How big is too big of an enclosure?

[Mutinyofthemind]

Hello Geckoforum members!

I've recently re-homed my bearded dragon to a good friend of mine and looking to fill that little (emphasis on LITTLE) critter void in my life.

I still have his old terrarium (Exo-Terra), but, I'm fearing it may be too big? Floor space is 36 inches by 18 inches. Height is 18 inches, but irrelevant.

Would this be too big for a sub-adult/adult leo? Best to section it off by approximately half for 2.25 square feet? This would make the floor space a quarter foot smaller than a 20 long (2.5 square feet). Full size floor space would be 648 square inches (4.5 square feet).

Should I base the size off the heatpad I already have? 8" by 12", 16 watts ZooMed ReptiTherm. Just needs a thermostat. This would cover a third of a 2 square foot enclosure. (Used to use this for heating a blaptica dubia breeding project. No hot spots to my knowledge.)

I HAVE cared for a leopard gecko before in a Exo-Terra 3 square foot tank and did fine (wasn't lost, didn't stray from heat, found it's food/water/calcium), but I'm getting the feeling that 4.5 square feet of floor space is probably /too/ much. Worse comes to worse, I section the enclosure by half and get two Leos, right?

Thanks in advance and appreciate any input someone may have.

 

[tb144050]

Sounds like you have read the same materials I have. lol

I have read that anything bigger than 20Long is too big. I was also thinking the same thing before I finished reading your post....section it and make 2 enclosed areas. Just make sure crickets can't crawl up&over the divider, and make sure the floor temps are right on both enclosed halves.

 

[Some87]

Well in the wild they have more room than that. I think the key is just make sure it's not to open and have enough hides in the tank and enough stuff to crawl on.

 

[Tongue Flicker]

Well in the wild they have more room than that. I think the key is just make sure it's not to open and have enough hides in the tank and enough stuff to crawl on.

Pretty much this sums it up

 

[Mutinyofthemind]

Thanks for the input guys/girls.

Looking into getting two females from Reptiles by Mack, likely a jungle and a mack snow. Probably keep the setup undivided for now, but if issues seem to arise, go ahead and divide it via aquarium silicon and acrylic.

Well, time to get an order in for new habitat items after I get paid this week! (Another large heat pad, digital thermometer, rheostat, cork flats, couple small dry hides, fake plants, etc)
Likely go with paper towel substrate. Could re-use the porcelain tiles I had for my beardie, but I'm not sure if they'll get good grip on them. That and I'd need to clean, do a vinegar disinfection and bake 11 tiles and 7 bricks. At least they're cheap to replace! Likely keep the ladies on mealworms till they're adjusted, then introduce crickets and/or dubia roaches. From what I recall, the one I cared for (an ex's leo) LOOOOVED dubia when I introduced them to her.