Can it be To Big??

[minimoe80]

So right now I have 2 leopards in a 10 gallon tank (I know that for two I should have a 20 gallon? correct?) They are 2 juveniles so its been ok thus far.
So I was gonna go out and purchase a 20 gallon tank this weekend. However my Sister and her husband were here for thanksgiving and I was talking to him, my brother in law (who is really into all kinds of reptiles) about it and he told me he had a nice one at his house I could have for free. He said its big (he believes its 55 gallon) So for free, I defiantly want to snap it up. My question is though, is there such a thing as to big? Is 55 gallon to big for two Leopards for some reason?

Thanks in advance!

 

[fl_orchidslave]

IMO a 55 is too big for 2 juvs, but not for 2 adults. If its a freebie, I'd take it and hold it till they are grown. A second story can be added to a 10 with a little creativity as temporary floor space for that almost but not quite growth stage.

 

[minimoe80]

Thank you for your response. I was thinking that for some reason I would be told that it would be to big. Why is that though?
It is free though, so ya I will defiantly take advantage of that lol


Everyone else please feel free to chime in!!

 

[fl_orchidslave]

They like the comfort of smaller areas, like a hide for instance, even if it's a clear plastic hide, they will take refuge in it rather than being out in the open where they feel vunerable. Think of a baby, wrapped in a thin blanket, not necessarily for warmth, but security. Most reptiles start out in smaller enclosures as youngsters, then move up as they grow up. It is also more difficult for them to locate food in a large tank. And heat. Anything that causes undue stress that can be avoided, should be. Stress causes hunger strikes, fighting among tankmates, and overfall poor health if it continues.

 

[Daedric1]

Thank you for your input and advice Laney! Everyone else please chime in if you can..

Laney what is the downfall to having a enclosure "to big"

Too big a tank can cause problems where the young geckos have more trouble finding water, food, and their warm spots.

Probably the biggest thing is if you feed live bugs other than mealworms, the geckos can have a lot of trouble chasing down food in a big tank. They generally will try to eat bugs that are within a certain radius around them, and if it runs away, they won't chase it. If they do, they will spend more energy trying to chase down food and get exhausted and/or grow slower.

If you feed in a seperate tank as many people do, this is less of a problem. You could consider putting some sort of divider in the tank in the meantime too to reduce the size and these problems.

 

[Pokersnake]

I like the idea of a free 55 tank too. Just be sure to clean it really well before putting your critters in it. I use hot water and vinegar. It disinfects and leaves the glass clear. Also it's non-toxic and won't harm your geckos.

 

[minimoe80]

Yes I ALWAYS feed in a separate container so that part at least wouldn't be an issue. So as they grow, and as long as I keep some good hides in there for them it should be ok right?

The divider is a good idea as well.. Thanks!

 

[minimoe80]

I like the idea of a free 55 tank too. Just be sure to clean it really well before putting your critters in it. I use hot water and vinegar. It disinfects and leaves the glass clear. Also it's non-toxic and won't harm your geckos.

Vinegar really? Thanks for that tip, I would of never known that. I appreciate it!

 

[Spots]

The divider is a really nice idea. Especially if they are still little.

You can do a search on the forum on how to clean the tank. I did a 10% dilution of bleach, washed it, rinsed it, rinsed it again, dried it, then put it by the window in the sun for a few days then repeated. I didn't want to risk any germs from a previous tank occupant to spread to the new occupants. I don't like using vinegar because of the smell.

GAH I would die to have a 55gal. Sigh. I'm waiting until the next reptile show before I get one lol

 

[minimoe80]

I was thinking that about The vinegar too sports. Just a slight wiff of a Salt and Vinegar chip alone gets me gagging lol.. So i wasnt looking forward to cleaning it that way, but I will do what ever i gotta do.. but again... PUUUKE lol

 

[fl_orchidslave]

We keep peroxide in spray bottles to spot clean/disinfect.

 

[jerry]

Wow Free 55 Thats Awsome, Maybe Consider Putting Multiple Food/Water Dished Around So Its Easier For Them To Find. And Now You Got The Chance To Get Creative With Your Hides And Tank

 

[minimoe80]

Wow Free 55 Thats Awsome, Maybe Consider Putting Multiple Food/Water Dished Around So Its Easier For Them To Find. And Now You Got The Chance To Get Creative With Your Hides And Tank

Good idea on the multiple dishes Jerry. Ya, I am very excited about all the possibilities the big tank will allow. I wont know where to began lol

 

[M_surinamensis]

Too big a tank can cause problems where the young geckos have more trouble finding water, food, and their warm spots.

That's not really accurate.

They like the comfort of smaller areas, like a hide for instance, even if it's a clear plastic hide, they will take refuge in it rather than being out in the open where they feel vunerable. Think of a baby, wrapped in a thin blanket, not necessarily for warmth, but security. Most reptiles start out in smaller enclosures as youngsters, then move up as they grow up. It is also more difficult for them to locate food in a large tank. And heat. Anything that causes undue stress that can be avoided, should be. Stress causes hunger strikes, fighting among tankmates, and overfall poor health if it continues.

That's a lot closer, although still just a bit off.


It really comes down to microhabitat, behavioral needs and environmental control.

Microhabitat is a term that is used to indicate the extremely specific conditions and areas where an animal lives. Habitat is a region or country and broad terrain type... like "Afghan Desert." Microhabitat includes more detailed information like "rocky areas with heavy ground cover to hide from predators and escape the mid-day heat, including some enclosed areas with pockets of higher moisture." It is specific temperatures, humidities and light intensities, it is detailed information about ground cover, hides, holes and basking areas; it is information about what an animal needs and what it avoids.

Microhabitat ties in to the behavioral needs because the animal in question is responding to instinctive dictates which pressure it to look for the ideal microhabitat. The exact second to second needs of the animal change, which is why they will move from a warm hide to a cool one, to a moist hide or out in the open- but those behaviors are all a result of instinctive dictates. Sometimes instincts can conflict with themselves or over-ride one another. The instincts are pressuring the animal to find someplace warm and humid, but the only options are warm and dry or cool and humid and one need will win out. One of the instincts that tends to be quite powerful, especially in small, terrestrial, crepuscular geckos is the need to hide, it can overwhelm almost anything else.

Environmental control is something we are responsible for with captive animals. Supplying appropriately sized hides, a temperature gradient, the proper light intensity and so on. What we provide, the conditions we manufacture, dictate what kind of microhabitat is available for our animals and consequentially what kind of behaviors they display. If we build an environment incorrectly based on the conditions which are ideal for the animal, we can retard certain instincts and behaviors and harm the animal as a result.

Larger environments are not inherently bad... the animals have no problem finding water or food (that's just ridiculous to even suggest)- the problems of a larger environment are often something created by the person who is putting it together as they change the microhabitat. In the exact same way that people often have difficulty maintaining an ideal thermal gradient in a very small enclosure with the tools that are readily available to them, they frequently have problems doing the same in a large one. It is easy to fill a twenty gallon tank with hides and cover to make a leo feel secure- but people often fail to have the same density of cover when they go to a bigger enclosure (feeling some obscure need to leave wide open spaces of nothing). The taller, longer environment gets away from them as they regard either end as an extreme and do not bother measuring conditions across the entire length at even intervals, the height provides a lot of open space which they rarely fill, they sometimes switch to brighter lights...

Essentially, it is not that big environments are bad, it is that they mandate some additional care that owners often seem to skip. Four hides in a twenty long is fine, four hides in a fifty five is not. Two thermometers in a twenty long is perfect, two thermometers in a fifty five is not. If the effort is made to replicate the ideal microhabitat, there's nothing at all wrong with a big enclosure. It just needs to be big and controlled.

 

[sausage]

I was thinking that about The vinegar too sports. Just a slight wiff of a Salt and Vinegar chip alone gets me gagging lol.. So i wasnt looking forward to cleaning it that way, but I will do what ever i gotta do.. but again... PUUUKE lol

i keep all my reptiles in glass vivs and the vinegar is FANNTASTIC for limescale in tropicals and for making the vivs all shiny i agree the smell dose get a bit much, so i go over them after with either a fresh cut lemon or a diluted lemon juice mixture buffing with kitchen paper as i go
smell sorted lol

 

[sausage]

So right now I have 2 leopards in a 10 gallon tank (I know that for two I should have a 20 gallon? correct?) They are 2 juveniles so its been ok thus far.
So I was gonna go out and purchase a 20 gallon tank this weekend. However my Sister and her husband were here for thanksgiving and I was talking to him, my brother in law (who is really into all kinds of reptiles) about it and he told me he had a nice one at his house I could have for free. He said its big (he believes its 55 gallon) So for free, I defiantly want to snap it up. My question is though, is there such a thing as to big? Is 55 gallon to big for two Leopards for some reason?

Thanks in advance!

I have a 56 UK gallon / 67 US gallons tank(had to use a converter for that lmao) that i built tiered levels into. 4 of my leos live very happily in there together
iv used logs as ladders to the levels (making sure they are secured of course to avoide squashing :S) iv also used a number of hides and foliage so they can get away from each other if needed. theres also many big rocks to rub on when they shed and an extra large egg laying/ moist box too, still with loads of room to spare :main_thumbsup:

 

[rubym]

Put a divider down the middle. We split our 55 gal and have one female in each side

 

[minimoe80]

Went and picked my 55 gallon tank up today!!! I am sooooooooo excited.. Still gonna need a good bit of cleaning, so it will be a few days at least before I get the leos transfered, but I cant WAIT!!! Thanks again for all the ideas everyone