Viper geckos

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Darkness9876

AC Members
Aug 11, 2008
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No Where Kansas
I am looking to house some viper geckos in my new 20.

I am wanting to put in a 2-3 inch layer of sand/peagravel as a substrate, and where I put my succulents I would like to put in a retainer so I could mix in some soil about 50/50 mix.

The background will be made of slate and then the gaps will be grouted. I am looking also to build some ledges for them to bask on that would be about 5 inches tall and one will incorporate a cave for them to hide in. There will also be a piece of grapevine for them to crawl upon.

I would like to know if this kind of enclosure would work to house them, what kind of light I would need, and what kind of heater and also if these plants would work well.

I understand you have to mist the cage for them to drink and that would be no problem and I belive also that they eat dusted crickets. Any help would be appreciated.

Here are some crappy drawings of it on Paint. I knew 2 years of messing around and not paying attention in computer would pay off.

View attachment untitled.bmp

Final question how many vipers would a 20 hold?
 
You could probably house 1.4 Viper geckos in a 20. Make sure you know the sexes, don't mix males.
 
Viper geckos are obscenely cute! You might consider pm'ing Vicious_fish if he doesn't see this as he has some good experience with them.
 
The cage plans look good but I'd probably add more hiding spots throughout the tank. Keep the ambient temp in the cage around 80 F and make sure you have a basking spot around 95 F. I'm not sure how well the plants will do near the basking spot, you might have to relocate them. I agree that 5 is a good number to keep in that size tank. These guys like it dry so only mist the tank once a week yet still provide a small dish with drinking water.
 
I was planning on the slate moutain having a cave as well and the ledges would have overhangs all over them that these guys should be able to squeeze into them.

I would like 4 females and a male. I hear that they breed like crazy though. Would these pair off or would one male do the job?

I wonder if next to my slate moutain I could add a tiny little pool, that would look nice kinda a mini oasis.

As for the plants they are all succulents from mexico so they should survive.

How big do these guys get? and what vaireties do they come in?

I have heard they only get to 3"-4".
 
Yea they do breed like crazy so you want to be careful that the male doesn't stress the females out too much by wanting to breed often. I would keep a smaller tank just in case you need to seperate them.
 
Yes if you do get a 1.4. ratio the male will breed with all the females. You should give the females a 5-6 month period for them to rest after breeding or you can over stress the females and kill them. You most likely will have to remove the male. An oasis might sound nice but you are already going to have more then enough humidity in the tank with the plants alone, a larger water source will just make it even higher. Hi humidity for these guys can lead to respiratory problems.
 
Well nix the pool, however how am I to water them? I don't want an unsightly water dish hanging around.

As for the male I have a 5.5 that I could put sand in it already has a slate background and I could just drop in a cocohut for a hideout. Would that sufice or would he be cramped?
 
Darkness9876 said:
Well nix the pool, however how am I to water them? I don't want an unsightly water dish hanging around.

As for the male I have a 5.5 that I could put sand in it already has a slate background and I could just drop in a cocohut for a hideout. Would that sufice or would he be cramped?
Click to expand...

They'll have to somehow get water from a small shallow dish. You can get one of those dishes from a pet store that looks like it's made from a flat rock. I use them for my geckos and they look pretty nice.

That small tank would be just fine for the male.
 
Maybe I could make my own small dish out of some of the slate and cover the inside with an epoxy and then dust it with some slate dust for a little 1/4" pool that looks the same as everything else.
 
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