Crested gecko cage setup questions

[Hopefull Monster Geckos]

I am thinking about getting a crested gecko sometime soon and I was wondering what the biggest cage you would use for a crestie is?
I am thinking about making a 30"(L) x 18"(D) x 36"(H) cage for it and having the bottom 9" being soil for plants.

Do you think that this is to big for a crestie? do you think that there should not be any live plants? if so please stat your reasoning.

I look foward to hearing from you guys.

 

[darkridder]

well if you are starting with a small gecko you will need to go with a much much smaller setup. Normally geckos under 8-10g are housed in med-lg kritter keepers until that size, then they are moved up into 10 gallons. Once they hit about 15g they can easily be moved up into their final home.

Final homes vary on what you personally think is ok. An adult will live fine in a 10 gallon, but for me I feel that is a bit small and prefer 15 gallon talls or larger. I have really been digging the zilla acrylic cages, light and stackable (if you know what you are doing), and about 18 gallons, perfect for a single adult. I really like these more then the 12 x 12 x 18 exoterras, which are only about 11 gallons, and the zillas have the front door access which is nice.

Now the tank you mention is simply huge, some 84 gallons. It would work great for a large colony of females, in which you would need to monitor weighs to be sure that they are all eating correctly, but for one gecko, serious over kill. You would have to leave food dishes out everywhere in the tank to ensure they find it. To large of an enclosure can be hard for them to find their food, which is why people keep smaller geckos in kk because even in 10 gallons they stress out and cant find food. The same thing can happen with adults, to large of an enclosure they can stress out and not find food. And even if you do make 9" deep substrate, you are still looking at roughly 63 gallon tank, which can easily house 5-6 females in it.

I think if you are only going to stick with 1 gecko, go with something smaller like a 29 gallon or smaller. If you decide to go with many geckos the big tank will be fine, just remember to have 3+ feeding stations in the tank. Just remember not all females get along even in a big tank. But a tank that size fully planted will be nice, just make sure you do all your homework for a planted tank as there is alot more to it then just putting in dirt and plants, things such as false floors for drainage, types of soil mixes, and clean up crews.