Breeders need cages ready before the eggs hatch, and new keepers need one before a baby comes home. These are the four I'd pick from.
Video · 13 min watchWritten by Brian
If you breed crested geckos, you need housing set up before your eggs hatch. If you're buying your first gecko and it's only a couple of months old, you need somewhere to keep it. These are four solid options for a young hatchling, from cheapest to most expensive, with the pros and cons of each.
1. Six-quart shoebox tub
The basic Sterilite shoebox tub is popular across the reptile world, not just for crested geckos. I drill a line of holes all the way around for airflow.
- Pros: they hold humidity very well, they're light, they stack easily, they're easy to clean and they cost about $1 each at Home Depot or Walmart.
- Cons: less vertical space for climbing, which isn't a big deal, and they're not pretty.
Ideal for housing a lot of geckos economically, but not a display piece.
2. Pet carrier
Also called a critter keeper. Lots of companies make them and they are all the same. The lid pops off, and a small hatch in the lid lets you drop food or a gecko in. Make sure you clip the hatch all the way down, or it pops open and the gecko gets out.
They are cheap, and with the handles pulled off they stack a couple high, which suits fewer than a dozen geckos. The fully screened top means they dry out quickly and are hard to keep humid, but they make a good basic beginner setup.
3. Exo Terra Nano Tall
20 × 20 × 30 cm (8 × 8 × 12 in). I use these as display tanks, and they make great baby cages: plenty of vertical space, sturdy glass, a front-opening door and no way for a gecko to get out. The door latch is a little fiddly. They run about $35, so five cost under $200 with tax.
4. Zilla Micro Habitat
The largest size is 20 × 15 × 36 cm (8 × 6 × 14 in), about the same volume as the Nano Tall. It comes flat in a box. You peel the film off the acrylic panels, slot them into a base and hold them on with stretchy rubber bands that hook around each panel. The door lock is a peg you lift and turn; the whole front then opens downwards.
What I liked: it looks very clean for something that isn't glass, the front opening is clever, and you can unhook the bands and take the bottom off to clean it.
My concerns:
- Rubber bands dry out and get brittle. After 6 to 8 months, they might break when you take it apart.
- With any heat source on or near it, the acrylic might warp and the bands might dry out faster.
- The only ventilation is two vents on each side, though gaps between panels may let enough air through.
- There's no screen top, so you can't put a heat or light fixture on it. That's fine for crested geckos, which don't need heat or light, but not for a day gecko that needs UV.
Verdict on the Zilla
I like it, but I don't love it. At $32 against $36 for the Nano Tall, I'd pay the extra $4 for glass every time. I think the glass cage is sturdier, looks better and is better value.