Atlanta zoo leopard geckos

Superleo98

Superleo98

New member
(Wasn't sure what topic I would put this under, so I just put it here)

Hey everyone, I went to the Atlanta zoo twice last year and they have leopard geckos! The way they keep their geckos is what makes me happy with my set up. They use sand and river rocks along with big rocks and some small plants. It had 3 hides. Very beautiful! In what looked like a 20 gallon, was 3 healthy looking leopard geckos.

I decided to share this because if you have doubts about using sand or even keeping geckos together(although don't keep 2 males together) is ok. Yes there are risks, but with the right husbandry, your geckos can live a long healthy life. And remember, even the proffesionals do it!

Yes, I know people have had bad experiences with sand and housing leopard geckos together but their have also been good ones. Leopard geckos are animals that deserve to be treated well, and I love to see the members on here do so. Also, if you would like to share your setups, feel free to do so! I would love to see them as well as others :)
 
Superleo98

Superleo98

New member
I didn't have any pictures from when I went to zoo Atlanta, so here is one of their enclosure on a website that took one. Well part of the enclosure
image.jpg
 
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Yuk

Yuk

New member
Cool :) I looked for them at our zoo but the reptile room was full of snakes :/ It is cool to see what they look like at a zoo since they are getting researched enclosures. It'd be cool if Frank, who worked at the Bonx zoo with leopard geckos had any pictures of what theor habitat looked like. He sometimes posts on this forum. I hope he sees this thread and weighs in :)
 
Superleo98

Superleo98

New member
Yea I went to busch gardens today and hoped to see leopard geckos but they didn't have any. So instead I shared what I saw at zoo Atlanta. And I totally agree that it's neat to see how they do it with all the research they must do!
 
JIMI

JIMI

New member
Hmm just because a zoo does it, it doesn't mean that it is right. There is a zoo or museum I believe somewhere in the U.S. where they keep leopard geckos in 5 gallons:sad:. It may have already been shut down though. I'll see if I can find it. There are many many risks involved with using sand, and in my opinion there are just too many to even consider using sand. The professionals use very high tech equipment to ensure proper temperatures and humidity and zoos even have their own vet staff. There are better and safer options. This is just my opinion don't bash on me:)
 
Superleo98

Superleo98

New member
Don't worry I won't bash you lol I completely agree. Don't use sand if you are unsure. If someone like me prefers sand and uses it with the proper care then by all means, use it :)
 
Conched

Conched

New member
I am not sure I see where you are going with this thread. When I look at the picture posted I see about 90% small river rocks and a larger rock with some sand , hay and gravel. I think it would be a bit of a stretch to insinuate that sand is being used as a substrate.

Sand is present but there appears to be a small percentage.

Sand is not recommended for juvenile Leos because of a significant threat of impaction. Adults should fare better however it still proves to be a very unsanitary substrate.

It's a free country , if you want to use sand go ahead, but to just say zoo's use it so it must be ok is a bit of a stretch without offering the proper pros and cons.
 
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Yuk

Yuk

New member
It's also interesting to note how the substrate they are using is packed down so hard that their feet are completely on top of it, compared to a sand or loose soil substrate. With it so dry, I doubt they have a bioactive system going on. I would be willing to bet that they have to spot clean and every so often replace the soil to keep it clean, but that's just a guess. I really want to know what that soil is composed of! It looks so perfect... The stray pieces of hay are an interesting touch, too. I am not sure if they grow hay in the farm plots surrounding the kabul river, but with their livestock, one would think they do. If not hay, I would imagine the weeds and plants closer to the river die and litter the surrounding area.
 
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Hilde

Hilde

Administrator
Staff member
JIMI said:
Unfortunately, I don't know which zoo this is from, but it appears that it was in New Zealand:scratchhead:
Click to expand...

That is at the Kuala Lumpur Aquarium, a.k.a. Aquaria KLCC. The picture is easy enough to find on Google.
It's also an old picture from 2009, quite posisbly they've upgraded their display tanks by now.
 
JIMI

JIMI

New member
Oh thank you for letting me know. I just realized that they have the location and the name of the aquarium on top of the page, but for some reason I did not see that. Haha I'm kind of embarrassed now! I should have looked into it some more. Apparently their displays have been that small since at least 2006. Hopefully they have upgraded their displays by now.
 
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Yuk

Yuk

New member
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Superleo98

Superleo98

New member
Conched said:
I am not sure I see where you are going with this thread. When I look at the picture posted I see about 90% small river rocks and a larger rock with some sand , hay and gravel. I think it would be a bit of a stretch to insinuate that sand is being used as a substrate.

Sand is present but there appears to be a small percentage.

Sand is not recommended for juvenile Leos because of a significant threat of impaction. Adults should fare better however it still proves to be a very unsanitary substrate.

It's a free country , if you want to use sand go ahead, but to just say zoo's use it so it must be ok is a bit of a stretch without offering the proper pros and cons.
Click to expand...

Where I was going with this thread was about zoo leopard geckos and what they use. It wasn't meant for "oh they use sand so you should use sand/loose substrate" No. You may suggest not using sand, but there are others that do. I did not intend for you to take this in the wrong way, nor did I mean to sound like i only recommend sand not anything else. I thought it was a unique thing to share, and I apologize if you misunderstood.
 
Superleo98

Superleo98

New member
I don't know if you caught the part where it said that it was PART of the enclosure, there is much more to be seen in the full thing. I am not sure if you have ever heard of the Atlanta zoo, but if not then I suggest looking it up. These people know what they are doing. I understand that not all sand is used, and I didn't want this thread to turn into a sand debate, just a discussion on zoo's and leopard geckos. That's all I have to say. Thank you.
 
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