Question for the crestie-experienced among you...

[JLC]

Hey y'all...

As I consider where things will go in our new home, I am wondering about placing a tall 45gal tank in the LR. I've already pretty much decided that I'd like to have cresties in the tank...but if I put it in the LR, I need to make it as pretty as possible, in addition to being a good home for the little cuties.

So...if I dress it up with greenery and such...how difficult will it be to clean? How messy are cresties...really?? Are they stinky at all? I know my beardie can get a bit stinky, but it only happens when he poops on his basking rock and it sits in the heat for awhile before I find it.

Also...any recommendations for dressing up a glass aquarium for cresties?

Thanks in advance for any help!

My Cresteds were fairly messy....they do poop alot, and unlike Beardies they don't just poop on the floor....they poop on the sides of the cage, everywhere lol. A display cage would be pointless IMO since they are nocturnal and the upkeep would be pretty tough.

[JLC]

David...is there an alternative that you think would make a nice display in the LR, if cresties would not? (Something that could live happily in a 45-tall.)

Hmm....I can't think of anything lizard-wise at the monent. You could always get a Green Tree Python, lol....those make decent display animals.

[JLC]

LOL...yeah, I know. But figure the odds that my husband would allow me to have a snake out in the LR. Not to mention spending that much money on one in the first place!

And I don't really mind that cresties might be nocturnal and therefore not "out" much, but I don't want a "display" that gets all pooped-up right after I've cleaned it.

[JLC]

Bump -- Oohhhhh Marrrrlaaaaa? Care to weigh on in this one?

[CTReptileRescue]

HI Judy,
I think a display tank is a great idea, in our living room we have (among many others) our white spotten gecko, he is in a 36 gallon cube tank, and althou noctunal it is still a beautiful peice of "furniture" and a great home for him. It has been decorated with a nice backing, and set up as a natural environment. Not to hard to clean, but then on the other hand we also clean up after the big boids and varanids all day, so any gecko poop is like a vacation to clean..lol
But I think it would be a beautiful idea!.
If you want I can try and take some good pics for you af some of the enclosures we have here, maybe it would help with ideas, let me know
Thanks
Rusty

[JLC]

That would be awesome, Rusty! Thanks!
My tank is a 45 gallon hexagon, with two of the back pieces mirrored. I need to make a custom lid for it, but will wait until I know for sure what I'm gonna put in it so I can customize the ventilation. It has a lot of potential to be something really nice.

[Marla]

Sorry, Judy, this forum never showed up as unread for me this week, so I hadn't seen this. If you make your display with fake plants that are easily removable, it will be easy to clean the gecko poop off where you're most likely to find it (my big guys always go on the plants, and the little guys usually do).

Alternatively, if you use real plants and peat moss for your substrate, all you have to do is mix the poop into the substrate and add water occasionally and it will break down just like it would outdoors, or pull out the plants and rinse the leaves at the sink every week or two. My big gecko cage does not stink at all, ever, and the little one smells of moisture, dirt, and live plants, a pleasant enough natural odor. The geckos do poop regularly, but their poop is dime-sized or smaller and similar to bird poo in consistency.

If you keep any critter, it's going to poo. On the scale of poo odor for household pets, with mouse poo being a 9, cat poo generally being around a 6, and ball python poo being about a 4, crestie poo is going to be about a 1 or maybe 2.

Cresties are nocturnal, so you won't see them playing much in the daytime, but if you arrange your cage well you will still see them. Other animals that come to mind as being suitable for the 45-tall are pretty much any gecko you can think of, including other rhacs (not leachies -- too big for it), tokay, house, golden, leaf-tail, etc., though obviously the height would be wasted on terrestrial species such as leos or fat tails. Also fish, anoles, arboreal or semi-arboreal snakes, rats, or a ferret ought to be happy in that.

[JLC]

Thanks Marla! I wonder if I could do a combination of live and fake plants? I can't see me pulling live plants out to clean them...I'd most likely kill them faster than usual if I tried that. But what if I had grass at the bottom to help break down the poo that falls down there....and then fake vines to fill in the top some?