What Could Go In A 2 Foot Viv?

[Miss Wiggle]

we're thinking about getting some sort of gecko/lizard type pet or pets, the spot we have is suitable for a 2 foot viv, would be a relativley low one so dimensions roughly 2'x1'x1'.

we'd preferably like to have something that we could keep in this size viv as either a pair or small group however that's not essential if we found something we really liked but it needed to be kept alone then we'd be happy with that too.

we want something that's gonna be relativley low maintenance, we've not kept anything like this before so something pretty easy to start off with would be good!! obviously we know any animal takes regular feeding and cleaning out and so on, just mean we want something that's not too specialised for us to look after.

any suggestions for what sort of lizard would be good and hints and tips on care.

we looked at the pet shop today and saw leopard gecko's and the guy in the shop said they'd be suitable, come back and done some research and everything say's they need height to climb...... so I guess we can trust the guys in the pet shop as much as I can trust the average fish shop employee

 

[Betta5]

nope a leopard gecko would be perfect in a 2x1x1 tank. I keep one of my males in a 2x1x1 and hes fine and they are more floor animals (forgotten the word)

A leopard gecko would be great, but it wouldnt be your last lol, i said that a year ago and now i have 4 and 2 babies coming next week and 4 eggs in the incubator lol (and 3 snakes soon to be 4 lol) its not unlike fishkeeping you will soon want more than 1 when you see their little characters.

Also they come in lots of different colours (morphs) i have normals, patternless and albinos. but there are things like SHCT (super hypo carrot tails), mack snows, super mack snow and the list goes on.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

ok cool, can you keep them in a group? if so how many could you have in a 2x1x1?

they were breeding in the pet shop, the guy showed us some 24hour old babies which were very very cute!

anyone recommend some good websites for care sheets and info?

 

[Betta5]

They get pretty big for a small lizard (about 9" i think) so in a 2x1x1 i would only have one, then add an extra square foor for each gecko. Also 2 males cant be kept together as they can fight to the death

 

[Miss Wiggle]

ah ok, any other options for suitable lizards?

it seems they breed quite prolifically, we've not got room for breeding tanks or anything like that, what would end up happening if we just let nature take it's course? not suggesting we'd abandon the babies or anything, but want to go into this with our eyes open.

been googling, spotted the 5 lined skink Eumeces fasciatus that looks at first glance like it would be suitable..... any more info anyone?

 

[Betta5]

ah ok, any other options for suitable lizards?

it seems they breed quite prolifically, we've not got room for breeding tanks or anything like that, what would end up happening if we just let nature take it's course? not suggesting we'd abandon the babies or anything, but want to go into this with our eyes open.

been googling, spotted the 5 lined skink Eumeces fasciatus that looks at first glance like it would be suitable..... any more info anyone?

Could get 2 females?

Erm 5 lines are cool if you can find them... i looked for them for a few months a while back and i could only find them on exoticpets.co.uk, dont buy from there, they are known for bad quality animals and dead on arivals etc, They would also breed and give birth to live young

 

[Miss Wiggle]

we've got a shop literally just round the corner from us called snakes and adders, it's apparently renowned as being one of the best shops in the UK, off down there tomorrow to check it out but I don't think getting good quality stock should be an issue........ have to go in and chat to them though and see what the score is.



in the pet shop they had a single adult female leopard gecko.... in a tank by herself who had laid fertile eggs..... so do they store up sperm for future use like some fish do? if that's the case then surley any female we get may be capable of breeding alone...

 

[Betta5]

we've got a shop literally just round the corner from us called snakes and adders, it's apparently renowned as being one of the best shops in the UK, off down there tomorrow to check it out but I don't think getting good quality stock should be an issue........ have to go in and chat to them though and see what the score is.



in the pet shop they had a single adult female leopard gecko.... in a tank by herself who had laid fertile eggs..... so do they store up sperm for future use like some fish do? if that's the case then surley any female we get may be capable of breeding alone...

Only if she has been mated before, most people get them under a year old before they have been neer a male. You could always throw the eggs away if they ever did lay them tho or freeze them

 

[severum boy]

You could try a small skink species. They are nice to watch and you could have more than one in that size tank.

 

[Betta5]

You could try a small skink species. They are nice to watch and you could have more than one in that size tank.

yeah i would agree, if you want a group of lizards some small skink species would be good, a good species is the Ocellated skink. But most small lizards are hard to handle as they are super fast

 

[severum boy]

a good species is the Ocellated skink.

Thats the one I was thinking of! Coudent think of the damn things name.

 

[snoopyfrench87]

why not get a little snake?
they are easy to handle - easier to keep clean and feed - they dont need to be fed daily and they don't need live food.

a good species is the Ocellated skink.

Thats the one I was thinking of! Coudent think of the damn things name.

The occellated skink is about to become red listed - if it hasnt already.

I have 6 occellated skink babies but i have been told i am not allowed to sell until it is made definate whether or not to make them a protected species - which would mean a captive breeding programme and the removal of this skink from the pet trade.

Also occellated are very fast - they like hot vivariums full of sand and you will only every see their heads poking out at feeding time

i recon go with snake!

 

[Betta5]

why not get a little snake?
they are easy to handle - easier to keep clean and feed - they dont need to be fed daily and they don't need live food.

a good species is the Ocellated skink.

Thats the one I was thinking of! Coudent think of the damn things name.

The occellated skink is about to become red listed - if it hasnt already.

I have 6 occellated skink babies but i have been told i am not allowed to sell until it is made definate whether or not to make them a protected species - which would mean a captive breeding programme and the removal of this skink from the pet trade.

Also occellated are very fast - they like hot vivariums full of sand and you will only every see their heads poking out at feeding time

i recon go with snake!

really? ooow i wanted some of those aswell lol

What small snake would you suggest? Maybe a sand boa, a hognose would fit bit i wouldnt advise one for someone new to snakes as they are slightly venomous, maybe a garter snake?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

were not so keen on snakes so that's not an option really.

we went to the local reptile shop today and had a really good chat to the bloke there, we've not 100% decided what we're gonna get but we think it'll probably one of the fancy colour morphs of the leopard gecko.

we bought a viv today and everything to set it up for the gecko, the viv's 30" x 15" x 15", got a heat mat with a thermostat, a decent thermometer, we're gonna try for some live plants (Ian's into his planted tanks so this seems like it's gonna cross over!) so we've put a light tube in there.

we're now torn between two colour morphs of the geckos, Ian likes the sunglows that they had in which are like this

they had a couple of very pretty hypo high yellow's which I preferred, they were like this but with the spotty head as well

they hypo yellows were a lot cheaper but we don't mind spending a bit of cash, we've only room for one viv so instead of just getting the first pretty gecko we see so we'd rather wait another month and save up or whatever.

so we're really torn between the two of them now, but we're gonna leave it until next weekend to make our minds up, knowing us we'll change our minds about a million times in the week inbetween and we'll end up getting something completely different.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

is this size viv big enough for 2 females..... i think it probably isn't but just asking anyway!