My first leopard gecko tank [lots of pix]

[mudskipper]

Actually, this is my first post, too! I have been reading the forums for a few weeks. I finally got my first leopard gecko 2 weeks ago. Two more arrived this morning from Designer Geckos. I would like to share what I have put together for them.

- 36' x 18' x 18' Exo Terra Tank.
- There are 6 hides: 2 moist and 4 dry with various temperatures. I have never seen anyone in the 75F dry hide though.
- There are 2 heatpads: a big one underneath the tank on the right side and a little one on the right side of the tank by Dry Hide #4.
- The mealworm dish is a plastic soap tray from Ikea.
- The calcium dish is a candle holder from Ikea.

- Here's the view from the left side of the tank.
- The litterbox (in the corner behind the jungle head thingie decor) is a small rectangular bonsai saucer. They all poop here, including the 2 new girls I got this morning, which makes it super easy to clean.

- Here's the view from the right side of the tank.
- Even though there's a huge heatpad underneath on this side, I wasn't able to raise the temperature within the magnetic hide above 85F so I added a small heatpad on the side.
- There are ceramic tiles underneath the papertowels on this side of the tank.

- Here are the 3 girls!
- Mango -- super hypo tangerine carrot tail -- 3 months old
- Durian -- tremper albino giant -- 2 months old
- Dragonfruit -- mack snow -- 1 month old
- They are getting along fine so far, but usually hang out in separate hides.
- I was feeding them separately today and will keep doing so until they all come out at the same time. Mango, who I have already had for 2 weeks, already knows I'm the guy with the bugs. She comes out looking for me when she's hungry.



Here are some action shots around the tank.

 

[moefv]

Wow awesome Geckos man! They all look very happy! Are you planning to breed them? Good job! God Bless - Moefv

 

[PhoenixCoconut]

Cool tank, what is the moist hide#1 called, I really want one!
And could I see pics of the litter box? Sorry your cafe has got me interested!

 

[moefv]

Cool tank, what is the moist hide#1 called, I really want one!
And could I see pics of the litter box? Sorry your cafe has got me interested!

I would like to know as well! God Bless - Moefv

 

[mudskipper]

I'm glad you guys like it. I'm too new to the hobby to think about breeding. There are plenty of really great breeders out there already. I may get another female later on if it looks like there's enough room. So far everyone is getting along great. I keep finding at least 2 girls together in a cave snuggling with each other.

Here are some pictures of the litterbox. It's a ceramic bonsai humidity tray. 3" x 4.5". Any rectangular tray that is easy to wash would probably do though. Push it right up to the glass. The head decor thing is from Petco.

My leos sleep on the right side of the tank so I guess it makes sense for them to poop as far away as possible from where they sleep, which is that corner. If your leos don't poop in corners, maybe you could collect all the poop and dump them on the tray in the litterbox corner to give them an idea? My first leo was already pooping in that corner from day 1. The others I got today simply followed. I came home from work today to find 3 poops on the litterbox.

 

[mudskipper]

Moist Hide #1 is the medium Exo Terra Gecko Cave. One of my girls is a giant though so I may have to get the large one if she can't fit in when she's fully grown.
http://www.exo-terra.com/en/products/gecko_cave.php

It's not easy to heat this thing up though. The 100W red bulb is about a foot above it. The surface temperature on the top is 95F, but the temperature inside is 85F.

Moist Hide #2 is a cave from Petco and one of the deli containers the geckos came in. The deli container fits inside the cave perfectly. I burned the edge of the cut hole to make it smooth.

 

[LeopardShade]

My gosh, your setup looks absolutely phenomenal, one of the best I've ever seen. Really a stunning, beautiful enclosure that looks like a fantastic home for a leopard gecko. Unfortunately though, I do believe you have made a rather large mistake by putting your two new ones in with your gecko whom you got 2 weeks ago (Mango). I'm quite shocked that the posters above me have not mentioned what I'm about to address.

Two more arrived this morning from Designer Geckos.

You should have quarantined the two new ones. You should have put them both in their own, separate enclosures with an intent to leave them there for at the very least 60 days. Quarantine of any new animals you plan on introducing to your collection is an extremely important precautionary step that must be taken to ensure the health, wellbeing and prosperity of all geckos being housed together. If not taken, you risk possible infection transmission in all the animals, which unfortunately, can prove lethal to all who come in contact.

Think about it. You've just gotten two new geckos, who are presumably very stressed, whom you've thrown in with your questionably established (2 weeks?) one. You don't know if one (or both) of the new geckos are carrying diseases or infections inside them that could be transmitted to one another, or Mango. Mango, on the other hand, could play a role in this as well due to the fact that you've only had her for 2 weeks, which is not enough time to fully confirm and establish proper health and feeding behaviors. They are all coming in contact with each other, sharing everything, and coming into contact with each others feces.

In order for geckos to be successfully and safely housed together, you must be certain that they are all free of health problems, successfully and consistently eating, and passing feces normally. All these things should be monitored during individual quarantine, which, as I mentioned previously, should ideally last for a period of 60-90 days.

Since you've already crossed the line and put them all together, my only advice for you now is to remove them and isolate them in their own enclosures as soon as you possibly can. You should then carefully monitor each geckos' health and ensure they are all of optimal condition before you ever place them together again. You also should try to clean the enclosure and everything in it out. It brings me much regret to say it, but if any symptoms indicative of a health problem, such as parasites, begin to manifest (which hopefully will not), you most likely will need vet care.

It may seem farfetched and improbable, you may think "well they all seem fine now," but improper quarantine can potentially eradicate hobbyists' and breeders' collections. It is something that should never be overlooked or underestimated.

I wish only prosperity and good health for all your geckos!

 

[mudskipper]

Thank you for bringing this up! I had never even thought about quarantining. I do have a spare tank (smaller Exo Terra) in case the 3 didn't get along. Mango will have to live alone for awhile. :main_thumbsup:

 

[mango+cola]

Its not only Mango that has to live alone, but you should seperate the other two as well, so all three should have their own seperate enclosure, for 3 months.

p.s. my gecko is called Mango too! And my other one is called Coconut, so it was strange reading your post with "Mango" all the time lol.

 

[ChristinaJ]

since the other 2 are from the same breeder, they possibly do not need to be separated, it would be best but not completely necessary in this case, although I do STRONGLY recommend it even if they did come from the same breeder

 

[mudskipper]

Haha, Mango is a cute name. When I first saw her, that's the first name that came to me because of her colors so I named the others fruits, too. 'Durian' and 'Dragon fruit' also match the colors of the actual fruits (google them if you don't know what these fruits look like).

Here's Mango's temporary new home. Less exciting, but has all the things she needs. It's the 18' x 18' x 12' Exo Terra tank.

Mango eating a silkworm.

 

[mango+cola]

haha, Mango was the only name me and my boyfriend would agree on so thats why ours is named mango. She was first called "Rico" when we thought she was a male. And our second is called Coconut to attempt to stick with the theme and she is a mack snow, so she looked like a coconut to us.

 

[forgivenick]

Awesome setup. I have to agree that is is one of the nicer ones I have seen. How does the litter pan work out? Do you find that they use it right away, after a certain period of time, or inconsistently? Looks like a lot of paper towels to be replacing when they don't use it.
I am currently moving to tile from sand and have been using paper towels for almost a week. I see how you could place towels that wouldn't need to be moved as often (under hides, etc) and then have a top layer over the open areas that they might make a mess on so its easier to replace, but I love the idea of a litter pan.

 

[mudskipper]

The litter boxes are used right away for my geckos on their first days. So far they have been consistent at using the corner that's the furtherest away from the hides they prefer to sleep in.The litterboxes are also sort of hidden for some privacy. LOL

I arrange the paper towels in such a way that the areas that get dirty fast like the food areas can be changed without moving too many decors. I also put more layers there.

The poop area only got dirty once in the past 2 weeks when Mango missed the tray and pooped on the glass. LOL That's why I pushed the paper towels up to the glass now.

 

[sunar]

I just had to chime in and say that I really love your set up, it looks perfect!

 

[PhoenixCoconut]

Its not only Mango that has to live alone, but you should seperate the other two as well, so all three should have their own seperate enclosure, for 3 months.

p.s. my gecko is called Mango too! And my other one is called Coconut, so it was strange reading your post with "Mango" all the time lol.

LOL my gecko's name is Coconut too!:main_laugh:

 

[Makatak123]

Nice setup man!

 

[Dimidiata]

I would also like to add that you need to get the girls into a similar weight and size range so that they can all compete equally with eachother. Other then that its a great looking tank. However, if one of the 2 new girls has something, the other will catch it AND the entire tank will need to be torn down and cleaned.

 

[mango+cola]

LOL my gecko's name is Coconut too!:main_laugh:

awesome!!!!! What kind of gecko is he/she? Ours is a mack snow, so we thought that she looked like a coconut because of her colours

 

[mudskipper]

I switched from paper towels to ceramic tiles instead. They look so much better. I also made a couple of hammocks from a cabinet liner and suction cups from the Dollar Store. The tiles and the hammocks only cost like $10 total.

Here's Dragonfruit checking one of the hammocks out at night.