# Site General > General Herp >  Two 40-Gallon tanks, oh my! (I need your ideas!)

## blackcrystal22

I have recently had two 40g breeder tanks come into my possession for free. And I have this inkling desire to PUT SOMETHING IN THEM.

Guys, you are the best thinkers.  What kind of species would do well in a 40g tank?
I was thinking of either:
-Some species of lizard or skink (possibly a pair of smaller species that would live together or a single larger species)
-A species of land tortoise. 

I want them to be happy with a 40g tank through adulthood, so probably smaller species. 

What do you guys think?  :Very Happy:

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## rdoyle

A species of land tortoise need more then 40 gallons. and they live along time more then 100 years old you might want to do some looking into.

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## blackcrystal22

> A species of land tortoise need more then 40 gallons. and they live along time more then 100 years old you might want to do some looking into.


I am aware of how long they can live, but I also know there are some smaller species. Land turtles (like box turtles) are something I am wondering about too.
Hence, the reason for this post is asking if any of those species would be comfortable in that cage size. If the answer is no, then that's not an option.

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## steveboos

Well honestly, you could put most any commercially available reptile in there, except for a full grown Iguana or Chinese Water Dragon.

I would go ahead and look into bearded dragons for that tank, or even if you wanted to go ahead and move a different direction, you could position the tank upright and have a nice Gecko enclosure!!!

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## blackcrystal22

> Well honestly, you could put most any commercially available reptile in there, except for a full grown Iguana or Chinese Water Dragon.
> 
> I would go ahead and look into bearded dragons for that tank, or even if you wanted to go ahead and move a different direction, you could position the tank upright and have a nice Gecko enclosure!!!


Thanks for the ideas! I already have that sort of side-ways tank set up for my crested gecko, and he seems to love it (he uses the screen more than anything to climb).  :Very Happy: 

Would a bearded dragon be ok with a 40 gallon tank? I was under the assumption that they needed a much bigger floorspace (even though I would add more by using tiles to create platforms and such.)

What I need is an idea of lizards that live in groups (if there are any that do comfortably) or ideas of really cool lizard pets! 
I'm thinking of a blue tongued skink, perhaps.

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## dembonez

i don't think BTS could live with others very well and im not sure but im pretty sure they need a 50 gall

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## LOSTCOAST_BALLZ

no a 40 gallon breeder tank is ideal for beardies. in my opinion theyll be fine

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## dembonez

> no a 40 gallon breeder tank is ideal for beardies. in my opinion theyll be fine


BTS=Blue Tongue Skink a beardie will be happy in a 40

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## blackcrystal22

> i don't think BTS could live with others very well and im not sure but im pretty sure they need a 50 gall


I would keep the BTS solitary.
Every care sheet I read on them says 40-50g tanks for adult BTS.

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## cinderbird

I just got a beardie, so i would totally recommend one of them. They are fantastic! 

If you want a communal animal, try viper geckos if you can find them. Everyone I've talked to about them (who successfully breeds them) keeps colonies of 6-9 animals together, they are a very small gecko (3-4 inches), but the males won't fight each other or try to over breed the females.

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## blackcrystal22

I love beardies, but they need a LOT of cricket feeding (and I despise crickets).  I'm leaning more towards a BTS because they can be fed worms and other meats as well as their vegetable diet with no need for crickets.

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## Tony4snakes

You have a carpet python as your avatar, so why not an irian jaya?

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## blackcrystal22

I actually might get an irian jaya at some point because I think they are beautiful, but I have AP cages for my larger snakes.

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## cinderbird

i have 7 leos and a beardie and not a single cricket.

ROACHES ALL THE WAY  :Very Happy:

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## blackcrystal22

> i have 7 leos and a beardie and not a single cricket.
> 
> ROACHES ALL THE WAY


My leo gets mealworms and pheonix worms.

How difficult is it to breed roaches?

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## purplemuffin

Dubias are pretty easy to breed..and great! No smell, noise, jumping, you don't even really need to separate the babies from adults like with crickets! 

Most people clean out their dubia enclosures like every few months or so..

Edit: http://www.herpcenter.com/breeding-f...ica-dubia.html this is a good care page on breeding them! Awesome feeders!

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## dembonez

> I love beardies, but they need a LOT of cricket feeding (and I despise crickets).  I'm leaning more towards a BTS because they can be fed worms and other meats as well as their vegetable diet with no need for crickets.


you don't need to feed crickets to a beardie you can feed them silkworms,roaches and many other things as staples instead

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## LOSTCOAST_BALLZ

i had dubia colonys STUPIDLY EASY. and u can allways sell extras and make bank.

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## cinderbird

> My leo gets mealworms and pheonix worms.
> 
> How difficult is it to breed roaches?


It is not difficult to breed them at all as long as you give them the right conditions. 90-100 degree hot spot (litereally, these guys like it warm) 70-75% humidity. Do NOT let it go below 55, they will die during molts and just die from lack of water. Keep them dark.

Ive got my colony set up in a rubbermaid tub with a small screen in the top for air flow. I've found that after 10-11 months some of my original colony breeders are starting to die off, but I've got plenty of others to take their place.  It probably took a good 3 months for the colony to get going. Every once in a while I do take a week or two where I get different bugs (mealies or something) to feed to everyone to give the colony a chance to grow. 

They are really REALLY easy. Having them has made getting feeders REALLY cheap. The start up is expensive, but once they get going you're good. There is no way I could have the amount of geckos I have without going broke without the roaches.

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## Kuba

Personaly i would not place a beardie in a 40 gallon. I had mine in a 40 for about 5 years of his life and he was kind of lethargic and appetite was starting to go down. The second he went into his 150 gallon he became a new dragon. He eats like a champ and is ALWAYS crawling and moving, basking, and just playing around.

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## Definitions

bearded dragons will do fine in a 40 gallon I have mine in one. If you are going to get a baby beardie I wouldn't recommend starting him out in a 40 gallon. That could stress him out.

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