# ViVarium Inhabitants



## BTMorphs (Nov 21, 2007)

Can you house any other type of critters in your Vivarium? such as small geckos?
Thanks,
BTMorphs


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## Julio (Oct 8, 2007)

they would be great for some of the smaller day geckos, such as peacock or gold dust.


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## Conman3880 (Jul 8, 2007)

Geckos need good ventilation, though. A glass top would do no good.


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## Regan (Oct 30, 2007)

I'm building a 10 gallon vertical viv for my gold dust gecko. I'm siliconing in an 8x10 piece of plexiglass and keeping what was the fitted screen "top" on the side (so I can still use the door latch). I'm thinking half the side being screen will be enough ventilation for the gecko, and the light and misting being enough for the plants (fingers crossed). I know he'll like the custom background in the works.


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## Otis (Apr 16, 2006)

with day geckos they need uvb light and that can't go through glass. i guess you could use a very find screen so ff don't get out, but you're better off just getting two seperate tanks. another option, haven't tried this myself, but supplementing the gecko so that no fancy lighting is required. i've heard stories of this working, but i would be careful.


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## Julio (Oct 8, 2007)

exoteras make great habitat for geckos with the screen top.


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## MonarchzMan (Oct 23, 2006)

General consensus is that you should NOT put other animals in with darts since requirements are rather different. Geckos will need crickets to eat, whereas darts will need fruit flies. Stray crickets could be potentially problematic and stressful to darts. Other animals could be potentially stressful to darts.

If you're wanting to set up a vivarium just for geckos or pygmy chameleons or whatever, go for it, but mixing them with darts isn't the best of ideas.


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## Julio (Oct 8, 2007)

MonarchzMan said:


> General consensus is that you should NOT put other animals in with darts since requirements are rather different. Geckos will need crickets to eat, whereas darts will need fruit flies. Stray crickets could be potentially problematic and stressful to darts. Other animals could be potentially stressful to darts.
> 
> If you're wanting to set up a vivarium just for geckos or pygmy chameleons or whatever, go for it, but mixing them with darts isn't the best of ideas.


i don't think the question was what animals to house with darts, rather what other animals can be housed in a Vivarium.


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## Mywebbedtoes (Jul 2, 2007)

Squirels, panthers, sloths, several types of monkey. For Monkies the general rule is 100 gallons per monkey. Some say 50 gallons, but I don't think that is enough. Panthers need 200 plus gallons each and should not be housed with darts.


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## mcadoo (Oct 16, 2006)

That's funny, I just spit out my coffee!


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## Otis (Apr 16, 2006)

mixing isn't a good idea, BUT if you were going to do it, make sure you have a few years experience with BOTH species before putting them in together.


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## Mywebbedtoes (Jul 2, 2007)

Otis - I think BTM is just asking if there are other animals that can work in a vivarium.



MonarchzMan said:


> i don't think the question was what animals to house with darts, rather what other animals can be housed in a Vivarium.





> Can you house any other type of critters in your Vivarium? such as small geckos?


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## MonarchzMan (Oct 23, 2006)

Best to err on the side of caution and make it clear that mixing is not a good idea rather than assume he meant what animals do well in vivariums. Otherwise, why would he be posting here, a forum for beginner dart questions, and not in the Off-topic forum?


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## slaytonp (Nov 14, 2004)

You can build live plant vivariums for many reptile/amphibian species. I've kept Leopard geckos in a vivarium with succulents such as Haworthias. Aloe, African type Euphorbias, Lithops, etc. The substrate was simply a drainage layer, and a cactus type soil mix, topped with sand. The sand made the poop clean-up simple. This same type of set up worked for Horned lizards and Desert lizards. I simply watered the plants locally on occasion, and did some misting. This was not a biologically recycling system because of the generally arid conditions, but it did contain live plants. 

With tropical forest geckos, you would need to consider using somewhat sturdier plants than some of us use with darts, but most tropical plants will still do as well with a screened top and more ventilation, plus UV, so I see no reason not to do this. The more delicate things might get trampled by a heavier critter. But philodendrons and pothos types would prosper, among many others. The same biological balance should take place without resorting to changing the substrate all the time. You could even have water features and the whole nine yards, and it would work the same if you're imitating their original habitat and conditions, as it does with darts. 

I hope I understood the original question. There are a lot of reptile keepers that are just getting into the thought of a natural habitat, rather than using plastic plants and changeable bedding for sanitation. I believe dart keepers were among the first to set up more-or-less sustainable habitats using live plants and the idea of recycling wastes from the frogs instead of constantly removing and replacing the bedding material in small vivariums, so I just assumed the question was about this, not about mixing them with darts.


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