How big is too big?

[truehye]

i just bought another sikorae (female) and im upgrading my 1.1 to a new 55 gallon tank. 24 long 36 tall 18 deep. is it too big? how would you feed in cases where its a bigger cage? and how would you want the temp? where would you want the ideal temperature to be higher? lower? mid? sooo many questions since iv only had smaller tanks where the whole cage is usually one temperature and feeding is a breeze

 

[pakinjak]

The temperature in any cage shouldn't be the same everywhere. There should always be a gradient so the animal can adjust it's body temperature properly. As far as the big tank goes, for sikorae I'd be shooting for a daytime 76-78 up high and a who cares down low. I keep my collection in my basement and the sikorae are in a 45g enclosure close to the floor. The substrate runs around 62 degrees constantly and the upper branches hit about 77 during the day. The downside to my setup is that I may never just magically see hatchlings in my tank because I missed the eggs and they incubated in the enclosure. Maybe it could happen, but I'm not optimistic.

I don't think the enclosure could be too big, but just for space sake you could certainly keep 1.2 in there. The tank won't take up any less room with 1.1

 

[miguel camacho!]

I'd go so far as to say it's not too big. As long as you purchase enough crickets to keep your geckos fed, there is no worry about them not being able to find them. Remember, in the wild, they do not encounter prey absolutely everywhere around themselves. They have to work for it.

 

[truehye]

thanks guys!

 

[truehye]

ok i know im probably over reacting like most people do in this case but he hasnt really moved from where i put him since i transferred him over to the big cage i know hes probably stressed, he hasnt taken any food. am i over reacting or should i move him back?

 

[miguel camacho!]

Give it time. As long as you don't have any night lights on him, he's fine. I'd always suggest minimizing the light exposure after sunset.

 

[thorrshamri]

Some keepers will tell you enclosures are never too big. It really depends on the reactions of your animals to moving prey. If the space is too large, they maay find it hard to spot prey, and crickets and roaches are particularyl good at hiding themselves and go unnoticed. You can easily house 1:3 in such a large tank! I would say there is no absolute rule, if you notice your animals find it hard to spot prey, reduce the enclosure size accordingly