Help with smooth knob-tail gecko housing?

[MineralMagic]

Hey guys! I have a 4ft, 45g fish tank that i've decided to repurpose into a hopeful smooth knob tailed gecko tank. I have a couple questions that i want to ask, if you can't answer them all, thats fine

-How many geckos could i keep in this tank?

-I was thinking i could maybe breed them, is that hard for a beginner to reptiles in general? (first time keeping anything reptilian)

-Would 3 females and 1 male be fine permanently, with (some) babies? No separating when the females laying, once shes laid or when the babies have hatched? I don't think this would work, so would the male be fine in the tank itself, but in a separate tank to keep him- well, separated? i have an 8 gallon tank. Also, would the male be fine the baby males (i know they can fight to the death) until they are old enough to sell? I though i could maybe keep females i like from their clutches, sell the males, and eventually- when im (quickly?) overrun with lizards, sell the adult male and just have females.

-Can they climb glass? My fishtank is 19 inches high (sorry these measurements are all american, the pet store we got the tank from was of american origin, and all their measurements where in American.) so would an adult or baby gecko be able to climb that? I cant get a lid, i've tried. Theres a glass part through the middle of the tank at the top that i thought i could hang a heat lamp from or i could just put heat tape on the bottom.

-Will this permanently reptilify my tank? As in, once this is all said and done, could i have fish in there again?

-Are they going to be loud? Its in my bedroom and im a light sleeper, AND i need my beauty sleep! How loud will they be? I can deal with a little scratching, but not to noisy and consistent.

-Handling? Im used to fish, and im not a super hands-on person. I've read that they don't enjoy handling particularly, but when selling them, do customers expect them to be tame? I don't really want to hold them every day. (I would like to have an occasional hold of the babies though, to cute to resist! 3 minutes of them just sitting in my hand and me cooing at them? That shouldn't be to mentally scarring. :lol::lol but i don't want them to run away when i come into my room. that would suck- i want them to be able to go about their business like im not even their.

-How hard are the babies to care for? Im under the expression their not very hard at all to look after. They don't need special incubation or anything?

-Thats about all guys, thanks so much for the help, please DO judge me on the terrible, beginner things im sure i've stated, i need it! Thanks again.-

 

[sebii]

Hey there, I'm new to the hobby as well. You should definitely pick up A Guide to Australian Geckos & Pygopods in Captivity by Danny Brown, it will answer all these questions and more. Check out booktopia for a cheaper copy, or buy direct from geckodan at geckodan.com.

I would just be repeating from the book, so I leave you in the hands of some of the more experienced members.

 

[CrazyNut]

^Second that book, it is probably the best book avaiable in my opinion. Buying direct from geckodan.com (Danny Brown and his wife run it) would be your best bet, 1. You get a signed copy and 2. You support Danny and his website. To answer some of your questions. You will sleep without a problem, they are no where near as loud as frogs haha. No it won't permanetly "reptify" your tank, you might get a couple of small scratches here and there but you can keep fish later on if you want. Even if you silconed a divider in, with a little effort it can be removed along with all the silicon. You can handle them just to check over and make sure they are ok but otherwise geckos generally don't like too much contact. I handle my velvet gecko once a week just to monitor his physical condition.