Leopard Gecko Tank...

[riddick07]

So I was being morbid the other night after looking at my bearded dragon... he is looking really old this winter. With the life he has had I honestly don't expect the full lifespan from him... so being morbid and all I kept thinking what am I going to do with this tank in the future?

At first I was thinking the ackie monitor because you can house more than one together and they are fun to watch interact. But honestly wouldn't like the size of the tank for a group of ackies way too small in my opinion... so I googled reptiles that can and don't hate being housed together and came up with the leopard geckos. I have never owned them so never did research on them and was surprised to learn that you can house 3 in a 20 gallon long without issues... as long as they are all female or there is just one male.. so with my big butt tank and if I give it a second level... could house quite a lot of the geckos. I would just have to figure out how to regulate and maintain multiple heat, cold, and humidity in the tank. I know a lot of these guys end up in rescues because they are considered one of the best beginner lizards and people end up bored with them after awhile. So while I do want a variety of colors I wouldn't mind adopting a bunch of rescue ones as long as they know for sure the lizards are females....but then I was thinking do I really want the work of maintaining records and weighing all these little ones....because I will have to make sure no one is losing weight in such a large colony type setup... so I'm not sure even though I am really liking the idea

What do you guys think of a large leopard tank... I know a lot of hides, water, food, heat, humidity hides, and such will be needed for such a large setup with so many of them caged in it... anyone on here owned them and caged more than one together?

I was also thinking of just storing the tank and making another bird play area...not they really need another one... though if Beardie is luckier than I think he might still have years left on him. I do hope he has years left and I'm thinking of things I won't really have to for a fairly long time...

 

[Kiwibird]

How old is your beardie? What's his diet? How long is he and does he come out of the tank for exercise? Reptiles can, uh, live long past their prime. Leo (my leopard gecko) is 19 now, blind, sleeps most of the time, missing most of his toes, suffered stunted growth as a juvenile due to a severe sand impaction, has had a significant decrease in his appetite these past few years, yet that darn gecko is still living:52:! He's like something out of pet cemetery lol. I wouldn't be looking for a tiny box and little headstone quite yet for the beardie. Just because he's looking haggard doesn't mean he's ready to leave this earth yet:54:

As for housing LGs together, I've always heard it was not advisable, and if you do, they'd have to be housed together from juveniles, females only (less you want baby LGs from a M/F setup or fight to the death from a M/M setup). I've also always heard you need 10 gallons of tank per adult animal, so a 20G would be good for 2. Leo, my LG is in a 10G. LGs are strictly insectivores/carnivores, eat a variety of gut loaded, calci-dusted insects, and larger individuals may be able to handle pinky mice. Sand is the worst possible substrate for them and should never be used as there is a huge risk of impaction. I personally prefer repti carpet as they do not have particularly large nails to get caught in it. Not many people realize, they are primarily nocturnal and thus a rather boring reptile to own. They do not come out to bask very much, and you rarely see them during the day, though they are very active at night. They also benefit from a quasi-herbernation period in the winter where they are fed less and the temp dropped somewhat in the enclosure. As much as I love Leo, as we go way back (my first pet), I would never own another leopard gecko. Theres many more interesting reptiles out there IMO. Have you looked into skinks or uromastyx at all?

 

[riddick07]

I've owned skinks and uros before. My mother has a blue tongue skink right now but I wouldn't want to take over her care..though I guess I could cave and put her in my room...

The tank is over 100 gallons so that wouldn't be a worry really for size. I'm not looking for something overly interesting and I'm a night person and go to bed at 1 to 2 am sometimes so I would see them at some point I think beardies are boring animals too but I like having a lizard around for some odd reason Beardies also sleep part of the year and rarely eat during that time. I do know leopards are known to live longer than beardies...I read the average leopard gecko lifespan is 20 to 25. And beardies are more like 10 to maybe 15 if you are lucky and doing everything right for care. Though the average lifespan with the kind of life my beardie was living is 5-8 years. Honestly lifespan doesn't worry me I do have Kelly and Folger who should outlive every other animal I own. My snakes are over 10 years old and I expect at least another 10 out of the one and more out of the other one. My corns will also live a fairly long time

Age is a guessing game...mostly because I don't know how long my uncle had him when he was alive and can't remember exactly when my grandmother took him in... I think he is around 6. I have the best estimate in my ipad but that is downstairs somewhere right now... but he hasn't been on UVB lights most of his life which is known to significantly reduce the bearded dragon lifespan. And you can see a slight twist in his spine and his feet/toes bend a little. My uncle only had the bearded dragon a year before he passed away then my grandmother had him for a couple years and I have no idea what he ate in those years. Most likely those cheap pellets you get in stores and crap crickets eating crappy food. I know he wasn't on lights with my grandmother...no heat no light and rarely getting water. Honestly he did well with her for that setup.

He eats well here with veggies, silkworms, hornworms, and superworms (since he isn't eating much these are the cheapest to get right now). Right now he isn't on a UVB light because my socket/outlet is blowing 50 dollar bulbs. I have a new bulb and fixture coming in the mail probably Saturday with lower wattage. If it blows this than the beardie is screwed for awhile because I've spent 100 dollars on UVB in the last month and won't have the money for a new one with my new glasses/contacts being ordered and that new double stacker I ordered for the birds. And yes the wattage/socket is fine. It has something to do with the upper outlet...drives me insane...

I do love the little ackies and have always wanted them but I don't have the appropriate size cage for multiples. I have thought about getting a tortoise but then I would have to get a table instead so that defeats the purpose of reusing the tank again... I honestly might want a break from the reptiles by the time he passes and might get two display cages for the corns or maybe all 4 snakes...I was just thinking in a couple years at the longest and this year as the shortest. I had beardies in the past and he is looking like the old man beardie I owned before...run down a bit. Now that was a beardie that lived forever

 

[Kiwibird]

So glad to hear the tank is 100+ gallons! I thought you were indicating you had an adult beardie in a 20gallon and was trying to think of a polite way to say that's a bit small My beardie used to have a 100gallon tank. That would be HUGE for a couple LGs! And if you want a boring pet, LGs may be the perfect critter for you

Do you dust all his live prey and have you every tried him on pinky mice? Poor diet often leads to calcium deficiency and sometimes the lifespan can be extended by supplementation. They do live a shorter time than LGs though. Tiff was around 13/14 when she passed.

 

[riddick07]

He was living in a 20 gallon most of his life. He likes when his food moves so he probably won't give pinkies a try. For awhile he looked at greens like I was giving him the weirdest thing. And he gets the calcium/D dusting.

Yeah every where I read said that females can be caged together. Territorial issues can crop up like with any animal but with such a big cage I wouldn't think it a huge issue. I kind of figured I could split it down the middle easily enough if certain ones don't get along with other ones. But I don't think my beardie is going to drop dead in the next month or anything I was just thinking about the next lizard since he isn't looking any younger....though I did see this really pretty leopard that was available right now...lol don't need to spend anymore money though

And I am probably going to have to upgrade my female corns cage soon...really growing like a weed she is on rat pups right now because the mice that were her size just weren't giving her enough to grow like she wanted! I was looking at display cages and bigger cages...figured she is confident enough to go into her permanent cage...just have to find it now! The other one is still too small...though I think he is going through a small growth spurt at the moment.


And she is getting that red coloring...