Materials I am using: Blue Styro, Grout, Water based sealant. (3-4 coats of grout, 4 coats of sealant planned) 22.3 Gallon tank, bamboo sticks. (before you go off on me for using Styrofoam, I plan to test it with large insects before risking a leos life) (I don't even have my leo yet!) Here is the project so far, I've got a few questions before I start grouting everything.(warning; wall of text below) - Should I make the hides slope less sharp? Inside the hide its about 1/2 an inch down, to create a hide with a diameter of 8-10 inches & make it feel extra "safe". I can lift the entire hide up and move to a transport box if I need to take the reptile to the vet, without disturbing them to much! - The enclosure is in 4 sections, hide, lower ground, back wall, side wall, how much extra space should I account for when grouting? I am thinking a few Millimetres. -As you can see, my tank has a hole at the bottom. (I don't know why, I got this at a garage sale, I plan to sanitize it more heavily before I put the leos in the enclosure) Any idea what its supposed to do? Or should I just plug it up? - Will my leo use the elevated section for basking at all if I make it easier to get too? Right now I only have it for "show/creation of shade" - Anything else you think I should add to the tank? Bowls/proper ground/maybe some foliage are a given... Im planning on getting a giant/super giant leopard gecko, so I thought he might need a nice big tank! Thank you for your time!
I think designing tanks like this is a great idea, and I've been meaning to do one like this myself! I'm a little short on time right now, but I will try to answer all your questions the best I can! First, make sure that everything is very secure(especially the shelf) because it is going to get heavier once you add the grout and you don't want it to be able to fall and injure the gecko. Are you saying that the hide is only 1/2 inch tall? That is very thin for a normal gecko, let alone a giant or super giant. Also, you need a total of at least three hides in the tank: one on the cool side, one on the warm side, and a humid hide. Keep in mind that leos are nocturnal so most of the time it wont be basking during the day, but there are some geckos that do it. That being said the basking site really depends on where your heat lamp is going to be. If it will be above the right side of the tank, then I would just make it a little more of a gradual incline to get to the top. If it will be on the left side, then I would make it easier to get onto the ledge on the side. I would maybe even make a second way to get on/off the ledge on the left side. As for the hole, it would be best to try to plug it up so there isn't a chance of the gecko escaping. For the rest of the tank, I would add a food and water bowl and use something like repticarpet, non-adhesive shelf liner, or even slate for the ground. Hope this helps a little and let me know if you have any more questions!
No no! I should have worded that differently.. The hide in total height is probably 2-3 inches at least. Its got a groove going into the stryo about 1/2 an inch on the bottom half, so it seems to go "into" the hill a little bit. I guess its to make the gecko feel like the cave has been dug out a smidge? This is the inside of the hide before I finished carving it out and smoothing it down. I plan to add some "posts" to hold up the shelf-- you make a good point. Ive got it secured with Bamboo rods and it can take a decent hit but, I should probably make it more stable.-- In short, the ledge is for sure getting some touch ups, and incline changes. Maybe I'll make little steps? I planned to make the larger hide the cool hide. I suppose I'll make another mountain for the warm hide and set the humid hide near the cool hide. I never knew they needed three different hides-- I figured two would be enough. Glad I posted here!
I thought it was just a mix up, but I wanted to make sure lol Having the hide built into the hill is a great idea! Your going to have to post some pictures when its done! Yes, three hides is MINIMUM for a leopard gecko. They need to be able to feel safe on the cool side and the warm side, and the humid hide helps a lot with shedding. Also, here is a good leo care sheet for reference http://www.reptileboards.com/threads/leopard-gecko-caresheet.59997/ Let me know if you have anymore questions!
Great ideas! Using Styrofoam is perfect, just make sure you cover EVERY side with the grout and sealant because crickets and superworms or mealworms will find the littlest spot you forgot to cover and borrow in to the Styrofoam and die... and then it stinks in the tank and you have to take apart your awesome "fixture" to get out the dead feeder to make it stop stinking, lol. Can you tell I have experience with this? Lol. I don't have a lot of time but my original post back in 2006 might help you a little.... here's the link. Sorry the pics aren't still working Here's a basic how-to I did a couple years ago.
@Dogking Yeah, just a bit of poor wording on my part. I'm going to make the extra hides out of Tupperware->covering them in bumpy tape->grouting over said tape. Because making hides from scratch is hard, and grouting the large hide is proving difficult. What's a good incline, as I'm going to have to elevate one of the hides? I ended up removing the "basking shelf" it was stable, but it was making assembly difficult with 3 hides. @Paws I've experience the same horror-- Except a cricket got out, and into the air vent and died. It was terrible. I'm planning to feed mealies in a bowl exclusively. I've been meticulous covering the hide-- I'm on coat two. My first coat was so heavy, I'm only filling in gaps. Attaching a photo of my "workspace" I've got an in tank assembly photo as well, but it's sort of dated as I took some things out/apart. I'll have to upload and link it, because iPhone problems.
