Plastic enclosure ideas?

[bowrll]

Hi folks! I am the happy owner of a CBB tokay gecko who is quickly outgrowing his little glass exo terra tank!

Now that you have some cute pics of him, here's my dilemma.

I don't want a bigger exo terra tank. I really hate glass enclosures. They're fragile, flimsy and just not great, in my opinion. I really want a plastic enclosure. I'm encountering a few problems, however.

First of all, I can't find any good arboreal plastic enclosures meant for sticky geckos. They're mostly terrestrial.

It seems obvious that I can't mount a radiant heat panel inside a tokay gecko enclosure, right? Burned little feetsies?

But I also don't want to do belly heat, because what good is that going to do for an arboreal?

A bulb is out of the question because they dry out the enclosure and I just hate lights so so so damn much.

My question is, has anyone found a decent plastic arboreal enclosure, suited for an adult male tokay gecko?

Does heat tape transfer heat through plastic well, for example, if I mounted it on the side, and maybe the top?

Advice?

Also I'm NOT handy at all and can't build worth a damn, so that's out.

I really want a nice looking display enclosure for this gecko, he's the light of my life and he deserves more than a 20 gallon long with some gravel and a twig that most tokays get.

 

[Marauderhex]

I use high impact molded polystyrene enclosures for all of my herps. My adult male tokay lives in a 20" cube. For heating, I took two UTH mats and stuck them in the back upper left hand corner in an L shape, one on the left side, and one on the back panel. This provides a corner from which the heat radiates into the rest of his enclosure.

 

[Aimless]

Justin, doesn't the polystyrene scratch up something fierce?

 

[cricket4u]

Justin, doesn't the polystyrene scratch up something fierce?

Assuming that the place where Marauderhex purchased his from use the real deal, they are safe. Here is some information and references on the material.

Plastic Reptile Cages, Tanks and Racks. Snake, arboreal, lizard and turtle light weight custom flexwatt heated enclosures.

 

[Riverside Reptiles]

For heating, use flexwatt heat tape, which you can custom cut to the proper size for your enclosure. I'd put some on the bottom and some on the back. And make sure to use a high quality thermostat as should be used on any heating device. Overheating isn't just a safety issue for your herps, but for your home as well. You could probably get boaphile or one of those other guys to custom make you whatever you want. Or maybe just turn one of their existing models vertical and have them just put custom doors on it to accommodate the switch in orientation.

 

[aquamentus_11]

If your major problem with bulbs is light, you could try a CHE. It'll still dry things out, but nothing an AM/PM misting and some foliage won't solve. I've never been able to successfully heat a viv with side-mounted mats, but it seems to work for everyone else....maybe I keep my house too cold?

If you find a good plastic enclosure, let me know: I'll also be in the market soon.

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

bowrll ~

:yahoo: for that wonderful photo of your tokay peeking from the corkbark tube!

 

[Marauderhex]

Aimee, nope. The enclosure is solid white and the front door is clear. No scratches on any of them. I use variants of that enclosure for almost everything, my snakes, cresties, leos, skinks, goldens, etc.

 

[aquamentus_11]

Would any of you guys using flexwatt or sidemounted mats be willing to post some pics of your heating setups? It would be really helpful to see how you keep things safe, etc.

 

[Marauderhex]

Mine's in the stack, but it's attached with aluminum foil tape, which dissipates heat quickly.

 

[billewicz]

I use any number of heat mats, tape and rope, all on a thermostat, and all under the enclosure as the primary source for heating a Tokay enclosure. The heat will evaporate most of the accumulated moisture that collects in the substrate from heavy misting.

This combats pooling and bacteria. This also raises the humidity and gives an even heat throughout the enclosure which is closer to the typical tropical jungle from which Tokay originate.

Make sure that Tokay can cling to your choice of plastic. Some plastics are like Teflon to them and the slide right off. This will stress your guys out.

 

[zuper8]

I don't have any input other than... omg what a cute gecko.