Exo terra question...

[Phoenix]

I've been looking at the Exo Terra Glass Terrariums, and I'm wondering if anyone else uses them. I am also wondering if the 18x18x24 is big and tall enough for one or two cresties or gargoyles? What I am worried about in part is the little space between the two front panes of glass. It's fairly small, but I'm wondering if it is big enough for crickets or the geckos themselves to get out through. And help on the set up and other enclosures would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

[havenbounce]

We never had problems of crickets getting out...but the background is a great place for them to get into. The crickets have no problems betting into the spaces at the top of the backround and the space at the bottom of the background.
Also you have to watch when you close the doors to make sure your not catching the tails of your geckos. Other than that they are OK.
Ginnette

[Phoenix]

Do you think that they are worth the money? Are you able to set up the lights and keep the humidity up?

[stickytoedgecko]

There are a-lot of people that use those tanks with great success. We are thinking about starting to use them ourselves, they are a very attractive show tank, as for the price they are well worth the money. Comparing them to the other types of enclosures on the market they are great. The 18x18x24 is good for 2 adult cresties, i've even seen a colony of 3 gargoyles in a tank that size. The Humidity is an issue, but if you use a substrate that obsorbes water, with some live plants, and mist them at least once daily (possibly twice if your room is very dry)

Best of luck with your search for the perfect herp!

Max

[Betty Miskie]

I own over 20 of those cages and wouldn't want to go back to anything else. The crickets do seem to get behind the back wall but I figure they do come out and with any luck, the crestie will be there to get it. If not, on cleaning day I just vacuum them out.
I do notice that circulation of air is also a bit of a problem if you have the cage in an area that there is not much air flow.
I set mine up with eco earth for the bottom (unless hatchlings and then I use paper towel), some corkbark, some fake greenery etc. The 18x18x24 I house usually two to three cresties in them, the 18x18x18 I house usually two cresties in them, and the 12x12x18 I house individual ones in them unless they are juveniles and then I might have two in them.
Hopefully this helps. For the price of them, I don't think you can get anything much cheaper and they look awesome all done up.
Betty

[DragnDrop]

My daughter bought on of them for her crestie. She thinks it's great, but I personally wouldn't use one for any of my geckos. Even though we aired out the styrofoam backing outside for a few days, it still reeks. I can't help but think it must be awful to live with that stench day after day. Anyone remember the UFFI problem from years ago? It keeps popping into my head when I get a whiff of the foam. Regular styrofoam does have a bit of smell but it dissipates in no time. This tank has been in use for a month and still stinks. Makes me wonder if it has any questionable materials in it like the UFFI did... a few years down the road will there be health problems?

I put small chunks of styrofoam in the grooves behind the background to keep crickets out. It works great.

The design is great, the idea is perfect, but I'm wondering how long before the lock on the door breaks, looks like a bit of a flimsy plastic knob considering how important it is to the whole unit. All told, I wouldn't recommend it, but I know millions love them. Maybe I'm just too picky.

[Phoenix]

So what do you use? And what about lighting with this cage?

[HerpAddict]

Here's my two cents.

I bought one of these cages about 4 monthes ago. I noticed the smell, but it went away after a good scrubbing with water in the bath tub. The cricket problem I also had, and they were laying eggs behind it in the coco-fibre. So about a month ago, I got rid of the foam, it slides right out when you take the top of the tank off. I just put some cork bark back there, and the cresties love it. I don't have humidity issues, as I have about 6 inches of coco-fibre in there, and I mist daily. All in all, it was a great buy, and the guys at the store gave me $10 off for the fun of it.

Good luck with yours!

[Phoenix]

Sounds great! I read somewhere to remove the stringy bits of coco-fibre as they may swallow it.... does this come up?

By the way I love the 1.0.0 Humans listed in your signature. LOL!

[HerpAddict]

I personally have never had a problem with coco fibre and the stringy bits. My cresties spit them out when they catch some dirt with the crickets. Of course they probably eat a little of it, but I've never had a problem with impaction.

Others might have something else to say about the matter, this is just my personal experience.

And yes, I believed it was necessary to put the 1.0.0 humans, as he is practically like having one of these geckos: handleable, eats anything, and loves me to death! :medopen:

[Phoenix]

What is the eco-earth I've read about in posts? And what do you put down to encourage the females to lay the eggs? Sorry for all the questions, but I want to get this right before I get the cresties.

As for the human... Lol! Sounds like a good pet! I'll keep looking into getting one of those too. ;)

[Cedille]

One good trick for keeping crickets contained is to put a medium-sized kritter-keeper in the crested enclosure, and put the crickets into that. Only a few will jump out, and the geckos will simply go into the enclosure to grab a cricket when they're hungry. I do this so i don't have crickets running around my tanks when i open doors, and laying eggs in my substrate.

As for encouraging females to lay.. as long as they've got a spot to bury their eggs, it seems impossible to KEEP THEM from laying.

:)

[stickytoedgecko]

You can get Eco-Earth at most pet stores, you can also try Nurseries, they wont have "Eco-Earth" but they will have coconut husk, which is essentially all Eco-Earth is, and its cheaper. We normally hit the Nurseries on Highway (Between Guelph and Kitchener) and they usually have it there, its about $3 a brick.

Good Luck!

[Phoenix]

Perfect! How do you find the eggs once they have been laid?

[stickytoedgecko]

We go on an egg hunt, (when we think one of our girls has laid). Just sift thru the substrate "gently" with your fingers. Kind of like an archeological dig, taking off a layer at a time. When we find the eggs we dust off the top and put a small mark on the surface facing up with a sharpie. (This gives you a reference as to the position the egg was laid.) Then we remove the egg to an incubator (we use critter keepers), burring them about 3/4s of the way up. Then wait for the miracal of life to punch it's slimy little head out of the egg.

Oh yea, the incubation chamber will need a substrate capable of holding moisture. For this we use a mixture of coco fiber, and perilite. You can also use straight perilite or vermiculite. These are the little white or gold pebble thingies found in planting soil. Keep the substrate moist, because the eggs draw moisture from there surroundings.

So there in a nut shell is how we do things

Max

[DragnDrop]

I used to bury the eggs part way, leaving the tops exposed, but don't any more.
I completely cover the eggs now. Not that I bury them deep in the delicups, but they get a light covering of incubation substrate. No matter how careful I am, no matter how well thought out the placement of air holes is, there's almost always a wee bit of condensation on the lid of the container. When I remove the lid to check, a drop or two will fall, usually on the eggs. I've found that a light cover of substrate over the eggs will absorb the water, deflecting it from 'chocking' the eggs. There's no problem with the hatchlings, they manage just fine. In the wild they'd be digging out of several inches of dirt, so that bit I put over the eggs doesn't even phase them one bit.

[Phoenix]

Lol, sounds like the egg hunt at easter, only a lot more fun and yet scary! Do you just leave the critter keeper at room temp? Thanks to everyone for helping me out by the way!

[stickytoedgecko]

We just incubate at room temprature... Just make sure the substrate stays moist as the eggs use the moisture to help expand as the gecko inside grows..

Hilde, just cuz I've never heard this before, why can't the eggs get wet? We usually just mist the critter keepers that the eggs are in, which results in them getting wet, and we haven't had any issues with them hatching? So now I'm curious as to why they can't get wet?

[DragnDrop]

A light misting probably won't hurt the eggs. However, if your luck is anything like mine, the eggs will get too wet, the shell will be coated in water, even the thinnest layer of H2O. It will cut down on O2 and CO2 transfer to the embryo, suffocating it. Even if the water evaporates before long, repeated 'temporary suffocation' can cause problems. Water on the shell can also be absorbed into it, raising the pressure inside the shell. Any and all of these can end up killing the embryo. That's also part of the reason you don't want the substrate too wet - same end result, different delivery method.