I use an organized poor man's setup. I keep my hatchlings all in a series of 2+ gallon glass cookie jars. I have them divided by clutch and species. I use stickers on the bottom of each to tag the species, parents, date hatched, and the last time cleaned. The cookie jars are placed on a baker's rack and have a battery of UVB flourescent lighting mounted to the bottom of the shelves immediately above the cookie jars. I use a non-metal window shade screen and post office jumbo rubber bands to secure the screen to the opening in the jars. I replace the rubber bands every two weeks (they're cheap). I discarded the original cookie jar lid. There is about an 6" space between the bottom of the lights and the top of the jars, so there will be good air flow and I can reach all the jars on the shelf with the water sprayer.
Last year I used glass terrariums with a sliding lid (Zilla) and Exoterra cages for the neonates when they were born, but the terraria were expensive, and I had constant problems with escapes. I do however use these types of terraria with false bottoms for the parents.
The jar substrate is set up with an underlayer of coarse aquarium gravel or clay encapsulated activated charcoal beads (these are available at most hydroponic stores and are often called lekka). The next layer is activated charcoal, but this can be skipped if the activated charcoal beads are used. The last layer is a mixture of fine coconut fiber peat and sand. I use small amounts of the sand in this latter substrate to flocculate it and keep it aerobic. I make sure that I have at least one sprig of live pothos (Epipremnum), or Philodendron in each of the jars and a tilted peace of cork bark or sticks for the geckos to rest on. The phelsuma get a jar lid with a fruit mixture placed in the jars fresh daily.
If the jars become fouled, I simply remove the geckos, dump out, and replace the contents.
This has worked so far for babies of my Phelsuma, Uroplatus, and Aeluroscalabotes.
Regards,
Dave
