# First build: Gecko vivarium



## jimmy rustles (Mar 10, 2013)

Hi guys, 

while my vivarium isnt for pdfs,but i'm currently building one for lygodactylus williamsi and since i've looked at a dozen build-threads from here to get some inspiration i thought i'd share the progress:

the size of the tank is 31.5 x 15.7 x 39.4 inches (80x40x100cm) and its gonna be a wood-rock-theme.


the first step was to remove the top-glas in order to replace it with some fruitfly-proof mesh later on.









afterwards, i started first attempts to create a rock-like wall into polystyrene








and planned the plant-pots:









as kind of an artificial tree, i used polyurethane to "glue" a big piece of cork-bark onto a thin slice of polystyrene and pressed some flowerpots into the top:









3 layers of tile cement followed:









to finish the rock, i decided to go for a mixture of cement and peat, called "hypertufa"
i wanna go for 3 layers of it,
the first layer i tried a mixture of 50/50 screed and peat

as a second layer i tried equal parts of white cement (Cem I) and peat with a little bit of sand

layer one and two on the following two pics:

















so for the last layer i need your help:

which version do u prefer, 
visually, do u like the darker coat better or the whiter looking rocks?

i can also go for one look and put some nuances of the other color onto some structures.

so my options are:
1. everything darker
2. everything lighter
3. underground darker with light nuances
4. underground lighter with dark nuances

if i were to chose option 3 or 4:
ive never constructed or painted a viv, which rocks/cracks/ sides/ spots would u put the nuances on to get a "real" look to the rocks?
how will i go best about a transition between the colors?


after that, ill add some branches and plants and put a top on the viv.

thanks 

Jimmy


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## jimmy rustles (Mar 10, 2013)

no opinions on the rock color?


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## Sammie (Oct 12, 2009)

The pictures doesn't show for me


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## jimmy rustles (Mar 10, 2013)

ok, i uploaded them to the site, hope they work now, the last 2 pics are the 2 different colors


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## jimmy rustles (Mar 10, 2013)

so, since there were no answers i had to continue on my own.
I added another light layer and put some darker and lighter spots on it. afterwards, i added some branches and some coco-fiber-mesh for climbing plants.


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## a628627 (Jan 24, 2013)

Looks great so far. I can't wait to see it complete with the geckos.


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## jimmy rustles (Mar 10, 2013)

Thank you, cant wait either 

Getting the fruitfly-safe mesh on top was a pain in the ass!!!!
it would roll up everytime i tried to get the glas on it and it didnt nearly get as clean as i wanted it to be, but i lost my nerves and managed to get it together somehow. 
any technique to get this thing on top more easily for future projects?

I added E-profiles on all 4 sides(to make it extra escape-safe) for the european-style slide-doors and am now waiting for a friend of mine to help me lift it up on its future place.

afterwards ill add soil and plants. i do have some plants here but im still contemplating on whether to put them in or not, any propositions on which plants would look beautiful in it? 
one plant id look for is some kind of rank plant with nice blossoms like a clematis ( http://www.pictokon.net/bilder/08-b...ue-blueten-kletterpflanze-blauer-clematis.jpg )
but one that would keep em year round and not whither in the wintertime.

Im also not yet quite content with the "naked" branch. I wanna get some bark and add it to the distal end, so it would look like it used to have more bark but lost some at the peripher ending. i also wanna add some dry moss to cover the wire that i used to fix the branches.

so here are some more pictures of the tank:


PS: did anybody ever try to use magnetic tape to get the space between the frontglasses escape proof? i wanted to add one slice on the thin side of the door in the front, to pin another slice of magnetic tape on it and slide it to the posterior door. when opening the tank, i could just strip it off and reattach it, when closing it again?


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## jimmy rustles (Mar 10, 2013)

did anybody ever try to use magnetic tape to get the space between the frontglasses escape proof? i wanted to add one slice on the thin side of the door in the front(light blue in the pic), to pin another slice of magnetic tape (pink in the pic) on it and slide it to the posterior door. when opening the tank, i could just strip it off and reattach it, when closing it again? so id use it as a better version of sealing lip.


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## jimmy rustles (Mar 10, 2013)

so i did some smaller things, added moss to cover the wires and siliconed some bark on the nakes trunk to make it look like its original cover was eaten off or fell off


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## roktman (Apr 10, 2013)

Re: The clematis, since it will be warm in your viv you won't have a problem with it dying back. And if you go to specialty "clematis sites" they is a few having a "bushy style" vs a vine style, which would keep it on the short side. Another thing to look for thats grows in the warmer climate is bougainvillea. Clematis ive grown def won't bloom all year (not sure about bougainvillea ), and it blooms on old wood - they have their seasons for the bloom and then you'll just get foliage. HTH


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2


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## my_shed (Feb 8, 2013)

jimmy rustles said:


> so i did some smaller things, added moss to cover the wires and siliconed some bark on the nakes trunk to make it look like its original cover was eaten off or fell off


It's looking ace 

Dave


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## jimmy rustles (Mar 10, 2013)

roktman said:


> Re: The clematis, since it will be warm in your viv you won't have a problem with it dying back. And if you go to specialty "clematis sites" they is a few having a "bushy style" vs a vine style, which would keep it on the short side. Another thing to look for thats grows in the warmer climate is bougainvillea. Clematis ive grown def won't bloom all year (not sure about bougainvillea ), and it blooms on old wood - they have their seasons for the bloom and then you'll just get foliage. HTH
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2


Thank you, The bougainvillea Looks nice as well, another plant i have looked into is a passiflora edulis i will read a Little more about all 3 next week when i find some Time.


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## Neon Gliding Lizard (Oct 8, 2011)

Do your williamsi happen to be CB? How long have you had them? I'm trying to find people interested in the conservation for the species and bring them together. Glad to see such a nice viv!


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## jimmy rustles (Mar 10, 2013)

Neon Gliding Lizard said:


> Do your williamsi happen to be CB? How long have you had them? I'm trying to find people interested in the conservation for the species and bring them together. Glad to see such a nice viv!


ya, they're CB, IMO there are only few people that should work with WC animals, esp. when they're endangered, and i'm not one of them. Gotta confess that i don't think a conservation project on a private basis would work, i'm pretty sure biologists would have one or two complaints about releasing any of these CB animals back into the wild one day.


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## Neon Gliding Lizard (Oct 8, 2011)

jimmy rustles said:


> ya, they're CB, IMO there are only few people that should work with WC animals, esp. when they're endangered, and i'm not one of them. Gotta confess that i don't think a conservation project on a private basis would work, i'm pretty sure biologists would have one or two complaints about releasing any of these CB animals back into the wild one day.


 Mine are cb as well, first gen though. I believe their a more of a relic import than the previous ones that came in. Sad to see them still being imported.... In all honesty private work is the only way these geckos will survive. TAG phased them out of a couple zoos so most likely they won't work with them at all in the states. In Europe only 2 or 3 zoos are known to work with them. 

I'm not planning on releasing any back in the wild, I just want to know who has them and if they are breeding them. Purely information only at this point. I'm working with a couple other breeders but most people are very cryptic about them keeping this species. Seems like a lot of people have them but aren't showing their progress.


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## jimmy rustles (Mar 10, 2013)

Neon Gliding Lizard said:


> Mine are cb as well, first gen though. I believe their a more of a relic import than the previous ones that came in. Sad to see them still being imported.... In all honesty private work is the only way these geckos will survive. TAG phased them out of a couple zoos so most likely they won't work with them at all in the states. In Europe only 2 or 3 zoos are known to work with them.
> 
> I'm not planning on releasing any back in the wild, I just want to know who has them and if they are breeding them. Purely information only at this point. I'm working with a couple other breeders but most people are very cryptic about them keeping this species. Seems like a lot of people have them but aren't showing their progress.


ah gotcha, misunderstood the conservation part. Ya, sad to still see so many WC animals even after Tanzania stopped their export. I don't even understand the need to get WC animals, since there's a steady supply of CB animals.


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## jimmy rustles (Mar 10, 2013)

So i tried around with some plants bromeliads, tillandsias, passiflora and some other plants i cant name. I still need some more, since the williamsis are from east africa i might get some saintpualias / asparagus and might go for an Ipomoea instead of the other ranking plants, but i didnt decide that yet. some first pics of what it looks like now (sorry, they could have better quality)


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## jimmy rustles (Mar 10, 2013)

Not much resonance, but i thought since the geckos are in i'd post some update pics:


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## chillplants (Jul 14, 2008)

Update? I'm considering williamsi and wondering how yours are doing.


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## jimmy rustles (Mar 10, 2013)

Sorry i didn't notice the post, so here's the very Late update:
The williamsis are doing Great in the setup, Most often visible and active. Eggs are everywhere but hard to Secure and they tend to be faster then me in catching their offspring. But once in a while i will get some younglings out before they get eaten. Had some Problems with the branches, they became full of small holes from Woodeating bugs so i had to get them out. If you are still interested i can make some photoupdates this Weekend.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## highvoltagerob (Apr 14, 2012)

I would love to see some pics, there isn't much info on them that I've found. I've been interested in them for a couple years, but they are still hard to find in Canada. I think the more people breed them the better. It might save a few from being caught in the wild if CB's are more common.


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## jimmy rustles (Mar 10, 2013)

some older pics, as I said, update will follow.


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## jimmy rustles (Mar 10, 2013)

Just took some pictures, its dark outside, and some lights are already out, so it looks a bit dark, unlike during the day.

I recently cut back the passiflora, which took over the tank, so it`s not as green as it could be.

will take better pics when it grew back a little and when i Have more time at hand, but i`ll add some pictures of my anolis tank and the younglings home.


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## jimmy rustles (Mar 10, 2013)

so heres the anolis mansion and the male lookin like a raptor or some kind of dinosaur.

It still has some room to grow, it basically has plants from fruit I ate, 2 mango trees, although one is a lot larger than the other one, 2 Avocado trees, and a little bit of parsley and woodland strawberries on the ground. oh and as Froggyknight found out, a pepper has found its way inside as well.


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## jimmy rustles (Mar 10, 2013)

and the kids home:


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