Running Water in a Tropical habitat? plus another ?

[SlapCat]

First off - my first post, so Hello! I'm glad to have found this forum.
I have searched for many hours for some answers to the following questions to no avail.
I have an unidentified gecko, I will post an image when I get my digi-cam back. The pet store couldn't identify it, they told me it was either a house gecko or a flying gecko. I'm pretty sure it is a house gecko tho. I.D. question aside for now, I have a 30 gal rectangle case 12"W 30"L 18.5"tall. I have been browsing for a waterfall/stream system but haven't been able to find enough info to go that route yet. My initial idea was to have an external resevoir/pump and a tube entering through the top. That idea has me stuck at "how do i return the water to the resevoir from the end of the stream"? Is there an easier way of having running water in my gecko's habitat? I've looked at the Exo-Terra Waterfalls but I would be happier with a stream as well. Any input on having running water would be more then appreciated.

Another question is this. What does it mean if my gecko never enters his hideout? Does he/she simply not like it? I obviously don't want a stressed gecko that is bored out of his mind. And finally, (n00b question) am I right when I assume that geckos prefer to walk on natural objects rather then fake ones or even bare glass? Thanks in advance for any advice. This looks like a great online community.

 

[Warmen]

First off - my first post, so Hello! I'm glad to have found this forum.
I have searched for many hours for some answers to the following questions to no avail.
I have an unidentified gecko, I will post an image when I get my digi-cam back. The pet store couldn't identify it, they told me it was either a house gecko or a flying gecko. I'm pretty sure it is a house gecko tho. I.D. question aside for now, I have a 30 gal rectangle case 12"W 30"L 18.5"tall. I have been browsing for a waterfall/stream system but haven't been able to find enough info to go that route yet. My initial idea was to have an external resevoir/pump and a tube entering through the top. That idea has me stuck at "how do i return the water to the resevoir from the end of the stream"? Is there an easier way of having running water in my gecko's habitat? I've looked at the Exo-Terra Waterfalls but I would be happier with a stream as well. Any input on having running water would be more then appreciated.


Another question is this. What does it mean if my gecko never enters his hideout? Does he/she simply not like it? I obviously don't want a stressed gecko that is bored out of his mind. And finally, (n00b question) am I right when I assume that geckos prefer to walk on natural objects rather then fake ones or even bare glass? Thanks in advance for any advice. This looks like a great online community.

Ok about water setup I can't come up with something simple right away. About the hideout do not worry different types of geckos like hideouts differently ,if he likes to chill outside and not to hide thats a plus,its easier to monitor him. All you need to worrie about is him being healthy. Make sure you feed him well and watch any signs like skin is going dull or getting to skiny that is sign of weakness.

About the objects fake or not fake glass or not glass it shoudn't really matter to gecko they don't have that big of inteligence like human let's say you walking on cold bathroom tiles or warm hardwood floor for gecko that doesn't matter except the warmth ,most likely if object is warmer than other he would pick that one. So no fake object would serve as well.

Is that tropical gecko? Where have you found him?

Sincerely,

Warmen

 

['stoph]

First i filled a part of the bottom where the landpart would be with hydroleca and wrapped it with a screen to keep it in place (should be as high as you want your waterlevel) + installed a pump in the back corner and a hose to bring water to the opposite front corner. Then i added a couple of layers (rock pebbles,coco husk ships,turf) to make the land area.
Flooded the bottom layer - let the water settle itself and switch on the pump to get to water circulation and you have yourself a small stream.
Works pretty good the hydroleca, screen and rock work as a filter.

Not so visible on the picture (should make a vid to make it clear) but there's a waterfall out of those big rocks and a stream at the front 5cm deep 5 cm deep and 30cm long. The pump is situated underneath the big plant in the front i also added a fogger.

 

[qiksilver]

What 'stoph is describing is called a false bottom setup and is very common in dart frog enclosures. That's a very good way to keep up humidity and allow for a water feature. Different methods can be used to create a water fall and stream, but the easiest that comes to mind is great stuff foam, aquarium silicone and some rocks if you want for the waterfall. The water can be returned via a small filter or pump. This method is very effective with false bottom tanks and not only allows for an imaginative layout, but also adds interest because of a water feature.
Hope this helps.

 

[SlapCat]

thx!

Is that tropical gecko? Where have you found him?

I believe it is Hemidactylus, just by comparing him with pics on the internet. But there are a few species of flying geckos that look almost the same. Like I said, i'll post a pic of him when I post my running water addition. I found him on sale @ Petco for $14. Two of their employees told me that they had "just found it" and "we can't seem to identify, it could be house gek or ..^". He looks cool and was changing color so I bought him (already had enough equipment - not my first gecko). Thank you very much Warmen, Stoph, and Qiksilver. You've made this much clearer to me now. A few days of contemplation and I'll have several visions. I will post a pic when I finish that addition. very busy week @ work for me so I havent had much time at all.

 

[SlapCat]

hope a better article

What? That doesn't even make sense. Either way, This thread should be wrapped up. I understand it now, and have ID'ed the gecko. Thanks again to those of you who's posts made sense.

 

[DCraig]

If you decide to go with the exo-terra waterfall, Id advise you not to run the cords behind your background like I did. It makes it harder to clean. So far I've only seen my geckos do two things with the waterfall. Shed in it and poop in it. And don't even get me started on the fogger. I don't know how much time I spent messing with it to get the fog production I wanted. If I could get my money back for it I would. If you do choose to use it though, remember, dont run the cord behind your background.

 

[SlapCat]

So far I've only seen my geckos do two things with the waterfall. Shed in it and poop in it. And don't even get me started on the fogger.

Lol! that is pretty funny, but good advice. I've heard mixed reviews about the waterfall, and terrible reviews about the fogger. I'm not going with either. I still haven't constructed the system I want, I'm struggling with the dimensions of my case. It is 18"tall 12"w and 30"L. Thank You DCraig. I appreciate it. I know it is Hemidactylus, but I don't know what species. Still haven't gotten my Digi-cam back from my friend, like the cliche - your neighbor borrows a tool and you never see it again.

 

[DCraig]

Ugh...I promised myself I wouldn't complain about the fogger, but hey I got nothing better to do right now.

The fogger turns on when the sensor is submerged. The fogger works best when it is submerged at a certain depth. The waterfall is designed so the fogger can sit in a little spot and spew out fog. However, it doesn't really submerge the fogger that deep. After playing around with it(for a long time), and some small pebbles, I got it to work how I wanted to. Then I put the plastic parts back on the waterfall....:? The the fogger stopped. After monkeying around with it some more I found out that... If the piece of the waterfall is blocking the fogger it wont work. If the fogger isn't pointing up and the correct angle then it will hit the plastic piece of the waterfall and not produce enough fog. Of just putting the piece back on the waterfall will move the fogger from the alignment you had it in because theres no little notch on it anywhere for you to close it and run the cord through it like there is for the pump for the waterfall itself.

Don't get me wrong, the fogger itself works great. Put the thing in a cup of water and your terrarium will be foggier then a cheesy 1980's sci-fi movie, its just that the design of the waterfall is in my opinion crap.


Who knows, maybe this problem isn't so with the large size waterfall. In any case theres a few others you could go with if you still want fog. Theres the Misty Mountain fogger which is this pretty neat looking volcano that produces fog. Zoo med also makes a fogger and it has a controller on it so you can adjust the output. It also says in their product info that you can hook it up to their Hygro Therm which is a temperature and humidity controller. Auto on-off = very nice :biggrin:!!

 

[SlapCat]

Pics

Here are some pictures. If anyone can tell me exactly what species they think this is, I would really appreciate it. I am pretty sure it is Hemidactylus like I said before but I dont know what variety it is. (or even is it is Hemidactylus). Pictures don't have the best quality, but I tried.