# Dart Frogs and Mourning Geckos



## Ranitoman (Apr 21, 2020)

Are you able to keep R. Vents and juvenile Mourning Geckos together in a 12x12x18?

(I have two Vents and will be getting two Mourning Geckos)


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## Organics (Jan 17, 2020)

You’ll be hard pressed to find someone here who’s openly supports mixed species, but besides that the enclosure is too small for anything other than the vents. 


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## DPfarr (Nov 24, 2017)

That’s not much space to inhabit for 4 animals. I’ve been chilling at home in a tiny apartment with my wife, a basset hound, and this spring mating calls of leucomelas and imitators. It’s not easy not being able to escape. Imagine if you lived your whole life with 3 other animals in ~1 cubic foot of space.


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## fishingguy12345 (Apr 7, 2019)

Organics said:


> the enclosure is too small for anything other than the vents.


Agreed! 100%


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## Ranitoman (Apr 21, 2020)

True it'd be cramped. 
Thanks for the feedback!


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## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

I don't know geckos, and you didn't mention the frogs, but please, don't mix animals that wouldn't be found together in the wild. Pathogen transfer and pathogen mutation risks are another thing to keep in mind. 
Remember the early American white man gifting the American Indians with smallpox blankets? If you don't have the immunity, the results are sometimes very ugly.
Remember the Chinese establishing wet markets, featuring the on site slaughtering of exotic animals in nasty, unclean conditions? Too soon? 

Taking pathogen transfer seriously is never too soon.

Besides, you're going to find the real joy in setting up a species tank, and watching how they naturally interact. 
Do you want to see the king of the jungle, mastering his domain, or are you ok with paying $14.99 to see the skinny, mangy, dirty, tiger, sleeping in his cage?

Take the next step. Start building for your animals instead of for yourself, and you will never look back!


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## CarsonH (May 14, 2007)

Regardless of thoughts on mixing etc...

I think the 12x12x18 is small, even for 2 vents. Id stick with just the frogs for now. Maybe spend the money youd spend on the geckos for another, bigger tank. Then, down the line, you could add to it, or, get another bigger tank


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## Daniel559 (Sep 28, 2018)

I keep a Mourning gecko with a trio of Mints its been in the enclosure for about 7 months with no issues when it starts laying eggs I might move it to its own enclosure 12x12x18. It eats uneaten fruit flies and the Pangea fruit mix that it also eats I use it as a fruit fly feeding sight. That being said that tank is way to small for both animals to coexist and I would never keep a mourning gecko with frogs that small. 

good read. 

https://www.joshsfrogs.com/catalog/blog/2018/07/keeping-mourning-geckos-and-dart-frogs-together/


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## Socratic Monologue (Apr 7, 2018)

That page at Josh's has been debunked here before -- untruths such as 'MGs are nocturnal', and 'PDFs and MGs avoid each other', the fact that overfeeding of FFs is best dealt with in other more obvious ways, the complete lack of mention of possible disease transmission, to mention just a few points.


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## Ribblebit (Apr 5, 2020)

And Mourning Geckos breed exponentially... just a heads up..


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## Kmc (Jul 26, 2019)

Nothing against Mourning Geckos but just don't get why anyone would want to put them in a vivarium with frogs. Apart from the various reasons I dont get the appeal.


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## Socratic Monologue (Apr 7, 2018)

Kmc said:


> Nothing against Mourning Geckos but just don't get why anyone would want to put them in a vivarium with frogs. Apart from the various reasons I dont get the appeal.


I feel the same way, though since it is a 'mere opinion' (there are vanishingly few claims that are mere opinions) I'm not particularly eager to try to convince anyone else of it. 

Compared to darts MGs are trashy, to be frank. Their behaviors are far less interesting than many darts, they are invasive all over the world, they aren't particularly visually attractive, they make a mess of a viv (bigger/more poops, probably from higher metabolic rate), they are hard to contain and lay non-relocatable eggs in the worst places (front glass of the viv, often enough). They are parthenogenic, which is pretty neat, and have the benefit of doing well in groups (in fact, they are social and should not be kept as singletons) but otherwise have none of the mystique and beauty and connections to human culture and 'awe factor' that dart frogs have.

I have a few dozen MGs, and I enjoy them well enough, and I'm glad I have them, but I don't care to sully a dart viv with their presence.


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## hypostatic (Apr 25, 2011)

A 10 gal is a pretty small tank. Even for _experienced_ keepers, who have kept both species before successfully, it would be difficult to co-habitate without any losses... Most people who know better would not recommend it...


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