Basic Terrarium Setups

Here are some basic setups:

 

Hagen 27 Gallon Glass Aquarium (Long style, 36”x12”x15”)

- 1 x Hagen 27 gal aquarium

- 1 x Hagen 36”x12” Screen

- 1 x Exo-Terra Heat Wave under tank heating pad 11”x17”

 

Hagen 15 Gallon Glass Aquarium (24”x12”x12”)

- 1 x Hagen 15 gal aquarium

- 1 x Hagen 24”x12” Screen

- 1 x Exo-Terra Heat Wave under tank heating pad 10”x11”

 

EXO-TERRA Glass Terrarium with doors Large (24"x18"x18")

- 1 x Exo-Terra Glass Terrarium

- 1 x Exo-Terra Heat Wave under tank heating pad 10"x11"

 

Please keep in mind, Leopard geckos cannot climb glass, so ground space is most important, height of the tank is not. Suspended hides and other things like them can be used, but must have something that acts as a ramp or some way the geckos can access them. I also recommend having at least 4 hides for the geckos to hide in, especially if there are more than one gecko in the terrarium. Also make sure that your terrarium is large enough for the amount of geckos you plan on having.

 **Lighting systems may be necessary depending on the rooms temperature the terrarium is in. See Caresheet Page for more information on temperatures.

 

Terrarium Substrates Setups

Here are some substrates That I have found:

 - Coconut-Fibre (goes under many brand names, ask for coconut-fibre)

Dry form:

    

Moistened Form:

 

  - Invert Mix (from Next Year Reptiles)

 

 - Reptile Mix (from Next Year Reptiles)

  

 - Forest Bark (Brand)

 (picture to come soon)

 

Terrarium Ideas

Increasing Ground Space/Suspended Hides:

The best idea I have come across for increasing ground space and making more use of a terrarium for terrestrial geckos is adding a glass shelf. The best way to do this is bring in the terrarium to a glass cutting place and have them take some measurements of the inner dimensions of the tank. Other way you can try is take a tape measure and measure only the glass width, not including the plastic framing ect, and then subtract 2 x the width of the side panels of the enclosures.

An example is the glass measures 24" wide, and the side panels of the glass are 1/4" thick. 24" - (2 x 0.25") = 23.5"

The width of piece of glass cut you would need is 23 1/2"

Water Dishes:

I came across a great idea for water dishes. Using plastic replaceable deli cups, find a piece of PVC or ABS tubing to make a rim/liner and weigh the deli cup down and keep it in place. Basically use the PVC or ABS tubing as a outer rim and insert to deli cups inside.

Suspended Hides:

I have decided to post up my suspended hides, so that it will give some of you ideas on how to make a better home for your geckos. Here is what you need to get to build these:

 - Rubbermaid “Servin Saver” bottles .95L

 - Industrial Velcro strips 2”x4”

 - Varathane brand Forest green (145) Satin finish Plastic Enamel paint (any color/brand will do)

 - EXO-TERRA Plastic Plants Croton style (or whatever type of plants you are using)

 - Fluker’s Washable Terrarium Substrate Repta-Liner (any brand reptile carpet will work)

 - Mini glue gun, glue sticks

 - Aquarium silicone

 

 - First thing you need to do is cut out the bottom as shown on upper right. Don’t cut to very edge, or the container loses strength too much.

 - Next cut off screw on lid side, but only cut about half off as you can see below on upper left. I used my dremel to cut it all out, if was fast and easy plus fun!

 - Time to mount the Velcro. What you need to do is figure out where the Velcro will be , making sure to center it. (maybe trace around with a felt marker) take the aquarium silicone and make a thin layer where the Velcro will contact the container, and fill the "trench" where the Velcro leaves space under it with some silicone to seal it off. Attach the rougher side of the Velcro to the container, making sure to place it where you had marked centered was. I found the glue backing is enough to hold the soft side of Velcro to the glass, but the glue on the rough side attached to container gets too warm due to higher heat in the tank and loses adhesion to the container and peels off. Between the weight of the container and the geckos is will come off, believe me. The silicone will prevent this and will prevent having to repair it later. Try lightly sanding the surface also, helps to roughen it and promote a good solid contact.

 - Now it’s time to carefully paint the container. Be very careful not to get paint on the Velcro, but paint to the very edge of it. Be sure to follow stirring instructions ect on the paint can!!

 - Take the Repta-Liner and cut a 6.5-7“x3” piece and glue to inside bottom (which ever side you plan to face down) check the size and make sure it fits properly before gluing. You only need a little hot glue on the bottom of the ends of the Repti-Liner piece to firmly hold it in place.

 - Now comes the fun part LOL take a small croton plant (you could buy a larger one if you are making multiple hides, but a small will have just enough pieces for 1 hide) and strip off the plant pieces. You will get about 22 pieces I think as you can see on the bottom right, 3rd on the left is a whole plant piece. You need to cut the end off as shown in the bottom right middle plant piece and get 12 like that. Now cut 8 pieces as shown on bottom right 1st piece. (you have to cut off the 2 lower sets of leaves)

 - Time to glue now, so while you are cutting up the plants have the glue gun warming up. Glue the 8 small pieces to the center measurements strip, but get an idea of how far apart to glue them before you start. Glue 6 of the longer pieces to the outside edges as shown on bottom left. Keep in mind, you HAVE to hold the plants exactly in place until the glue has cooled and solidified again.

 - Now that everything is painted and glued, time to mount it in your tank. Be sure to figure out where you want it exactly, and be EXTREMELY careful when actually sticking it to the tank. If you mess up the glue backing of industrial Velcro is SUPER sticky, and you will have one heck of a time getting it off if you even can without wrecking the Velcro and having to go buy another piece. You may have to silicone the Velcro to the suspended hides due to high temperatures in your tank. (I found glue warmed too much and lost enough adhesion that with weight of the suspended hides plus the geckos, they unglued)

 

I have 2 croton plants also draped and suction cupped across the top of the hides. If you look at my stand picture at top of this page, you can see the bottom tank has 2 hides, the top only has one hide on the left, but all are barely visible, and the geckos love them!! Hope you had as much fun making the hides as I did!! Enjoy!

Suspended Feeding Dish:

If you have an aboreal specie, like I do (Tokay geckos) try setting up a dish suspended on the side of the glass. Use Velcro strips to hold them securely on the walls. This way hey can feed on mealworms or calcium while suspended on the walls comfortably. Just be sure that the soft side of the Velcro is attached to the glass, that way if you take the Velcro out, the geckos will rub on soft material, not the abrasive side of the Velcro.

Cleaning Terrarium Glass:

 If you are like me, and have lots of terrariums, sometimes you have glue or water minerals built up on the terrariums glass. This can be cleaned relatively easily. Use razorblades to scrape off the crud in question, and then spray and wipe clean with a reptile-safe cleaner. Keeps your terrarium nice and clean and clear :)

 

Return to Homepage