[Guinness]

My son is a huge a lizard fan .. in particular geckos. We have started off with a house gecko named 'Gordy' and we are keeping him in a Exo Terra small/tall rainforest kit that is 18 x 18 x 24.

The first question I have is about the size of the enclosure. Gordy is currently about 5 inches long. From what I have read he is pretty much full grown. Is this enclosure big enough for him?

The second question is in regards to heating. Currently we have the Exo Terra rainforest UTH that fits the bottom of the tank. It does not appear to heat the tank at all. Our house is roughly 72 degrees in the summer and the tank has stayed at that temp since we put the UTH on. I did buy a small light dome for the top but even with a 50 watt heat bulb in it I was afraid it would melt the plastic divider on the Exo Terra screen. So I am wondering if I should not use the dome and perhaps purchase a larger UTH for use on the side of the tank instead of the bottom? I read that he needs the temp to be in the 80's and I am concerned that come winter time he will be way too cold.

My last question is one that seems rather dumb to ask. We feed him every other day by putting in 3 or 4 crickets at bed time. Short of him looking skinnier how do we know he is actually eating them? When we put the crickets in they seem to immediately disappear into the substrate (we use the substrate that came with the kit). With the gecko being nocturnal we have never once seen him eat.

Thanks in advance for the help.

[MauricesExoticPets]

Originally Posted by Guinness

My son is a huge a lizard fan .. in particular geckos. We have started off with a house gecko named 'Gordy' and we are keeping him in a Exo Terra small/tall rainforest kit that is 18 x 18 x 24.

The first question I have is about the size of the enclosure. Gordy is currently about 5 inches long. From what I have read he is pretty much full grown. Is this enclosure big enough for him?

Big enough, sort of, but bigger is nearly always better. In the states people will often suggest 20 gallons per gecko of this size, and that will work. Larger vivariums do allow much more interesting interiors which are pleasing for both the owner and the gecko.

Originally Posted by Guinness

The second question is in regards to heating. Currently we have the Exo Terra rainforest UTH that fits the bottom of the tank. It does not appear to heat the tank at all. Our house is roughly 72 degrees in the summer and the tank has stayed at that temp since we put the UTH on. I did buy a small light dome for the top but even with a 50 watt heat bulb in it I was afraid it would melt the plastic divider on the Exo Terra screen. So I am wondering if I should not use the dome and perhaps purchase a larger UTH for use on the side of the tank instead of the bottom? I read that he needs the temp to be in the 80's and I am concerned that come winter time he will be way too cold.

UTH's don't heat through deep substrate too well. You are looking for a thermal gradient, thats in the 80's down to mid to low 70's, with a slight drop in temperatures at night. In all honesty a thermostat is needed, they can be expensive but are well worth the price in knowing your are keeping the temperatures correct.

I'm not an expert on that particular enclosure, I have tended to avoid them for a number of reasons, heating being just one.

I will pass actual heating device recommendations to others, but maintain that a thermostat is money well spent no matter how much you spend.

Originally Posted by Guinness

My last question is one that seems rather dumb to ask. We feed him every other day by putting in 3 or 4 crickets at bed time. Short of him looking skinnier how do we know he is actually eating them? When we put the crickets in they seem to immediately disappear into the substrate (we use the substrate that came with the kit). With the gecko being nocturnal we have never once seen him eat.

He does seem to be in good health, you could cup feed (attach a suction cup to a plastic cup and put the feeder insects in there with a dash of calcium + D3 and attach this assembly to the door every night. I like to tong feed my geckos that are in that size range, it builds a little human gecko interaction even with species that aren't fond of being handled.

Originally Posted by Guinness

Thanks in advance for the help.

Maurice Pudlo

[cilatusguy]

I'm sorry but could you post some more pics of him if you can because to me he kind of looks like a realy pale williamsi or smaller phelsuma

[ajb28221]

Originally Posted by Guinness

The second question is in regards to heating. Currently we have the Exo Terra rainforest UTH that fits the bottom of the tank. It does not appear to heat the tank at all. Our house is roughly 72 degrees in the summer and the tank has stayed at that temp since we put the UTH on. I did buy a small light dome for the top but even with a 50 watt heat bulb in it I was afraid it would melt the plastic divider on the Exo Terra screen. So I am wondering if I should not use the dome and perhaps purchase a larger UTH for use on the side of the tank instead of the bottom? I read that he needs the temp to be in the 80's and I am concerned that come winter time he will be way too cold.

UTH's will not heat the air very much if at all, one option would be to mount the UTH on the side glass to provide him a warm spot on the glass to hangout, I have this same enclosure for baby Phelsuma so I am familiar with it, It looks to me from the pics that you also have the exo-terra compact top? If so it should fit fine and not melt the plastic as long as the bulb is not directly on top. Not saying it will not melt, bc it will I have had it happen but with an actual round dome fixture with a basking light. What bulb is in the fixture?

[MauricesExoticPets]

Originally Posted by ajb28221

UTH's will not heat the air very much if at all

This is not true! I use flexwatt exclusively for heating 20xt and 10 vertical conversion enclosures and have zero issue creating a thermal gradient air temperature from mid 90s down to ambient.

I don't use the type of enclosure mentioned in this post so my experience is clearly based on an alternative application of the product.

What I am interested in getting across here is that UTHs can heat the air if used properly for that task and in a properly designed enclosure.

Maurice Pudlo

[DC_Reptiles]

from what i can see he looks just like some of my H. turcicus who will go from very pale (translucent) to very very dark almost black... He is as you stated a full grown geckos, you can house about 3-4 more in that terrarium... He also looks like he is eating well, they however are nocturnal ambush feeders meaning they will wait for the prey to come close then reach out and nab them... I have sat and watched my h. turcicus feed at night and they eat 2-3 crickets then retreat back to thier favorite hiding spots... try a dimmer light as the compact fluorscent that comes with the kits are extremely bright and harsh on the eyes of these lil guys... I use (as stated in another reply) a small LED light bar bought from ebay that is not too bright but not too dim and they are out and about all day... as long as u keep the tank room temp he will be fine and no additional heating required mine are doing great at a temp of 75-78 degrees... i keep them like i keep my crested geckos just minus the crested gecko diet lol...

but other than the stated above he looks to be doing great from what i can see in the pic....

Michael Drake

[Ricky_81]

Originally Posted by Guinness

The second question is in regards to heating. Currently we have the Exo Terra rainforest UTH that fits the bottom of the tank. It does not appear to heat the tank at all. Our house is roughly 72 degrees in the summer and the tank has stayed at that temp since we put the UTH on. I did buy a small light dome for the top but even with a 50 watt heat bulb in it I was afraid it would melt the plastic divider on the Exo Terra screen. So I am wondering if I should not use the dome and perhaps purchase a larger UTH for use on the side of the tank instead of the bottom? I read that he needs the temp to be in the 80's and I am concerned that come winter time he will be way too cold.

I have the same enclosure and using the exo terra compact top canopy with only the et reptiglo 5.0 26w bulb and in the upper regions of the tank the temperature reaches about 82.4 degrees and about 70% humidity. In the lower parts it's about 73.4 degrees. That is normal (warm air rises) and the gecko needs cooler and warmer spots inside the enclosure for heat regulation.
So with a heating mat the temp should ever get higher, or at least the substrate should be warmer (good for the air humidity).

Originally Posted by Guinness

My last question is one that seems rather dumb to ask. We feed him every other day by putting in 3 or 4 crickets at bed time. Short of him looking skinnier how do we know he is actually eating them? When we put the crickets in they seem to immediately disappear into the substrate (we use the substrate that came with the kit). With the gecko being nocturnal we have never once seen him eat.

Crickets try to hide and the gecko probably eats them only when he encounters one wandering over the background or something like that.
Try feeding him/her some (curled) flies, soldier flies, (night) butterflies, flying wax moths, etc. small insects (about the size of its head).
Also buffalo worms are good to dust some chalk and/or vitamin powder on them and put them in a worm dish, or small cap.
Once in a while you could give it some small amount of phelsuma vitamin jelly.
Better feed it 3 times a week and not always crickets. Otherwise you may get a plague.

Also keep in mind these gecko's are nocturnal and may hunt in the evening or at night.

Good luck with him/her.