# Giant Day Gecko Vivarium



## skoram (Apr 20, 2015)

As others have said, although this is primarily a frog forum, I also consider this the best forum on the internet for vivariums and vivarium construction. Almost all of my vivarium ideas, knowledge and inspiration came from this board so I felt it was only right to share this with you. 

The tank is an Exo Terra "Medium Tall" 24x18x24. I had a spare 30 gallon rimless tank I considered using, but I had read several posts from other members pointing out the difficulties of maintaining a vivarium with access only from the top. Plus, Giant Day Geckos are arboreal and I figured they'd be happier in a taller tank. I've also learned, in my 20+ years of experience keeping fish and planted tanks, that there is a great deal of truth to the saying "go big or go home." 

I used a premade foam background that I had purchased a few years ago for an Apistogramma tank that I ended up not using because, no matter what I tried, it kept floating up. I actually wanted to do a custom background but I thought it would be a bit of a waste not to use the premade since it was expensive and, in my opinion, looks pretty good. 

The substrate is a mix of coconut fiber, orchid bark, New Zealand sphagnum moss, perlite and active carbon on top of a 2 inch layer of expanded clay balls (LECA). I should mention that I live in Seoul, Korea so there are some limits to what is available compared to the US. For example, springtails and isopods are not sold commercially here. After much, much searching, I did finally manage to find individuals who sell springtail cultures but still have had no luck with isopods. I have been thinking about catching some from the wild to add to my vivarium. If anyone has some experience, thoughts and ideas on wild caught isopods I'd be very grateful if you could share them here. I searched this board and other sites for information about using wild caught isopods, but everywhere I looked people basically replied "it's not worth it - just buy a culture." Unfortunately, just buying a culture is not an option for me. 

Figuring out how to incorporate a basking spot that can reach 90+ degrees was also a challenge. I finally decided to place a mercury vapor light above the back right corner of the tank, but I am still a bit worried about plants in the near vicinity getting cooked or, at the least, drying out. 

Anyway, I apologize for the big wall of text and, here are some photos:

Figuring out the hardscape of rocks, driftwood and cork tubes:









Had to silicone one piece of driftwood to the glass to create some perches:









After adding some neoregelias and tillandsias (bromeliads are also almost impossible to find in Korea  )









Recent FTS:









Another angle:









Another another:









Ironically, when I first came to this board I had absolutely NO interest in dart frogs. They were too small, too still and too loud. I came here ONLY for information and ideas about vivariums. Having spent so much time here and seeing the passion and enthusiasm users have for their frogs (not to mention the beautiful colors and patterns), I am now on the brink of purchasing my first dart frogs, lol 

P.S. I'd LOVE to receive your feedback, comments, ideas and especially criticisms. I'm still thinking about what other plants I can add. I'd love to add more epiphytes to the background but am concerned about the heat/dryness from the UVB/basking lamp. Anyway, please share!


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## skoram (Apr 20, 2015)

Forgot to add my plant list:










1. Lemmaphyllum microphyllum
2. Tillandsia brachycaulos
3. Neoregelia compacta variegata
4. Syngonium 'mini'
5. Begonia pustulata
6. Vriesea splendens
7. Maranta leuconeura
8. Blechnum gibbum
9. Peperomia argyreia
10. Syngonium sp.
11. Sansevieria trifasciata 'tiger'
12. Tillandsia caput medusae


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## skittlenips (Jun 22, 2016)

Looks amazing! Do you know anything about golden dust day geckos? Really looking into getting a pair, they are absolutely gorgeous.


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## skoram (Apr 20, 2015)

skittlenips said:


> Looks amazing! Do you know anything about golden dust day geckos? Really looking into getting a pair, they are absolutely gorgeous.


Thanks!  I know that they are very similar to Giant Day Geckos but smaller with different coloration. In terms of behavior, they are probably the most similar to Giant Days (as far as I know, I have never raised any). That is a good thing, as Giant Day Geckos are known for being very friendly and "domesticated." Mine are not afraid of me at all, regularly eat out of my hand and make no attempt to escape the tank when I open the doors. A few times they slowly crawled out and I just put my hand in front and they crawled onto it, allowing me to put them back in the viv without any difficult effort. 

If I ever came across Gold Dust Geckos here, I would be very tempted to set up another viv for them.


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## pdfCrazy (Feb 28, 2012)

I keep gold dust day geckos (amongst a handful of other phelsuma). I find them to be very easy to keep and breed. However a word of caution..they are known to be one of the most territorial and aggressive of all the day geckos. It is best to only keep this species as pairs. Mine are also very skittish


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## skoram (Apr 20, 2015)

pdfCrazy said:


> I keep gold dust day geckos (amongst a handful of other phelsuma). I find them to be very easy to keep and breed. However a word of caution..they are known to be one of the most territorial and aggressive of all the day geckos. It is best to only keep this species as pairs. Mine are also very skittish


I read in a few locations that Gold Dust Day Geckos were very calm and "domesticated" like their Giant Day Gecko cousins. That could be the exception, however. Do you have a log or any photos of your phelsuma tanks? Would love to see them.


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## jimmy rustles (Mar 10, 2013)

the vivarium looks great - but not necessarily as if it was tailored for giant day geckos. The space looks a bit wasted and could be filled with bamboo and/or branches. Comparing the size of the gecko to the tank it looks a bit restrictive as well - but im holding back with criticism in that regard as I do understand that european space requirements differ from those in the US and other countries. I love the look of your background, what company is it from?


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## skoram (Apr 20, 2015)

jimmy rustles said:


> the vivarium looks great - but not necessarily as if it was tailored for giant day geckos. The space looks a bit wasted and could be filled with bamboo and/or branches. Comparing the size of the gecko to the tank it looks a bit restrictive as well - but im holding back with criticism in that regard as I do understand that european space requirements differ from those in the US and other countries. I love the look of your background, what company is it from?




Thanks! And you're sort of right. I saw photos of many GDG vivariums with bamboo branches on other sites but they appeared too "unnatural" for my taste. I tried to compromise by attaching some driftwood and cork tubes to the sides but I agree there could be more perches. It's just too hard to have branches protruding from bare glass. Ideally, I would have made a custom "background" for one or both sides of the tank and anchored multiple protruding branches in expanding foam. Maybe in the future...

The tank is larger than what I've seen recommended as the minimum for a pair on every single site I read (and I read a ton). It's 42 gallons by volume, the dimensions are listed in my original post. However, it does look smaller in the photos than in reality. It seems to happen with a lot of the tank photos I take. Is it something with the iPhone? I got "called out" by a user on another site where I had posted photos of my vampire crab paludarium. He thought it was a 10 gallon but it was actually 29, lol. Regardless, it is the largest viv I could accommodate , and I live in South Korea which is much more space restricted even than Europe 

Unfortunately, I have no idea who made the background. it was not sold to me with any kind of packaging or labeling. It's also likely that it is only sold here in South Korea.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## jimmy rustles (Mar 10, 2013)

Oh I do know the size of the tank and the geckos. I have an exo terra as well with the same height and I do keep my L. williamsi in it.
I did have em in a far bigger enclosure before and I have to say that the direct comparison makes me wish to go back to a bigger enclosure within the next year. 

Well as I said it does look natural and very good as well. But you created an underwood/dartfrog vivarium for an arboreal giant day gecko. Since you asked for criticism I thought I could point that out. Here are some nice vivariums that were created for phelsumas in case the enclosures you saw were different. Most people over here keep the big phelsumas in vivaria starting from 80x60x80-100cm upwards:

http://www.bilder-hochladen.net/files/682y-68.jpg

Chamäleon und Co.

http://www.terraon.de/index.php?pag...43&h=f327ec0d36c769afb22dfa425d06895a91b902c8

http://www.dghtserver.de/foren/attachment.php?attachmentid=8393&d=1262530984


All the best to you and your phelsumas anyhow.


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## spdybee (May 24, 2015)

I don't know much about geckos so I can't comment on the appropriateness of the size or layout of the enclosure in that regard. What I do want to say is that I think your tank looks outstanding. I really like that premade background also! How old are your geckos?


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## skoram (Apr 20, 2015)

jimmy rustles said:


> Oh I do know the size of the tank and the geckos. I have an exo terra as well with the same height and I do keep my L. williamsi in it.
> I did have em in a far bigger enclosure before and I have to say that the direct comparison makes me wish to go back to a bigger enclosure within the next year.
> 
> Well as I said it does look natural and very good as well. But you created an underwood/dartfrog vivarium for an arboreal giant day gecko. Since you asked for criticism I thought I could point that out. Here are some nice vivariums that were created for phelsumas in case the enclosures you saw were different. Most people over here keep the big phelsumas in vivaria starting from 80x60x80-100cm upwards:
> ...


Wow, thanks for the links! Some of those vivaria look amazing. As I mentioned earlier, I'm not a big fan of the "artificial" looking bamboo arrangements but I love how some of the vivaria you linked incorporate actual small tree trunks and branches. I wish I had seen those before I set up mine! I think one great thing about vivaria compared with aquariums is that they are probably much easier to break down and "rescape." I may just have to do that with mine.

Please don't get me wrong from my response to you earlier. I genuinely appreciate the criticism and was not trying to say "no, you are wrong." If I came off that way a little bit I apologize. I was trying to say, at least to your first point, "you are right but I wanted to create something which appeared more natural and failed to find a good compromise." To your second point, I was merely saying that I did my research. Having kept aquariums and expensive species of fish for over 20 years, I know all about people using tanks that are too small, or overstocking, or mixing species that should not be mixed. The biggest problem with these people is that they didn't do any research beforehand. My tank may in fact be too small for P. grandis and, after looking at the vivs in the links you provided, I can absolutely see why you'd think that lol. However, I can't be accused of not doing my research. Here are just a small handful of the sites I read before purchasing my geckos:

Phelsuma Care Sheet

Day Gecko Care - Terrarium Set Up and the Best Supplies

Three to Get Ready: Phelsuma grandis - Gecko Time - Gecko Time

Caring For Giant Day Geckos

Strangely, Leann Christenson seems to be the premier expert on phelsuma in the USA (I saw her name referenced many, many times in various reptile forums) and she is the operator of the "daygecko.com" website, and she recommends a minimum of 20 gallons for a pair! Even I will agree that 20 gallons - half the volume of my tank - seems way too small for a pair of P. grandis. 




spdybee said:


> I don't know much about geckos so I can't comment on the appropriateness of the size or layout of the enclosure in that regard. What I do want to say is that I think your tank looks outstanding. I really like that premade background also! How old are your geckos?


Thank you! Yea that's the reason why I didn't want to let the background go to waste. I was told by the shopkeeper that the geckos are "about a year" old. However, I'm not sure how reliable his statement is


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## Rusty_Shackleford (Sep 2, 2010)

OP: Dude you're killing me. Seeing your viv with your Geckos makes me think back to getting my first P.m. grandis trio back in 1990, it seems like a lifetime ago. 
I may have to get some....shh don't tell my girlfriend, she won't notice a new viv or two.


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## jimmy rustles (Mar 10, 2013)

No worries, I had no doubts you did your research beforehand, otherwise you wouldn’t have created such a beautiful vivarium, I was rather worried that I would come off too harsh. I know that theres a totally different philosophy to keeping reptiles and amphibians in the US and outside of Europe that requires less space and other interiors.

Having seen what I meant with bigger and differently structured vivaria, you have the luxury to judge the size of your vivarium yourself as you get more experienced with your geckos husbandry in the next weeks. If you feel the animals deserve a bit more space to show a little bit more of their behavior you can go bigger and use this vivarium for your newfound interest in dartfrogs. If you disagree you can keep them in there, at least youre above those 20 gallons that you mentioned and they could have it worse.

BTW, as thigmothermic/heliophile animals, daygeckos in my experience get more active with more lighting, it looks a bit dim for my european eye (prolly another difference, but again, that is just moeant as some food for thought and you can decide that on your own )


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## skoram (Apr 20, 2015)

jimmy rustles said:


> No worries, I had no doubts you did your research beforehand, otherwise you wouldn’t have created such a beautiful vivarium, I was rather worried that I would come off too harsh. I know that theres a totally different philosophy to keeping reptiles and amphibians in the US and outside of Europe that requires less space and other interiors.
> 
> Having seen what I meant with bigger and differently structured vivaria, you have the luxury to judge the size of your vivarium yourself as you get more experienced with your geckos husbandry in the next weeks. If you feel the animals deserve a bit more space to show a little bit more of their behavior you can go bigger and use this vivarium for your newfound interest in dartfrogs. If you disagree you can keep them in there, at least youre above those 20 gallons that you mentioned and they could have it worse.
> 
> BTW, as thigmothermic/heliophile animals, daygeckos in my experience get more active with more lighting, it looks a bit dim for my european eye (prolly another difference, but again, that is just moeant as some food for thought and you can decide that on your own )


Believe me, I really wish I could go bigger, especially having seen some of those German Day Gecko vivs. Unfortunately, herps are not that popular in Korea (yet) so the selection of products, including terrariums, is quite small. I could probably have a custom terrarium built but it would cost me a great deal. What I really would like to do is get a taller terrarium, but I can only go taller if I also go wider. For example, the Exo Terra 90x45x90cm terrarium. And I can only do that if I get rid of one of my fish tanks along with all the fish inside of it. It's actually quite tempting but there is little chance my wife would approve. If I did that then I would be displacing 2 tanks - one of my 30 gallon fish tanks AND this vivarium. I can already hear her saying "are you crazy?!?" What I CAN do is rearrange the interior of the tank to make it a bit more comfortable for the geckos, and I have already begun planning my "rescape." The stack of rocks in the corner will be coming out, along with the bromeliads and some of the other plants. I will probably put a small "trunk" with side branches in there and some very sturdy and tall "treelike" plants for the geckos to climb on like Dracaena or Adenium. 

Regarding the lights - they were dimmed and moved back purely for the sake of the photographs (to reduce glare). I also have a 125W Mercury Vapor lamp in the back corner that was turned off for the photos.

On a somewhat related side note, Germany really seems to be the place to be exotic and/or non-traditional pets (cats and dogs). I knew that Germany was really amazing when it comes to fishkeeping. Of course some of the top aquarium product companies in the world are German - Hagen, Eheim and others. Germany is also the source of some of the best captive bred fish in the world. I didn't know that Germans were also so great when it comes to reptiles. Ich will nach Deutschland zu zogen!


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## spdybee (May 24, 2015)

Wow. I just have to come back and say I really applaud you. For taking the time to set up such a wonderful vivarium, to taking time to adjust lighting and such to get a good picture of your vivarium for us to see. To now considering rescaping your layout for the benifit of the animals you are keeping. I can't wait to see the rescape. With as much thought as you seem to put into it, I bet you can make something that is both beautiful to you and amazing for your geckos to live it. And all this without the wider range of items/materials to work with. Good job sir!


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## xxohmycaptainxx (Dec 10, 2010)

Very nice setup. Been thinking of getting my own pair of P. grandis in the future but I'd rather go with a larger tank. I've seen full grown P. grandis and they can get quite hefty. The fact that many websites list an 18"x18x24" tank big enough for a single gecko is ridiculous. I really wouldn't even put a single gecko in anything smaller than a 24"x18"x24" and for a pair I think a 24"x24"x48" is the way to go. 

Would love a big tall tank with lots of branches and vertical tree sections, much like the third link that Jimmy Rustles posted. Love the look of that tank. I do see a piece of bamboo, that I personally wouldn't include as it just takes away from the naturalistic feel of the vivarium, but other than that the tank is gorgeous and I'd love to set a tank up like that for a pair of P. grandis in the future. Just running low on space in my room and until I'm able to afford my own space to live I'm not planning on adding anymore animals to the family lol.

Excited to see how this tank grows and what you do to rescape it. If you ever figure out how to work it into your home you should definitely go with a bigger tank for them. A huge planted 24"x24"x48" with lots of branches and tree sections would look awesome!


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## skoram (Apr 20, 2015)

spdybee said:


> Wow. I just have to come back and say I really applaud you. For taking the time to set up such a wonderful vivarium, to taking time to adjust lighting and such to get a good picture of your vivarium for us to see. To now considering rescaping your layout for the benifit of the animals you are keeping. I can't wait to see the rescape. With as much thought as you seem to put into it, I bet you can make something that is both beautiful to you and amazing for your geckos to live it. And all this without the wider range of items/materials to work with. Good job sir!


Thank you for the kind words  To be honest, keeping exotic pets in Korea is pretty challenging. Not only are the homes tiny (at least in Seoul) but, since herps aren't as popular as in other countries, some things are very difficult to find (I have yet to find isopods for sale, bromeliads are also extremely rare) and some things which are available are extremely expensive. Dart frogs, for instance, cost almost 10X more here than in the US. The gecko prices were also quite inflated compared to what I'd pay in the US. Probably around 7X more 



Dātokaeru56;2721089 said:


> Very nice setup. Been thinking of getting my own pair of P. grandis in the future but I'd rather go with a larger tank. I've seen full grown P. grandis and they can get quite hefty. The fact that many websites list an 18"x18x24" tank big enough for a single gecko is ridiculous. I really wouldn't even put a single gecko in anything smaller than a 24"x18"x24" and for a pair I think a 24"x24"x48" is the way to go.
> 
> Would love a big tall tank with lots of branches and vertical tree sections, much like the third link that Jimmy Rustles posted. Love the look of that tank. I do see a piece of bamboo, that I personally wouldn't include as it just takes away from the naturalistic feel of the vivarium, but other than that the tank is gorgeous and I'd love to set a tank up like that for a pair of P. grandis in the future. Just running low on space in my room and until I'm able to afford my own space to live I'm not planning on adding anymore animals to the family lol.
> 
> Excited to see how this tank grows and what you do to rescape it. If you ever figure out how to work it into your home you should definitely go with a bigger tank for them. A huge planted 24"x24"x48" with lots of branches and tree sections would look awesome!


I definitely do not regret getting the P. grandis. Not only are they beautiful creatures, but they are fun to watch and have great personalities. I don't handle them directly, but I do spoon feed them and let them crawl on my arms occasionally. 

As I mentioned before, a larger tank is still very much the stuff of fantasy for me - my tanks can only be kept in my "office" which is about 3x3 meters but it is already overstuffed with fish tanks in addition to my desk and computer. I will have to try to post a wide shot of the room sometime for you guys. I spent most of my life in the US and the difference in housing size is almost incomprehensible


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## jimmy rustles (Mar 10, 2013)

skoram said:


> On a somewhat related side note, Germany really seems to be the place to be exotic and/or non-traditional pets (cats and dogs). I knew that Germany was really amazing when it comes to fishkeeping. Of course some of the top aquarium product companies in the world are German - Hagen, Eheim and others. Germany is also the source of some of the best captive bred fish in the world. I didn't know that Germans were also so great when it comes to reptiles. Ich will nach Deutschland zu zogen!


I cant claim that we set the golden standard, but i believe giving active animals some room to roam cant be wrong. But theres a pretty rough atmosphere and elitism in German herp Forums. There arme some pretty Nice Vivaria and infos to find there though.

If you should Desire a taller Tank it doesnt have to be Full Glas for phelsumas if that helps.

All the best


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## skoram (Apr 20, 2015)

As I mentioned before I am "rescaping" this tank soon. I plan to remove the Blechnum gibbons, the bromeliads, some of the Sansevieria trifasciata and the the rocks and protruding driftwood in the corner to clear a large space in the middle and right side of the tank. I will leave some sansevierias and the cork tubes on the left side (which the geckos seem to love) and some of the smaller foreground plants. In addition to more cork tubes and taller driftwood perches, I plan to add the following plants:

Dracaena marginata
Sansevieria stuckyi (I wanted to add some sansevierias that were native to madagascar but none were available. Stuckyi is at least similar in appearance)
Vinca minor (Periwinkle Plant)
Zamia furfuracea (Cardboard Palm)

I chose these plants partly based on what could be found in the geckos' natural habitat in the Madagascar, partly for size and sturdiness (so geckos could climb on them), partly for appearance and partly based on growth conditions. I found that the tank dries out pretty quickly because of the basking lamp so none of these plants require consistently high humidity.

Please tell me what you guys think about this list.


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## skoram (Apr 20, 2015)

Based on others' feedback here I began the process of rescaping this viv to be more gecko-friendly. Here are some updated photos:



















Dracaena marginata turned out to be too tall (the smallest specimens sold are all over 50 cm) so I plan instead to put a Clivia miniata in the large open space in the rear. Supposedly it reaches a maximum height of about 50 cm and the geckos should be able to crawl on the thick and sturdy leaves.


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