New Vid

Quick video of a new Build I am currently auctioning on Ebay, as it has a slight crack it is going dirt cheap.

Here is the ebay link http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/230951486254?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649 

How I care for my Leopard Gecko.

Hello again all. When I was first considering getting a Leopard gecko I did what many people do and what all people should do before they purchase an animal, I researched it. However despite the popularity of the species I found constantly conflicting information so I thought I would take the time to write a care sheet based on how I have looked after my Leo and put in some additional information such as morphs etc.. My Leo is currently very healthy, she has never had any health problems and I am sure my husbandry skills are more than sufficient.

About the Leopard Gecko
The Leopard Gecko originates from Pakistan and Afghanistan, they are nocturnal so are mainly active at night, the Leopard Gecko is a member of the Eublepharidae family which include Geckos that have movable eye lids such as the Leopard Gecko. The Leopard gecko is a very hardy lizard which makes it a popular first time reptile, I did not get my Leo for this reason as I am an experienced keeper, however I find Leopard gecko genetics interesting and intend to breed them in the near future.

My Leopard Gecko
My Leopard Gecko is a one year old wild type, her parents were also wild types as were her grandparents so any genetic mutations within her gene pool should now have been bred out. I chose her because of this as it will give me a chance to work on honing out some genetic traits i.e breeding her to a pure Tremper I will be sure that I am getting wild types Het Tremper but more on that in the future. On a more personal note my Leo is called Marmalade or Marmy for short, she is great fun, clumsy and a little dumb all combining to create a great little character.
Here she is when she was younger

Housing
Many pet shops and keeps keep leopard geckos in glass terrariums, I however prefer wooden vivariums. Terrariums are great for tropical animals and live plants, however when keeping a leopard gecko temperature is important and I find that the glass struggles to keep the temperature in. I recommend using a wooden vivarium. I currently keep my Leo in a vivarium which is 923mm in length x 300mm in height and 450mm in depth, this size vivarium will comfortably keep two adult Leopard Geckos.

Hides
For every Leopard Gecko you have no matter if they are sharing I would recommend three hides, one hide in the cool area of the vivarium, one hide in the warm side and one in the centre. Most of my hides are homemade, I like to have an underground hide as well so I make sure to build a false floor. I do this because Leopard Geckos like to go underground in the wild so it is perfect for them.

Heating
An average rule is that a heat mat should cover 1/3rd of the vivarium, this is important as it gives the gecko the ability to regulate their temperature, if they are cold got to the hot end of the vivarium if they are hot go to the the cold area. I run my heat mat through a thermostat which stops the mat overheating and burning the Gecko. I have my mat set at 30 degrees C, this seems to be common among Leopard Gecko keepers.

Substrate
I am going to go against the grain here and say that sand is fine, however this is on the proviso that you have rock areas as well as sand it not a natural substrate for the gecko it is like walking in snow for them, breaking it up with rocks is much more similar to their natural environment. I want to try using something even closer to their natural environment and mix sand and soil. Hatchlings should not be kept on sand as it can lead to impaction. Many keepers wont keep their animals around sand because of this but if your Gecko is old enough, can hunt without gulping down loads of sand it shouldn't be a problem. Also on the topic of impaction, it does not tend to effect healthy adults who have all their nutrition, calcium, and heating requirements met.

Lighting
Leopard geckos are nocturnal so they do not require a UV tube as diurnal reptiles do, You can use a red light at night to view them, and as they cannot see red light it will not disturb their activity, however please make sure your lighting is not increasing the temperature of the vivarium as it may make them uncomfortable.  


Thats all for today...... I will continue with diet, breeding and health problems soon

Naturalistic Terrarium

Hello all, sorry I have not written for a while. I did set my self a target of at least one article a week, however with university and going on holiday I haven't had a chance any way just thought I would show you a Biotope I have been building. I used an Exo Terra 45x45x45 terrarium.

Background

 I used foam spray to create a textured background I then coated this with coco fibre and Sphagnum moss

Planting

Once I had coated the background I put a thin drainage layer of gravel on the floor of the terrarium, I then mixed Eco Earth, Coco fibre and Sphagnum moss to create a suitable substrate, I also created a standing water pond as I wanted to grow carnivorous plants and a layer of sphagnum moss and java moss which like the acidic conditions a standing water pool will create.

The moss is beginning to turn green, the entire vivarium will be a mix of green, light reds, yellows and browns. The Java moss in the pond will cover the rock area and merge with the Sphagnum. I used a variety of plants that are non toxic and like the conditions I have put them in. 

Plants used

Mosses:

Java Moss - originates from south east Asia, it takes hold really well and will soon engulf the pool and merge with the terrestrial Sphagnum moss. 

Sphagnum moss - originates from New Zealand, is commonly used in reptile and amphibian keeping, it is currently pink and yellow but after a few weeks under the light conditions and water conditions I have created it will turn a vibrant green, there will still be other colours to create a nice contrast. 

Flaming Sword bromeliad - Likes a warm humid climate, I have drilled into the branch and planted the Bromeliad in that as they prefer this to terrestrial planting. Once the Bromeliad has matured it will bloom, producing a large vibrant red flower, it will then have young which will do the same. A Bromeliad in bloom is pictured below. 

New World Pitcher Plant - is the carnivorous plant in the centre of the terrarium, they like a boggy substrate and warm climate, they produce bright red funnel shoots which attract insects. I think they make a really interesting addition to the terrarium. 

Wandering Dew- Is planted into the background, once it establishes it will drape down from its current location, it will also grow along the branch creating a great effect. the colours on this plant are truly stunning and will only become more contrasting as it matures. A well established plant is pictured below. 

Aluminium plant- these again like warm, boggy environments so will love its new home. as a foliage plant it will create some brilliant depth in the vivarium. 

Green Creeping fig - located on the right hand side of the terrarium the creeping fig will grow up the entire wall creating more greenery, it also does a great job of cleaning pollutants from the air so will really help any live animals within the terrarium.   

I have created a video tour so you can see where I have planted each item

 Hope you all like it, as always please feel free to comment.

Double Vivarium Cabinet Part Two

We have now finished the Double vivarium, The only Pictures I have were before we touched up the final bits, edging etc.

 First of all I grouted all the back walls, hides and ledges etc. We had to give each vivarium three layers of grouting. We then added the glass runners and doors and completed the cupboard. Then substrate and decorations were added.

 A shot of the entire vivarium unit. The edging was not finished at this point. however I think it shows the unit off nicely

 A nice shot of the leopard gecko vivarium (before we added the glass handles and light guard), shows the sand and rock area on the left, with the large rock hide and false floor on the right.

 This is the heated side of the bearded dragon enclosure, again before the handles were fitted, We popped the Beardie in and shes made for it. A lamp guard could be added when she is larger but currently she can not get to any of the lighting units.

 The cool area of the vivarium with water dish, excuse the white the little missus threw her calcium every where in a fit of excitement when we gave her some crickets. Also we tidied the edges up but didn't take any photos after.

some nice night time images of the Leopard gecko vivarium, we took these as this is what the vivarium looks like when the Leo will be out.
Obviously there was still some work to be done when these photos were taken but feel free to leave a comment about what you think.
Up next we will be making arboreal vivariums and maybe a tropical vivarium. Don't forget to check us out on Facebook.

Double Vivarium cabinet

We are currently building a double vivarium unit for a bearded dragon and a leopard gecko. So we thought we would put up some pictures of the build so far and try to give you some tips where we can.

Wood and joinery
We use 18mm MCF board, which is ideal as the melamine creates a thick layer which other shelf boards do not have, this makes it more difficult for reptiles and moisture to penetrate the wood. Sadly the wood we got from B&Q for the build was warped and would not except doweling so we had to use screws for the joinery however they will be covered on completion 

Glass
glass is often very costly so to keep costs down we asked if it would be okay if the vivarium fronts had wood panels (seen below) this would make us able to buy toughened glass cheaper as we could buy glass shelves and use them as the doors. If the customer had not been happy with this the price of the build would have been substantially higher. We used 6mm thick glass as it keeps the heat levels better than its 4mm counterpart.

Cutting
The first job was to measure and cut the board, the measuring was simple as I had spent a week designing the cabinet and had made sure that each dimension I had designed was accurate, Cutting was simple, I placed masking tape on the edge to stop the melamine surface chipping or lifting and used a jigsaw with a br101 blade.

Joinery 
Once we had cut each piece we used various sized screws to join it together, obviously we used pilot drills and countersunk the holes which would be visable

We started by putting together the external framework.

 The external framework became stable once we fixed the back

 We decided for money saving purposes in accordance with the customers needs we would use domestic light fittings rather than reptile specific fittings. we mounted them on additional layers of board to make sure they heated the vivarium correctly. This board will create the top of the beardie enclosure and the bottom of the Leopard gecko enclosure.

 We then fitted the lighted board and inserted two runs for the Leopard gecko enclosure, we also fixed a wall between the Leo enclosure and the live food cupboard. 

This image is the same as above but we added what will be the cupboard door so we could see the overall effect.

Interior

at this point we began to arrange the interior of the vivariums, Leopard geckos require an arid rocky climate with hides and bearded dragons require a desert environment, I will add care sheets for both in the coming days with more detail on habitat requirements. We decided to use Polystyrene and Expanding Foam spray to create these habitats. 

We began by lining the vivariums with polystyrene and then positioning rock ledges etc where they would look nice and provide adequate basking areas etc.

 This is the Beardie enclosure with ledges for climbing and a rock are which can be hidden in etc

 This will become the basking area for the Bearded dragon.

 this will become a rock hide for the leopard gecko, the large polystyrene blocks will become rocks and will be separated by sand, simulating the natural environment.

 this area will become and underground hide for the leopard gecko, I have also included some easy to climb ledges.

This photograph shows the beaded dragons vivarium from a distance, it is clear from here with the lighting at one end and a shaded cover area at the other that the beardie will have an adequate heat difference.

Once we had decided on a design we removed the ledges and sculpted the back walls to make them look lime large rock panels 

Next we had to replace all the items we had removed glue them in with expanding foam and grout them. We will return with an update on this project in the coming days, Also keep an eye out for our other upcoming builds and care sheets. Pleas feel free to comment and let us know what you think so far, Hope to see you all soon.

About/Welcome

Hello and welcome to our blog. We make custom enclosures for a variety of animals, we are currently based in Lincoln UK.

No matter what animal you want an enclosure for let us know, we will research the animals requirements and use this as well as your requirements. We then design the enclosure for you and provide you with a quote. Once you are happy with the design we will make the enclosure for you. We can deliver smaller items flat packed however large enclosures are collection only.

We specialise in reptiles and amphibians so will be discussing them a lot, we will also be using this blog to publish care sheets for animals and to display our latest builds and designs.

Please feel free to contact us with any design requirements or care questions you may have, and add us on Facebook, we are here to help.