A step up from a bare-bones setup without going all the way to a living vivarium, and my best fix for hanging vines.
Video · 20 min watchWritten by Brian
This basic cage sits between a plain setup of substrate and fake plants and a full living vivarium. Along the way I review several Thrive products, sold in large US pet store chains.
The tank
I use a Zoo Med 30 × 30 × 45 cm (12 × 12 × 18 in) tank for display setups. It is the bare minimum for one adult. Most people choose a 45 × 45 × 60 cm (18 × 18 × 24 in) tank, from Zoo Med or Exo Terra, which is a better size.
Substrate
The two main choices are paper towels or coco fiber. I prefer coco fiber: it looks better and holds humidity. Any brand works.
Soak the brick in water until it expands. Put 4–5 cm (1.5–2 in) in the bottom, level it and pack it down a little. It also gives your gecko somewhere to dig. If your gecko seems to have disappeared, check under the substrate, especially under moss. Geckos burrow when they are too dry or too warm, because it is cooler down there.
Moss
Moss on top looks better and helps humidity further. I used the Thrive tropical decorating kit, about $30, with several types of moss and a mossy vine; it covered more than this cage needed. Soak each piece in water briefly, then lay it over the substrate like a loose blanket. Kept wet enough, some mosses come back to life and grow.
Decor and hides
A reptile cave is a good humid hide if you use a thin, dry substrate or paper towels. Fill it with wet sphagnum moss or coco fiber. It doubles as an egg box if you breed.
In a 45 × 45 × 60 cm cage I would use both a cave and a decoration. For this smaller cage I used one hollow decoration with height and plenty of nooks, in the back third, and wrapped one mossy vine around it for texture and climbing.
Hanging vines: the trick
A vine is meant to hang vertically, but it comes with nothing to hang it from. The usual fixes all have problems:
- Zip ties through the screen lid: they work, but they do not look good.
- Suction cups: eventually they fall off and leave water spots.
- Adhesive hooks: they can fall off when wet, and a gecko can get stuck to the sticky part left behind.
My fix is two Pangea acrylic mini food ledges, placed in opposite corners. Each has two holes. I use one hole on each for food and water, and the spare holes hold each end of the vine. At $16 each they are not cheap, but they never come loose, and the vine fills the vertical space without touching the floor. It also gives your gecko a path to its food when shedding or food on its feet makes the glass hard to climb.
Do not drop the magnet onto the glass; it can crack it. Set it to one side and slide it into place.
Cover
Last, a basic reptile fern on a suction cup. It is no good for climbing, but it adds cover and a place to hide at the back.
Cost
The cage, decor and two ledges cost me about $200–220, a one-time cost for a home your gecko can keep for life. Crested geckos can live 20–25 years with good care.