Help with natural setup for wheeleri

[Ailurus]

Hi, i am hoping to get some wheeleri over the next few months and i am just trying to get an idea as to what stuff i need to buy, i have tubs for them as a temporary measure to begin as the smaller enclosure size will help me to keep track of their feeding habits for the first couple of months, to make sure they are settling in properly.

Then i was going to get them a naturalistic vivarium. Would 60x50x40cm be big enough for a pair? Thats Length x Width x Height. For the substrate i wanted to use sand, as i know that they are a burrowing species, but i am unsure of what to use, there are so many different reptile ones on the market and then people have suggested play sand. I wanted to go for a red colour, can anyone suggest one?

Also for decor i was going to use large flat rock pieces and hides stacked to produce a rocky landscape and scatter some leaves on the ground. I also wanted to add some banana plant roots as they look very good on sand, as a scrubland plant.

Oh yes another thing, they will be CB08 a 1.1 pair, if i set up their viv and put them in it early next year, i don't want them to breed as they will be too young. Will they do it anyway? i know its a stupid question.

Does all this sound ok? Sorry for the long post, i want to get everything right for them as although they are not the most expensive nephrurus species, to me it is alot of money, as i am still a student.

Thanks

 

[Rob D'heu]

I keep my trio in 100x60x40 but your size is ok for a pair(bigger is always better) . I use plain play sand , I used red sand first but then the animals are coverrred in red dust so you don't see their colour an pattern .
If you keep them together they will breed for sure , the male will be ready but it is too soon for the female .
here is my viv : I used real gras that I dried this gives a natural look

 

[Ailurus]

wow that looks great Rob, I saw your amyae setup on here somewhere as well which i really liked.

What is the best way to heat the vivarium for wheeleri?

And how did you make your background?

 

[midget]

I don't have any exp with them but i have made desert vivs for burowing lizards. What i use is a mixture of clay:cocofiber:sand in a 2:1:1 ratio i'll be doing some expermenting to try and figure out a way to make it hold its form better. I would use clay with slighty larger particales than sand seemed to work best; it will also be slightly moist toward they very bottom which i would think be slightly benfical as it it will be cooler. Good luck

 

[Ptit_jo]

Rob D'heu do you keep the male and females together all the year? No problemes for the wheeleri? And for the other Nephrurus are they always together too?
TY

 

[Rob D'heu]

I only keep the males with the females during breeding season .
I heat my viv with a 40W bulb . I prefers heating with bulbs because this is the natural way .