ecosystem

[pandorasBox]

i would really like to build an ecosystem out of a 4x2x2 aquarium i have. i have already thought about the design that will have a pool, fountain with a filtration device, and large limbs for the arboreal animals. however i am unsure what i can exactly house together? i have seen pics of arboreal geckos housed with certain types of frogs. so my question is what would be the best diversifyed selection of hearty animals that could all be housed in the same enviroment. any thoughts or suggestions would be great for i have found nothing on the net. i should mention this will only be for display. i have no intentions on breeding or really handling this animals. thanks.

[Dozer]

eh, dont mix species,even though the tank is big, its not the best idea, so i'm not even gonna go into details :)

[Linds]

For any mixed species environment you will need *at least* an enclosure similar in size to a small room. 4x2x2 is too small to house more than one species.

[Tim_Cranwill]

I tried it in junior high.... My buddy and I had a 50gal tank outside with a patch of grass growing at each end and a pool of water in the middle. We had (and I know better now ;)) some painted turtles, leopard frogs and 7 garter snakes in it. We also collected a ton of crickets, ants, worms, beetles... basically whatever we could find and chucked 'em in too! It was fun to watch for the few days it lasted...

It turns out that the frogs were being double teamed by the turtles and snakes. We abandoned the idea soon after it got rolling. Just too many predators and not enough prey. We saw snakes eat frogs, snakes try to eat snakes, turtles eat frogs, a frog try to eat a snake... don't ask me why, but one tried....

Anyway, the higher powers do a fine job of what we failed miserably at. I'll leave it to them to create the ecosystems from now on... ;)

[pandorasBox]

ok so what about keeping the same type of animal say arboreal geckos housed in the same enclosure if they all share similiar husbandry

[Greg West]

I kept Giant Day Geckos with Whites tree frogs and never had a problem. I think it had to do a lot with the frog being nocturnal and the gecko being diurnal as I never saw any problems for over 2 years.

Greg West

[Emily-Fisher]

I too have kept giant day geckos with tree frogs without any trouble at all and again, it's because of the fact that frogs are nocturnal and day geckos are not. I have kept red eye treefrogs, green treefrogs, peacock treefrogs, grey treefrogs and flying frogs together without a problem. However for a community tank, you will want to have at least 10 gallons of space per frog and at least 20 gallons for the giant day gecko.

[Dom]

I personally dont mix species.. but love the idea if it can be done safely ...

I have see many mixes were teh were no obvious problems from anacondas and boas housed together to many diferent tree frogs togethre..

I also have seen tokays in a retice cage.. where the retic was well over 100 pounds andn did not se the tockay as foood..

I have also see large tegues housed with large red footed tortoises to iguannas with yellow foots... none of these seem to cause any problems.

again I don't house any different species together but Love the idea if it can be done safely .. and properly...

[Dozer]

Mixing has nothing to do with whether or not the species is dirunal or nocturnal. This actually causes more problems because it disrupts the sleepin' habits of either animal. People who have mixed cages are honestly pushing their limits. Sure, same habitat, same feeding habits, blah blah blah. I know it makes it seem that you would like to mix and I know where you're coming from. But would you like to put in the same room and live with , say a huge feirce wolf... you're both from the same habitat. Or, live with a rattler. Its not a mattter of how much time you put into a cage, its a matter of time when something fails ( and it will happen ).

Dont mix. People should be more educated for the better of the animal.

[Dozer]

I have kept red eye treefrogs, green treefrogs, peacock treefrogs, grey treefrogs and flying frogs together without a problem.

Ya for what, 2 hours? Completely un-educated. Please, Red Eyes need high humidity, GTF barely need much. See a problem there... Most of them are living un happy lives and I feel for them.