building a shelf?

[Gravelanche]

Just got my first leopard gecko and im planning to put at least a breeding pair in the tank, to my understanding the tank is large enough already but i was thinking of adding to the space by building a shelf in the tank.

Question is, is there any point, i know leopards are a pretty ground based gecko, if there was a ramp to a platform about 6 or 7 inches above the base of the tank, with more sand and another hide away cave. do you think they would even bother to use it?

i would make the ramp fairly shallow.

[NBLADE]

Originally Posted by Gravelanche

Just got my first leopard gecko and im planning to put at least a breeding pair in the tank, to my understanding the tank is large enough already but i was thinking of adding to the space by building a shelf in the tank.

Question is, is there any point, i know leopards are a pretty ground based gecko, if there was a ramp to a platform about 6 or 7 inches above the base of the tank, with more sand and another hide away cave. do you think they would even bother to use it?

i would make the ramp fairly shallow.

I've tried out shelves in leo vivs before, they do use them, and if given the opportunity will climb, problem is they do tend to just walk off the edge of them, so they need to be quite low down to avoid falling injurys, i used to have deeper sand under the edges of the shelves so that the gap was only a few inches, so when they walked off they wouldn't hurt themselves.

[Gravelanche]

ok, so what i think i will do then is make a 2 tier hide, the "ramp" will be the whole width of the tank with a hole to get underneath, then i will cover the outside of the tank to make it a nice hideaway, with one of the sides removeable for viewing, then i can put another hideaway on top of it too.

[Falconeer999]

After 5 months, yesterday my leo let me handle her for the first time ever (loooong, slow, patient trust building). I'd witnessed her climbing a little in her cage but not much. I have to look at her differently now though. I was sitting in my recliner holding her in my lap. I let her walk off my lap and she proceeded to climb up my t-shirt - maybe a 70-80 degree angle. She then climbed up the back of the recliner - an 80-90 degree angle - almost straight up.

I'd always heard they weren't the best climbers, but she seemed to do so with no problem. It got me thinking of trying to do some new things in her cage like you've mentioned - adding some stuff for her to climb and get more exercise on.

[Gravelanche]

Originally Posted by Falconeer999

After 5 months, yesterday my leo let me handle her for the first time ever (loooong, slow, patient trust building). I'd witnessed her climbing a little in her cage but not much. I have to look at her differently now though. I was sitting in my recliner holding her in my lap. I let her walk off my lap and she proceeded to climb up my t-shirt - maybe a 70-80 degree angle. She then climbed up the back of the recliner - an 80-90 degree angle - almost straight up.

I'd always heard they weren't the best climbers, but she seemed to do so with no problem. It got me thinking of trying to do some new things in her cage like you've mentioned - adding some stuff for her to climb and get more exercise on.

i think compared to most gecko's they arent the best, lacking the suckers for small claws instead. however what you just describes was her climbing fabric which is very easy to grip with claws. that might explain it

[kit1212]

I've used hides that were tiered/had paths or ramps that brought them a little higher up and they seemed to enjoy it.
As far as climbers go, whenever I watch them they don't seem too agile as other gecko species. However when my Pyra was a little baby (about 4 months old give or take a month or two) I remember coming home from school to find her missing. After fifteen minutes of frantic searching I found her in my closet. To this day I can't explain it; the screen that opens my viv opens from the top and the little fake plant I had in there at the time didn't reach nearly enough for her to climb it and sneak out if I had left the screen open 0_o

[beardeds4life]

You could also get 3 pieces of 1 inch pvc and 2 90 degree angle pieces. What you would do is put them together then put a piece of slate or tile on top. Then you have a hide, a shelf, and burrows.