Creative Rack Decor

[Martinotti Reptiles]

I'm a little curious to hear if anyone has tried doing anything creative for their geckos that live in racks. Obviously if you have 150 animals I don't expect you to do anything that isn't efficient and clean, but for those of us who don't have dozens and dozens of breeders, are you doing anything creative?

And by creative, I mean something besides colorful paper substrate
I myself have a pretty "traditional" set up in my rack, with their food and water bowls, substrate, and two hides. But I get the feeling that they're much more bored than they were when they were kept in naturalistic tanks.

Has anyone managed to do something more fun? Or are rack geckos destined to live a little bored? lol

(Happy belated Christmas!)

 

[lindsaydo]

i keep putting tubes in my tanks, like out of the toilet rolls, or kitchen paper, they like climbing in them, and if you set them up or arrange them nicely, they could have a lot of fun in them. the only problem is keeping them sturdy. I put things on either side of the tube so it doesnt roll when the gecko is inside it.
The tube also has proved quite well, the geckos will rub up the inside of it when they are shedding. They are inexpensive and replaceable. Yes they do look a little dull but i put plastic plants over them to hide the cardboard.

 

[Riverside Reptiles]

I think that most herps that are kept in a rack type situation are destined to live a rather uninspired life. This is why it saddens me to see people that only own a few animals keep them in tubs. Not only does it leave the animal to live a rather boring existence, it takes away from the fun of owning the animal in the first place. Most breeders don't keep their animals in racks because they want to. They do it because it's a necessity. Most of us would much prefer to keep all of our animals in nice naturalistic displays.

 

[missinasworld]

I have 21 leopard geckos and 11 or so eggs cooking in the incubator. I keep 2 glass display tanks set up and switch out the animals that are over 25grams, into these display tanks so that everyone gets to spend a few weeks in them. I also try to clean and switch hide types in the tubs so that the geckos can at least feel something different every week, other then paper towels and plastic. and my largest 3 leos have a big under the bed storage boxes with 3 hides each and a set up that would be just like a normal tank, just lower. And I would have a 3rd display tank set up, but due to the cold I have had to bring in the feeder insects so the 3rd display tank had to be taken down until I can find room for it


Missina
thegeckoroom

 

[aquapimp]

As a "former racker", I can see both sides of husbandry. I've raised hundreds of healthy, happy Diplodactylus and Nephrurus in rack systems. However, now that I'm focusing on Uroplatus, the vivarium designing part makes it feel much more like a "hobby". It's nice to be able to SEE the animals without "Sterilite" shades on :biggrin:.

 

[Riverside Reptiles]

Don't get me wrong, I'm not anti-racks. I use them myself. I just find it a shame when I see newbies thinking that racks are the norm for keeping geckos. It's sad to see newbie keepers totally miss out on the fun phase of the hobby in order to skip right to trying to be "breeders". Honestly the last thing we need is more cresties and leos on the market.

 

[Martinotti Reptiles]

The main reason I had to switch was just because I live in a relatively small apartment, and having the 9-12 tanks spread out across the house was becoming a problem. We're not allowed to have animals, so switching them to a space-efficient rack (while still giving them pretty large tubs) and hiding it all behind a room divider was the only way to keep them hidden from my landlady if she ever came into the apartment. But I do miss giving them something to do.

I do wish, however, that I could get my hands on (or build myself) some kind of "rack" for tanks, but have the tanks be open-front. Because having a shelf of 10-20gal tanks that open at the top is a pain. Sometimes I wish I were more handy with wood because I'd love to build myself all sorts of things but can't because I don't know how, and don't have the tools and space to do it. But that is definately what I would prefer to do if I could.

I still take out each gecko for a little while every night to give them some fresh air. I do try to have hands on time with each one because they are my pets, and I love the little buggers. But if I didn't have to be space-efficient for the next 6 months, I would do something more interesting for them.

 

[Riverside Reptiles]

Oli, I wasn't referring to you in particular. I was just speaking in general. No worries.

 

[Martinotti Reptiles]

No, I know But I do agree that it's sad to keep your 3 or 4 geckos in racks. I only have 10 leos myself at this time, so I feel slightly hypocritical keeping them in racks. But it is for the reason I stated above. If I reeeeally had a choice I would have huge wooden square boxes or something and just recreate pieces of the desert for all my geckos to live in. But, unfortunately, I don't have room for that! Hopefully someday, right?

 

[Allee Toler]

I have most of mine in a rack due to space. I live in a rather small apartment with my fiance and a roommate. I Keep 3 of the 16 in glass tanks. I love to be able to see their faces. When we get into a bigger apartment with our own room for the reptiles I'll be switching all my adults to tanks and using the rack for babies I produce.

But at the same time I'm not a big breeder. I don't plan on owning 40+ geckos.

To keep the "holding cells" a little more interesting I have fake plants covering it. There's a hide, water bowl, two toilet paper tubes, and the fake plant. When I open the drawer I usually see a gecko run into a tube, then run back out. So I think putting the plants and lots of hiding places can help stop the boredom, though I'd still prefer to keep them all in a tank.

 

[Martinotti Reptiles]

Yea, I think I'll add more interesting hides for them, because I can imagine that their life is suddenly very boring.

Does anyone know of a good website to get custom built acrylic enclosures? I've been looking at prices and sizes just out of curiosity today, because some shorter tanks with more floor space than a 10 gal would still work with the shelves I have, and would give me more room to play with interesting designs. Or I guess, is it that dificult to build some myself?

 

[Jessikah]

Ok, Am I Really Thick To Not Know What Racks Are?

 

[Captain Stitch-Mozart]

No, because I am not really sure either. Who would like to give an explanation?

 

[Martinotti Reptiles]

Not at all - a rack is something typically breeders (or people who need to be space efficient) use to house their geckos (or snakes, etc.). If you do an image search you can find all sorts of homemade or commercial examples, but it's typically some type of shelf system that can hold several plastic bins/boxes with animals on each row. Most professional ones look like the ones in the pictures below, with no wasted centimeters anywhere, but mine consists of those metal 5 tier shelves you can get at Target with several 32qt sized bins with a gecko in each. Each bin is still roughly 8-10 gallons (I believe) but without all the un-used airspace of a tank, so it makes it much easier to have many geckos in a single area. But it also means that you have less room to decorate it in a way that is fun and interesting. It tends to be pretty sterile - one or two hides, their food/water bowls and some substrate. That's why I asked if anyone has though of a way to be creative with the limited space.

Here are 2 examples: http://captivebred.co.uk/images/vision_hatchling_rack_001.gif
http://northeastsnakes.com/racks (2).JPG

Hope that helps!

 

[missinasworld]

Yea, I think I'll add more interesting hides for them, because I can imagine that their life is suddenly very boring.

Does anyone know of a good website to get custom built acrylic enclosures? I've been looking at prices and sizes just out of curiosity today, because some shorter tanks with more floor space than a 10 gal would still work with the shelves I have, and would give me more room to play with interesting designs. Or I guess, is it that dificult to build some myself?

These are not custom or acrlic, and they were a lot cheaper when I got mine a few years ago..ok..cheaper by like $20 per unit.. Visionarium stackable terrarium
but those are what I use for display tanks. they stack so it works really well for me. And I have No clue at all what the name of the company is, but at several reptile shows here in FL I have been seeing (and even took one home) a lot of shorter glass tanks with reptile lids that look really cool and have pretty good prices. but for the life of me, I dont know what company is making them.
Or you could just take 10gallon, sit them on their fronts and make sliding or swining hinged doors for them. just some ideas. hope they help.

Missina
Missina.cjb.net

 

[Martinotti Reptiles]

Ah yes I know those cages, a friend of mine has several of those.

Could it have been Glass Cages? They're typically at every single Florida show I go to and they have the best variety of cage sizes. I'm going to the next show in Jan with the hopes of finding tanks with better dimensions.

 

[Riverside Reptiles]

One of our members here on GU (protean) makes really nice custom glass enclosures. He can design them any way you want them. If you're serious about getting something custom made, you might want to drop him a line.

 

[Jessikah]

Ahhh, Tah For The Meaning Haha.
xxxx

 

[missinasworld]

Ah yes I know those cages, a friend of mine has several of those.

Could it have been Glass Cages? They're typically at every single Florida show I go to and they have the best variety of cage sizes. I'm going to the next show in Jan with the hopes of finding something tanks with better dimensions.

hmm I have seen their stuff. but the tank I got was not made by them unless they dont show the type I got online. it was a very low profile glass tank.

Missina
Missina.cjb.net

 

[houseape57]

They are from Visionproducts.com the are great! I use 12 of them, stack 3 high. I paid I think $82 + 25 shipping. For me they are well worth the price. I recommend them highly. They also have many different types of incloseures as well. If you go to my site adirondackgecko.com look at "my setups" and I show pixs of what I have purchased from them, there is also a link to there homepage on "links".

Kathy