🌿 I BUILT A BIOACTIVE VIVARIUM FOR MY LEOPARD GECKO | TERRAQUAMAN

Ciao Ragazzi !

Leopard geckos are undeniably one of if not the most popular reptiles in this hobby.
But, believe it or not, I never planned to get one myself.
About a year ago, I was given the opportunity to rescue a little gecko called Arturo.

Today i’m building him a new home. this time, we’ll be going for a naturalistic woodland look, with a unique underground burrow system, proper lighting, and automated heating.

This was all made possible by ExoTerra who kindly provided me with the materials for this project, so a huge thanks to them!

Here is the link to Herp HQS:s video ¨Leopard Geckos Don't Live in Deserts?¨

[alishazablow]

Catching the kitty to check their mouth was to relatable for me had a good laugh. Turned out amazing!

[sanctuary_of_mango]

Your kitty helping with the back drop was hilarious

[MistyRose-feex]

Also I don’t think I’d use the ceramic heat due to leopard geckos liking to bask, I would use a halogen bulb for heating and make sure the UVB strip is next to it, it helps mimic the sun

[jcr]

With that set up, he is probably the happiest leopard gecko in the world!

[chrissmith-nobo]

I think this is the best leopard gecko set up I've ever seen. He looks like he likes it alot

[erikm]

I like this. I did this sort of thing because it’s absolutely possible to do bioactive in a drier setup. Although leopard geckos are not necessarily a true "desert" species, if you look at pictures or descriptions of Pakistan, Afghanistan, northwestern India… at least not desert in the sense of a bearded dragon, a Gila monster, etc. The areas of South Asia where leopard geckos live are definitely dry and warm, especially in the summer days (and most days), but also temperate and forested in some regions, and cold in winter and at night. Rocky hillsides with bushes, canyons, ravines, glens, etc.

On a similar note, I had a pair of African fat-tailed geckos for over ten years, until I had to move because of a fire. I kept reading about them not needing UVB and everything, so I figured the ideal exposure for them was to keep the tank in a northern facing window, with no UVB, but the window filled the tank with natural sunlight on a natural rhythm. Animals and plants are very sensitive to circadian rhythms and solar patterns. At night, I had the blacklight for them, which they frequently laid under. But during the day, they slept on the heating pad, and the natural light was there if they needed it.

After we had a fire, I had to move. But surprisingly I was able to "gift" them to the San Diego Zoo, where I live. I don’t know if they’re actually on exhibit, though I’ve seen the species there before, but a lady from the zoo came to my house and took them from me. So that was the best case scenario.

[Binstabih]

The cat participation was so cute😂😂 got you back for calling kitty useless loll

[Darzey]

Wow she looks so happy in her humid hide, it's so beautiful how you can provide such amazing habitats for all of your animals.

[LukeMcGuireoides]

I don't care what anyone says, leopard geckos are cool af. Nice build

[RealEarth]

Your pets have to be some of the happiest animals alive, all their terrariums are awesome

[MistyRose-feex]

I love this build but coil UVB is horrible for any reptile, I recommend using a long UVB strip such as shadeweller 7% by Arcadia (Arcadia has better lights)

[Nook_Miis]

I did enjoy watching this build, I do have suggestions I've found that ferns dry out fast and pathos grows huge, you could use parlor palms small coffee tree's and Buddhists pine and experiment with lighting and placement, I've found that of the three suggestions the palm grows the tallest and fastest I'd also look into "string of turtles" as an option as well. hope that helps, keep it up man.

[alexandereichhorst]

Wanted to say that I really love your channel. You make beautiful and natural looking habitats. By the way the balloon technique to make the caves was genius.

As a leopard gecko owner I wanted to provide some advices I guess. First of all the gecko you have seems to be pretty overweight, I would cut back on the worms and just keep him on crickets for like a few months (crickets have less fat than worms). Another thing is that leopard geckos sleep during the day and come out at night when the lights are off, so your heating lamp doesn’t make much sense as it won’t really bask. In nature they come out once the sun is down and lie down on warm rocks which is why heat mats are usually the way to go with the Leo geckos. You can just put one under the terrarium on one side so that it can have a warm hide. To add to the lights topic, leopard geckos with lighter eyes such as yours are very sensitive to light and can really just see better in the darkness, I remember I tried feeding mine with the lights on and it just wouldn’t even see the cricket, in your case the gecko is obviously experienced and can see the insects but still, make sure to turn off the light at the evening and so it’s dark until morning. I also sincerely hope he picks a poop spot that’s not in the cave system lol.

Anyhow I hope this helps, once again love your channel and your vids (your editing is really good) and give your beautiful cat a treat from me )))

[Rainy_mage]

Thank you for doing these setups correctly to many channels are far to low effort. Your content is highly underrated and you need far more viewers.

[evil]

I’m so glad you did this I absolutely hated the old design😭🙏

[viperluciano]

I like that tunnel design it looks pretty awesome

[bile]

I miss my leopard gecko, he passed away while I was moving. He loved when I cleaned up his enclosure, so I always laid it in a new way. Always curious I named him Georgie. RIP ❤

[DoorsToHideBehind]

Your living room is such a dream. I would be so happy if mine looked like that. As well as my tanks.

[LEMIEisa_BALLPYTHON]

I use gutter pipe pieces for my tunnels. 3in wide or they have 2in ones. I get them at home Depot. Love your videos. I don't record the process of building mine. Just snap photos of the sequences. Xo from MD ❤❤❤

[cabbage]

This is an awesome enclosure. The leopard gecko will love it. My only question is, what if you needed to get access inside of the cave. The only way is to break it open. I don’t see why you would have to more a what if moment.