up for so much room. I plan to eventually house 4-5 females in the setup and possibly add a male some day if we decide to go that route. Our lighting is just room lighting. Not in direct sunlight but in fairly well lit room. I have raised Leo's before but nothing set up like this. I had the tank unused and my son wanted something big with plenty of room so I went for it. Any thought or suggestions would be appreciated. I do realize this set up is a bit big and some Leo's may have to be acclimated to it but if someone can forsee a health problem that may result from this please feel free to share. I will try to get pics up of the setup soon. Thanks all!!

 

[GeckoCrossing]

A few problems:
1) Initial quarantine of each gecko. Do you have a set up for each individual gecko for, at absolute minimum, 30 days of quarantine?
2) Dominance/Fighting - With that many geckos you may have dominance or fighting issues.
3) If one gets sick, it's much more likely that the rest will get sick too.

 

[katie_]

Also if you do add a male to 5 females, you'll have hundreds of babies...

 

[aaronhome27]

Thanks for the input!

When I get new Leo's in, they would be quarantined on one of my breeder racks. I have 6qt, 15qt, and 28qt slots with tubs for quarantine animals.

As for the dominance and fighting, I thought that the larger area with tons of hides, nooks, and crannys would help. My main concern about the area was maybe the leos having a hard time finding the food dishes. I didn't realize that the fighting/dominance would be such an issue. Do you suggest I dont keep that many together and if I do keep multiple Leo's together how many do you think would be okay in that size of an area. I had 1 male and 2 females in my previous 20L a few years back with no issues but I do realize that they are not all the same.

I was really tossing on he idea of adding a male someday. Of course I would wait till sometime down the road. I wasnt sure of housing one full time with the females if I do. If we did I do have an outlet for the babies. If you have multiple females will the male still add just too much stress to the environment to make it worth while? Its not about making money but rather the raising and breeding Leo's for the experience. I raise, breed, and sell snakes. My son just has that yearning to learn how to do the same with Geckos.

Thanks for the helpful input, please keep it coming. As always it is much appreciated!

 

[Dimidiata]

Make sure the females are all thee same size of course. get a weight on all of them and weigh them once a month to insure they are all eating. Of course some geckos just dont get along. Sometimes it just doesn't work, so have a perminate home prepared for a few.

Be sure you have some meds on hand to treat any wounds. And that there is a vet near by that takes reps.

 

[gmaier19]

i tried a big communal tank a few years ago. it was 3 geckos in a 40 gal., but the geckos didnt like each other. i noticed a few bite marks and witnessed some bullying, so i had to separate them all out. they even had plenty of hides... i built custom inserts that included 12 hiding spots, but they still found a way to find each other and harass each other.

some people say that communal tanks work for them, but from my personal experience, it didnt work and i wont try it again.

for a 70 gal i personally think a bearded dragon would be a better fit. they take about the same level of commitment that a leopard gecko does.

 

[katie_]

A 75 is still only 4 feet long. You would NEVER find this many geckos this close to each other in the wild. I would plan on fighting wounds.

 

[aaronhome27]

As much as I wanted to see the geckos in the 75 tank. I do take note of what is said. I have the first male in a 28 Qt sterilite on one of my racks. I believe he may stay there as he seems pretty darn content there. I may just go that route and bring one up in a 20L for display later after my son decides which one he will want out as a "pet" per say. Thanks for the input. I really just dont think it is worth the risk especially when it comes to parasites and fighting. From what I have read it sounds like the racks are actually pretty comfortable for Leo's. I may adjust the plans later but right now I am really leaning just adding them to the rack and putting one on display.

 

[NinjaDuo]

Wise choice, I had a trio of females all the same size in a communal tank exactly like that for a year. And that next week after it had been in the clear for a year my female RAPTOR was bullying one of my normals. Hurt her pretty bad, so it just goes to show you how random the fighting can be when it comes to timing!

 

[Dimidiata]

They may tolerate eachother for only so long. Now, for the 75....you should get a snake...0.0

 

[aaronhome27]

They may tolerate eachother for only so long. Now, for the 75....you should get a snake...0.0

Not much of a large snake guy. I have 5 Western Hognose already though . Probably sell the tank and use the extra $$ to help fund my reptile room I am building in the basement.

 

[Dimidiata]

Divide it for separate tanks?

 

[aaronhome27]

I had thought about that but then I looked at my rack. I have two racks that will hold up to 10 - 28qt sterilite tubs each. I only have 5 tubs being used and the racks are already set up with flexwatt and a vivarium electronics 300 X2 controller. I decided it was a waste to not just use one of those

 

[Wbrown5496]

There are communal gecko species. If that's what you into and want there are plenty of other species that could thrive in that space. If the reasons for getting leopards vs something else was ease of breeding and low cost you should try Lepidodactylus lugubris. They average about $30 each a 75 could have 10+ with out an issue. The multiply like rodents. They also make tasty snack for other geckos. (If you end up with too many). I have 15 or so in a 55 with about 20+ eggs waiting to pop. They are out all the time and are vocal. I fully support communal tanks! with the right species of course. If you are looking for terrestrial only Pachydactylus Rangei are a good choice. I've only worked with a small group but was told they do great in a group. Good luck.

 

[aaronhome27]

There are communal gecko species. If that's what you into and want there are plenty of other species that could thrive in that space. If the reasons for getting leopards vs something else was ease of breeding and low cost you should try Lepidodactylus lugubris. They average about $30 each a 75 could have 10+ with out an issue. The multiply like rodents. They also make tasty snack for other geckos. (If you end up with too many). I have 15 or so in a 55 with about 20+ eggs waiting to pop. They are out all the time and are vocal. I fully support communal tanks! with the right species of course. If you are looking for terrestrial only Pachydactylus Rangei are a good choice. I've only worked with a small group but was told they do great in a group. Good luck.

Excellent Info! Thanks