Is this a suitable cage?

[SpencerShanks]

Okay, so tonight I am planning on cleaning out my old lizard cage. I have been thinking about getting either a crestie or a leo, but I'm not sure which I want. I currently have a 12x12x12 Exo-Terra cage. Would this be a better size for a crestie or leo? I'm not sure how many gallons it holds. Also, would a mini sized UTH be suitable? Finally, it came with a foam thingy to stick in the back for a lizard to climb on. Would this be necessary to clean and how would you do it? Would I be better off just throwing the foam out? Thanks! Oh yeah, and which type of gecko would be better suited to live in there? It would most likely be a juvenile or a baby.

[AkHerps]

Crestie would be better suited, but as an adult they may need a little more room, they like to climb. Leo's in my opinion need a little more floor space, 10 gallon to 20 long floor space. If the air temps are 72-79 F, a Crestie won't need any more heat. Anything over 80 for long periods of time, can kill them. Cresties love the foam backs! Although they can't climb anything very well when it is wet, you want to give them lots of vines, logs, etc..to climb on and hide in when they can't stick to the glass when you mist them. I like those suction cup plants, I decorate the left and right glass with them and the cresties usually stick to the glass, upside down, under the plants.

[SpencerShanks]

Awesome, thanks! So I might wind up being in need of a fan if the A/C goes out. It was 116* F here today, so I might want to be a bit prepared lol. When you are disinfecting, what do you do? I'm planning on using bleach with water since I have it on hand. What percentage of bleach to water do you normally use? I think my mom will like the idea of a crestie much more than a BP lol. What kind of life span do they have?

[SpencerShanks]

I finished disinfecting and cleaning this morning, and I went ahead and set up a little bit of the cage as if I was getting a crestie. It looks okay, I just some stuff to put in for him/her to climb on now.

[MikeV]

If I could, Id like to suggest you stop using bleach and switch to White vinegar

White vinegar, or any vinegar to be honest is much better

It disinfects almost just as well, and doesnt leave harmful fumes

Just mix 25% vinegar or more with some water in a bottle, spray the entire cage. leave it for 5 minutes.

Wipe it down, and if you want, you can spray with 100% water to remove any remaining vinegar.

Air it out for 5 minutes to get rid of the smell of the vunegar, and then put the animal back in

Its amazing

[AkHerps]

I put a layer of river rocks, and/ or those little clay balls, and a layer of soil in my exo terra and planted some live plants, and mixed the soil around every couple of days so everything broke itself down(poop), etc.. I really never clean my tanks out with bleach all the time, I clean it with a little bit of eco friendly soap and hot water.

Cresties don't have to eat bugs, but they can, they grow a lot faster if they eat bugs. But they can live perfectly healthy when only fed the repashy powder diet. Or they canbe fed both the repashy diet, and bugs. http://www.pangeareptile.com/store/c...ecko-diet.html

They are expected to live 10-20 years.