some cage setup pics

[warnersister_2000]

cage designing has got to be one of the most fun parts of crested keeping!
i don't have anything in plastic tubs, i like to be able to see everything.

the original (18x18x24 exo terra):


probably seen this before, but divided 29 gallon tank pics
before:


after:


the newest (12x12x18 exo terra):


and redesigned 15 gallon-tall-on-end custom made tank:

[krazymuttzpuck]

wow...was carnage's tank set up like those..if so i better call him a decorator...

[Geckogal]

Can you please lay out step by step how you made 1st cage? Sorry if this is a little inconvenient, I just reall like it!

[fossillady]

Very impressive!  How did you divide the 29g tank?  Also, are they all fake plants are there live ones in the 1st pic?  Isn't hard to clean glass tanks?  With all screen aluminum I just spray them down...

[warnersister_2000]

wow...was carnage's tank set up like those..if so i better call him a decorator...

not quite, he was in the 10g "transitional" tank where geckos don't stay for long, and it's on a double stand under my 29g so i didn't have room to orient it vertically, and as such, it's not as tricked out as my permanent cages (well, the smaller exo terra isn't permanent but it was too nice not to trick out lol)

Can you please lay out step by step how you made 1st cage? Sorry if this is a little inconvenient, I just reall like it!

thanks.  i used part of an eco earth block with premium organic green moss on top (a large - 13.4L - bag at orchard supply or a local nursery costs me about $8.50 and is much cheaper than buying it from a pet store) for substrate.  most of the decorations came from petsmart (red/orange coral and mushroom log from the aquatics section, suction-cup leaf dish which i put my calcium powder in).  i wrapped a fluker's reptavine around a fluker's bend-a-branch and the end of the vine i hung on suction cups in a Z-pattern near the top of the cage.  there are some ready-to-hang plants attached with suction cups on the side and a bush on the bottom.  that's about it!

Very impressive!  How did you divide the 29g tank?  Also, are they all fake plants are there live ones in the 1st pic?  Isn't hard to clean glass tanks?  With all screen aluminum I just spray them down...

thank you.  i got a piece of plexiglass cut at tap plastics, with the bottom corners rounded, had my bf cut notches into the plastic aquarium frame all the way to the glass, about a third of the way in, and halfway in.  the divider reaches all the way to the top of the frame and is removable, the only thing holding it in place are the notches at the top and the substrate at the bottom.  you can see better pics of it here: http://ciliatus.com/forums/index.php/topic,1569.0.html

i have no live plants anywhere, i am excellent at killing them 

i find it harder to clean screen cages than glass ones because the waste gets stuck in the mesh, whereas glass can just be wiped off.  i prefer to clean my cages where they sit, too lazy to take them outside and hose them down.  plus i don't always take everything out every cleaning.  and as james said, my climate is not humid enough to use all-screen cages for cresteds.  i only use them for gargoyles, which need less humidity and also have an easier time climbing the sides, as their toes aren't quite as "sticky."

[Geckogal]

i have no live plants anywhere, i am excellent at killing them 

In my experience, there is one simple equation for plant/ herp coexistence:
Herps+Plants= DEAD PLANTS!!! 

[Liz]

yeah i suck at keeping the plants alive in the cages... i'd just rather stick with fake... they lost longer and dont need as much care  .

[Geckogal]

Although I must admit, there is a certain authenticity about live plants that makes them so appealing!

[honuman]

i have no live plants anywhere, i am excellent at killing them 

In my experience, there is one simple equation for plant/ herp coexistence:
Herps+Plants= DEAD PLANTS!!! 

Well I beg to differ with you.  There is a secret to it.  (for crestie tanks) Plant nothing in the substrate itself (if you use any).  Take the plants out and shower them every few weeks (to remove gecko poo and urates from the leaves)
Do not assume that misting the tank provides enough water for the plants and water them when the pots are dry.
If all else fails REMOVE CROAKING PLANTS AND REPLACE THEM WITH FRESH ONES THEN JUST LIE TO EVERYONE ON HOW GOOD YOU ARE AT KEEPING EVERYTHING GREEN LOL!!!    Serious all my planted enclosures are thriving.  I have non-crestie setups (frogs and day geckos and Phantasticus geckos) where I actually plant things into the substrate and they are thriving and growing like mad.  A whole little mini eco system that requires little more than watering and wiping off excess poop off the leaves of the plants.

I have some artificial setups too and definitley not as big a pain in the butt. You can really have fun with that. You can go as far as your imagination wants to take you and get some really nice effects that you would not be able to achieve with live plants.  These are all very good examples.  You do very nice work.  Very impressive.  Orchid moss is very good stuff in that it retains moisture well and actually has natural antifungal properties to it-- so it tends not to mold up when gecko droppings get on it.

Steve

[warnersister_2000]

These are all very good examples.  You do very nice work.  Very impressive.  Orchid moss is very good stuff in that it retains moisture well and actually has natural antifungal properties to it-- so it tends not to mold up when gecko droppings get on it.

thanks.  is orchid moss different than green moss?  the couple of times i've seen mold (when the tanks were freshly set up), it was in the eco earth, not the moss.

[honuman]

These are all very good examples.  You do very nice work.  Very impressive.  Orchid moss is very good stuff in that it retains moisture well and actually has natural antifungal properties to it-- so it tends not to mold up when gecko droppings get on it.

thanks.  is orchid moss different than green moss?  the couple of times i've seen mold (when the tanks were freshly set up), it was in the eco earth, not the moss.

Orchid moss is bit softer that the green moss.  It's used in lots of dry flower arrangements and with orchids because it does retain moisture well.  The rough green moss may actually have the same anitfungal properties. Eco earth does mold easily.

[Geckogal]

Does orchid moss create a bioactive substrate then?

[warnersister_2000]

no, the eco earth does.  you stir the waste into the soil and rinse it off the moss, changing out the moss to fresh stuff every so often.

[honuman]

no, the eco earth does.  you stir the waste into the soil and rinse it off the moss, changing out the moss to fresh stuff every so often.

Yep. 

I have a day gecko enclosure that functions great this way.  These plants are in pots and have rooted in the substrate as well.  I just freshen the surface and keep washing down the leaves and keeping clean water in the bromeliad that I have in there (ONLY bromeliad I have in a terrarium-- BIG PIA keeping that water free of gecko poo)

Steve

[marc.b.allard]

wow    those are some killer cages, i might also add, the geckos in those pictures are all extremely beautiful, is the top one your breeder cage? i think i see one of them is a male. do you find it hard to find buried eggs? i agree, cage setup is the most fun, does anyone know if it stresses the gecko much to change his setup, or to change the paper towels?  i have to remove two "trees" everytime i do it, but usualy he's chilling in the vine stuck to the side

[warnersister_2000]

wow    those are some killer cages, i might also add, the geckos in those pictures are all extremely beautiful, is the top one your breeder cage? i think i see one of them is a male. do you find it hard to find buried eggs? i agree, cage setup is the most fun, does anyone know if it stresses the gecko much to change his setup, or to change the paper towels?  i have to remove two "trees" everytime i do it, but usualy he's chilling in the vine stuck to the side

thanks!  yes, i was breeding in the top cage, and the 29g will also be used as a breeder cage with the divider removed.  i only use about 1.5-2 inches of eco earth so i don't have to dig so much, but it's bioactive, so i just stir it all up and look for eggs at the same time.  i also don't need to take the eggs out right after they're laid, as they incubate quite nicely in the moist soil.  i don't have live plants so i am able to take all the furnishings out.  i just leave the branch/vines and hanging plants up for most cleanings.  i just prefer the look of it to paper towels with a lay box.  it's a little more work, but i don't mind.

it will not stress your gecko to move it out of its cage into a critter keeper while you are cleaning.  then you don't have to worry about him escaping while you have the door open if you don't have your undivided attention on him.  i wouldn't rearrange his tank too often, but if you want to occasionally redecorate or introduce a new gecko, it won't hurt.

[marc.b.allard]

ya when i clean his cage i leave him in his tree, doesnt wander to far. i realy like the paper towel, its not was attractive, but its easy to clean and i can give it a complete wash in under 5  minutes, also its good for monitoring poo, and easier for him to catch his cricks, oh and of course, female cricks dont lay any eggs. any of u guys have that problem? i can imagine that it would be messy having little pinheads running loose

[warnersister_2000]

i don't feed crickets anymore, but when i did, i would refrigerate them after i gutloaded them and before i dusted them and put them in a dish so that by the time they started moving around again, they'd get eaten pretty quickly and didn't have the chance to wander about the cage.  this way i knew how many were getting eaten and no loose crickets.  i also work at petco so i get to handpick my crickets - i learned to go for the medium ones without wings

[marigold]

warnersister, i am curious about your use of eco earth for bedding... and having the geckos lay eggs in it.  it comes in block form, right?  there is also forest bed... is this the same thing?  i have been using either one of these for my lay boxes.  i have been told that leaving the eggs in this mixture for more than 24 hours would ruin the eggs.  which one ruins eggs, and which one can you leave the eggs in?  obviously, you would need to have the good stuff for a natural set-up.  thanks,
marigold

[monster]

i have heard the same rumor.
Forest Bedding and Eco Earth are the same. (EDIT: Forest Bed by T-Rex)
a couple of my lay boxes is Forest Beding mixed with Peat Moss, one is just straight. if the eggs are not removed day of laying, then they tend to "stain" the eggs which is where i beileve the spoiled eggs thing started.

[warnersister_2000]

if you're talking about the zoo med products, forest bedding is not the same as eco earth.  forest floor bedding is cypress mulch and eco earth is compressed coconut fiber.  having the mixture too moist or too dry will ruin the eggs.  however, a bioactive eco earth substrate forms a protective bacterial coating between the egg and the fiber.  even though the eggs discolor a bit, i have had a 100% hatch rate, even after eggs have been left in the cage for a few weeks.

there have been some individuals who have had low hatch rates using coco fiber (anthony was one of them but he was using bed-a-beast a couple of years ago) and believed it to be related to the pH level, but i don't know if they were just using fresh stuff in lay boxes, or in a bioactive natural setup.

[monster]

if you're talking about the zoo med products, forest bedding is not the same as eco earth.  forest floor bedding is cypress mulch and eco earth is compressed coconut fiber.

good catch. clarified above.

[marigold]

if you're talking about the zoo med products, forest bedding is not the same as eco earth.  forest floor bedding is cypress mulch and eco earth is compressed coconut fiber.  having the mixture too moist or too dry will ruin the eggs.  however, a bioactive eco earth substrate forms a protective bacterial coating between the egg and the fiber.  even though the eggs discolor a bit, i have had a 100% hatch rate, even after eggs have been left in the cage for a few weeks.

there have been some individuals who have had low hatch rates using coco fiber (anthony was one of them but he was using bed-a-beast a couple of years ago) and believed it to be related to the pH level, but i don't know if they were just using fresh stuff in lay boxes, or in a bioactive natural setup.

so are you saying i can use ecoearth but not forest bedding, or can i use either?  if i have a bioactive tank then it wouldn't matter?  i would really like to be able to just let my female lay her eggs and not be going through the egg box twice a day.  i do this because i am worried about leaving the eggs in there for any more time than i need to.  but my red girl  goes into and out of the box, making tunnels, for DAYS, and i ruin her tunnels every time i go  through the bedding.  even with checking twice a day, her last two eggs looked good, but were stained.  i worry so much about the lay boxes.  thanks,

[warnersister_2000]

i honestly don't know.  you would have to experiment i guess.  losing reptiles/eggs is part of the learning process of herpetology.  if you can't find the answers from someone else who has tried, then you have to try yourself.  when i find something that works, i usually stick with it.  although it doesn't hurt to find more efficient ways of doing things.

don't worry about the staining, that in itself isn't bad.

[TIKI]

wow you have beautiful terrarriums... you should sell them

[warnersister_2000]

thank you
i will trade my cage designing services for geckos for anyone local