[Saurian]

I keep phants right now and have a few that are getting older. I keep my youngsters in critter keepers going up a size of the critter keeper as the gecko gets bigger. Right now I have one that is about a month old who is in a mini keeper and another that is going on 5 months old in a larger. My setups are minimal for I can keep a eye on them and how much they are eating (things to climb and paper towel as substrate, misting twice a day with distilled water). I was wondering if anyone uses the same type of setup and when they put their older juveniles in adult setups. I was thinking when she was 6 months I would put her in a adult setup. Thanks and take care.

[D.B.Johnson]

I have done similar to what you're doing. I don't think they can be too small to go into an 'adult' setup...within reason, of course. Obviously putting a fresh hatchling into a 20 gallon would be overkill and absurd. One thing I have noticed is that if a hatchling is in a setup that is too small, they seem not to actively hunt their food. I have had very young hatchlings who would seem not to notice a cricket right in front of them in a small cage, but when I moved them into a larger, more complex one, they are suddenly seeing and stalking them from across the enclosure. I would say something like half the size of an adult enclosure is fine for a young phant (or more than one even) that is a few months old. Maybe something around a five gallon mark would be good even for geckos younger than 5-6 months. I would say that if they are actively hunting, finding 'normal' perches/spots to sleep, etc. then the cage is big enough. I have found more problems from small cages than from too large ones.