marbled velvet gecko

[luke88]

Hi, i have a few questions about marbled velvet geckos so any help would be greatly appreciated. i have a 700x500x500 unused snake tank, would this be suitable for an adult pair?
What temperatures do they require, would an infered globe be ok for heating or would a heat mat be better. What sort of day night periods do they require.
Any help would be great.

 

[Lovemydragons]

I have my pair in a 40x40x60. There is heaps of space for them, so that would be huge.

I've been told they don't necessarily need heat as long as the room temp isn't too low. But I use a heat dome over the top of my enclosure and it's on daylight hours. I don't use a heat mat (although that's fine too), but by using the heat lamp I'm trying to encourage them to stay out more. My hot spot is usually between 25-28.
They don't need lights, so don't require

 

[GeckoJosh]

Hi i would use the heat mat and a purple night light, u will find that they can be disturbed by the brightness of the red ones
i would position multiple hides on the cool end and hot end
and id put the night light up one end so they still have some complete darkness

 

[Lovemydragons]

Woops pressed enter accidently...

Anyway I was going to say they don't need UV fluros, or any natural lighting as they are nocturnal, but it's what you want for viewing purposes really. I find if there is any light on they wont come out anyway. Mine are still growing so I just throw crickets in there when I notice none are left. They hunt around at night and eat what they like. Still dust the crickets every 2-3 feeds aswell.

Oh and I spray the enclosure every 2-3 days, I've heard they drink off plants etc in the wild. I do have a small water bowl in their enclousre but I think they sit in it more than drink it.

 

[GeckoJosh]

U mean mm not cm eh?

 

[luke88]

yep this is the enclosure i had in mind.

 

[Lovemydragons]

Size wise, I would say that's fine. But the only concern is that these geckos are climbers, and you need to make sure every little gap is sealed! I'd be a bit worried with the size of that door too. To open the door for cleaning and feeding there is a huge space for them to escape. And trust me they are fast little buggers!!
Also having that door on a hinge there is the possiblilty they will hide between the door and the frame, so you may squash them when opening it.

 

[luke88]

the door is mitered into the enclosure, there isnt any gaps.

 

[Lovemydragons]

Cool, yeah spose it could work then. Just clean and stuff when they're sleeping and hopefully they wont make a run for it!! hehehehe

 

[Twin_Rivers]

We keep our Marbled Velvet in a 450X450X450mm enclosure and he seems really happy in there, plenty of hides and vines branches rocks etc to climb, we use a heat mat with around 31 degrees down to around 25 degrees. We have a reptile one magnetic rock hide and he absolutely loves it. feed 2-3 crickets every 2-3 days mist the enclosure every 2-3 days we have a small bowl of water in the enclosure also. we use a pruple lamp at night for viewing. We don't handle often though I try to occasionally just so he doesn't freak if we have to handle him, ie if he needs to go to vet.
Great pet we think he is fantastic and getting more geckos soon.
Good luck and have fun

 

[Grogshla]

i keep mine in an exo terra 45x45x45 all you need is a undertank heater on an thermostat set to 32degrees celcius. I also have a 60w basking lamp in the corner just to help bump the air temp up to around 30 degrees celcius and at night i switch it off leaving just the under tank heater. Air temps get to around 24 celcius. This is a good set up. No uv light is required.

---------- Post added 28-Dec-10 at 11:00 PM ----------

be vary with night bulbs they geckos can see the light. Be sure he isn't stressed out when you switch it on. They have very good eyesight and in the wild they would not have a night light that intense. I would take it out for sure. If you need heat during the night at winter or something then just throw a ceramic heat emitter on.