9 Year Evolution of My Geckos & Their Vivariums: What I've Learned

From the east of Australia in the South Pacific Ocean is a cluster of islands that some of the most incredible geckos call home. New Caledonia. A two day journey from this tropical paradise in the rural suburbs of Pittsburgh, that environment has been loosely replicated to house three geckos whose lineage traces back to those islands. Henry and Delilah the crested geckos and Cynthia the gargoyle gecko. I think these geckos make great companions and are up there as some of the best pet reptiles you could have. What a rewarding journey it's been to steward them all these years. A journey that began nearly nine years ago to this day with a tiny gecko in need of a new home. I've kept exotic animals for my entire life but geckos were never on my radar. That was until July of 2014. A family got a baby crested gecko but they soon realized he wasn't the pet for them. They wanted to get rid of him. Luckily our paths crossed and that gecko's little toe pads crawled all over my heart. That of course was none other than Henry. Since the beginning the little man has always required special care and attention. What I had to focus on most was food. Truly he's never really been interested in live prey and generally wouldn't eat enough of his gecko diet. That was unless I fed him myself. Nine years later and I still primarily feed him by hand. Subsequently we've spent more time together than most of my other animals giving us a unique bond. Most nights he wants to spend time with me. The second I'm in the animal room doing the nightly care routine I hear him slap onto the glass where he clings until I arrive. He just wants a good plant to roost in, nourishment, and quality time with dad. Well I guess that's if he's not being a little crazy man during mating season. We don't need to talk about that though. I've also found it very rewarding to upgrade his housing arrangements over the years. That said I'm not proud of how I kept him initially in a bare bones 10 gallon tank. What was I thinking? I did keep him with plants at first but for whatever reason stopped as he grew larger. In late 2016 when I began consistently making content I set out to make amends with a better and more appropriate setup. This time I'd convert a 20 gallon long aquarium into a vertical vivarium. I attached polycarbonate to the frame and got to work applying foam. I covered the bottom of the tank with it followed by grape wood and planter pots. Once cured I carved it and resorted to the old silicone and coco fiber technique. Knowing what I do now I can say it's a terrible solution for geckos but more on that later. As usual I added a false bottom which I created from egg crate. I concealed it from the outside with gravel and covered it with a window screen barrier. I spread a layer of my tropical substrate on this then charcoal seeded with springtails to make it bioactive and more substrate. I added various plants but most notably a calathea golden mosaic. I absolutely love that plant and it's a great option for the smaller New Caledonia geckos. The setup also sported leaf litter, a circulation fan, and a drain for the false bottom. The only thing left to do was see what Henry thought. He quickly made an ungraceful entrance followed by climbing to the top. Back then he was still quite skittish but shortly made himself at home. About 5 months later and I can say with confidence that he was doing better than ever. His larger vivarium caused him to thrive and calm down a good bit. Even though he was more receptive to me now it was still light years away from how he is today. Undoubtedly this all caused me to fall in love with crested geckos and I wanted to get another. Roughly around this time is when Delilah entered the picture. Initially I was drawn to her colors but I was excited about the prospect of another personable gecko. Even at this size she was way calmer than Henry, ate exceptionally well, and grew quickly. For reference she developed about 3 times faster than him reaching her adult size in about a year. Additionally, Delilah is so sweet and gentle. I don't know what it is about her but she's easily one of the most calm animals I've ever encountered. She definitely doesn't want my attention how Henry does and is more than happy not to be bothered. However, she also isn't shy about spending time with me either. Anyway, she lived in a 10 gallon for about a year until I made a new setup for her and Henry. I was going big this time with a 24x24x24 inch footprint which equals 60 gallons or 227 liters. I constructed the enclosure with a combination of plywood and common boards. I also designed them to have a built in canopy. Of course I sealed the insides with epoxy to ensure they were waterproof and vivarium ready. I just had to stain and poly the exterior, install a drain on the back, and a door on the front. To make the builds as easy as possible I created background panels with styrofoam. I covered them with coco fiber liner and cork bark which I created holes on to make them more functional for the geckos. I applied expanding foam between the elements which I carved out as usual. I covered this with silicone followed by orchid bark and coco fiber. I discovered that coco fiber alone is a terrible solution because geckos can't cling to it well. Including the bark or other pieces makes it easier for them. It was also advantageous to create and install the backgrounds as panels. I've done so for nearly every setup since. I placed 8 crate window screen false bottoms into each setup. I put leak out around these to help retain humidity as well. Then I mixed up the substrate, prepped the plants, and brought the setups to life. Literally. These colonies of springtails help get the bioactive process in full effect. I put a thick layer of substrate on top of these and began planting. I went heavy on the bromeliads to try and replicate the canopy feel. Jungle vines allowed me to lean into this even more while giving the geckos plenty of climbing space. I continued adding various plants including small ones for texture like anubias, slaginella, and moss. Substrate seeded with isopods, leaf litter, and circulation fans completed the build. My primary goal was simply to recreate a canopy's look and feel. However, I didn't add the geckos for nearly 3 months. Allowing them to establish for as long as possible is the way to go. During the time between I added more jungle vines and areas to accommodate their food dishes seamlessly. Once I finally set them free in their new homes, I was delighted to see it. Both of them appeared to be at home immediately. In the following weeks I noticed a massive difference in the geckos. They both became even calmer and appeared to enjoy the new places to climb, explore, and hide within. Just months after that I moved to my old house and it was right around then that I could truly see the change in the vivariums. The geckos unfortunately ruined the small plants and the detail work I painstakingly provided. That didn't matter for their enjoyment of the setup though. However, something terrible happened. I was holding Henry one day as usual and I sneezed. I felt it coming on and I knew this could happen so I tried running him back to the enclosure as fast as I could but it was too late and sadly it scared him to the point that he dropped his tail. It really upset me to see and I was worried that I broke his trust but to my surprise he actually calmed down significantly after this. In fact, it was around that time that he began coming to the glass in the evening to hang out with me. The geckos were still enjoying their setups months later. However, something unexpected happened. I received details that a gargoyle gecko needed a home. I didn't want any more geckos but naturally, I felt terrible hearing its story. For the sake of brevity, I was told that no one ever wanted her. She wasn't habituated or given much human interaction at all for over 5 years. So you can imagine that despite being captive bred, she was more or less a wild animal by the time I got her. And that's how Cynthia entered the picture. She arrived in an 18x18x24 enclosure which was actually a decent size. Initially, I did a quick redo by adding fake foliage which she seemed to enjoy but it wasn't until 2 months later that I would do a proper redo. I dismantled the previous one, moved her into a different setup, thoroughly cleaned the tank, and got to work. I attached cork rounds directly to the glass to create a canopy. I stuck sheets of coco fiber liner around these to fill most of the gaps. Elsewhere, I applied expanding foam which I carved out as usual. Then I mixed spiderwood within the scape for more interest. I coated the foam in silicone as before but I used tree fern fibers this time. This is probably the best option for the silicone background method. I also created jungle vines with ropes, silicone, and coco fiber which I wove throughout the design. I took a different approach with the false bottom as well. I used a sheet of metallomat to fill most of the space followed by leaka for a better visual. I topped that with geotextile fabric and a thick layer of substrate. Following a similar theme to the others, I used bromeliads and pothos. I experimented with pelionia too. Of course, much like the others, I integrated the food dish into the wall. A batch of springtails covering of leaf litter and isopods completed the design. The results looked great but I wouldn't add Cynthia for about a month near the tail end of 2019. Not only did this setup look cool but it would also serve her better and allow me to more easily build trust but that wouldn't happen overnight. Over the following two years, the geckos did incredible. Henry and I spent hours together, Delilah was as sweet as ever, and Cynthia learned to trust me a little more. Despite all of this, it's no secret that I hate how exoterra and other manufactured tanks look. I also wanted all three geckos to be in a single area. Because of these things, I decided to make an entirely new set of enclosures for all of them. The 24x24x24 inch footprint from before worked great so I did the same here. However, this time I used liquid rubber to seal the insides. Naturally, I stained and sealed them on the outside to get the finished look I prefer. A difference with this design were the doors. I installed neodymium magnets with super glue so they lock with ease. After all of that, I placed the tanks on the racks and proceeded to design the interiors. I made background panels again, but I used XPS foam this time. I wanted to simulate the look and texture of dirt, which I achieved by carving with a wire brush drill bit and a clay carving tool. By this point, I was basically done with silicone backgrounds as well. Instead, I used the drylock method that Troy Goldberg popularized. It's a great option that I'm glad to have added to my tool set. I painted on a black base layer to start. Then I applied a few drybrush layers of different browns to develop something resembling dirt. Even though these went together, I wanted each to have a different look and feel while remaining entirely functional for the geckos. I achieved this by using different types of wood and a unique formation in each setup. Of course, I foamed everything in, carved it once dry, and painted it to match. I thoroughly sprayed everything down before continuing as well. Each tank has a bulkhead drain that I affixed with a mesh cover to retain the material. The false bottoms in these are made exclusively with Leka. As I'm sure you know, I've made a lot of vivariums, and I've noticed that ones that use a false bottom made from material like Leka tend to produce better results. I believe that because of the added surface area, it promotes a more robust beneficial bacteria colony when compared to the void space of an 8 crate system, for example. I used geotextile for the barriers above this as well. Sure, window screen mesh works fine, but it allows small particles to pass through. This on the other hand holds things back much more effectively and is now my preferred material. Anyway, I added the substrate to each tank, followed by an array of plants. This time, I stuck primarily with larger ones that should hold up to the geckos. Of course, I finished them off with leaf litter and a cleanup crew. These turned out well, but I immediately put them in unlike the other setups where I waited. That didn't make much of a difference in the long run though. Although I liked the previous setups, there was something about these that I thoroughly enjoyed. Maybe it was just seeing them all together. I learned a lot from the previous builds, and I think that the way I hardscaped these accounted for the geckos' habits better than the last. And I know it's something I say often, but they just looked perfect in here. Over the following months, some plants thrived and others didn't. I also added new ones like False Auralia, which is actually from New Caledonia. More importantly though, the geckos were doing incredible. They indeed seemed content and used every aspect of these setups. You can also see here how robust their cleanup crews became. And that's the beauty of going bioactive. I haven't had to clean these setups since I built them nearly two years ago. However, all of this footage is back from 2021, and a lot has happened since then. Most notably, I moved to a different home, and like nearly every other setup, these didn't transfer well. As you'll see, they need a quick refresh, so I'll show you how they're doing today. The first thing you'll probably notice is that these setups appear sparser than before. There are a few reasons for that. It's primarily the result of not replacing the leaf litter as consistently as I should. These isopod colonies are very robust, and when there are no leaves, they turn to the next food source, the plants. Additionally, I had periods of inconsistent lighting during the move, which I think took a toll on the plants already being demolished by the pods. However, some of them have stood the test of time. Take the Schefflera and Henry's tank, for example. It's dropped several incredible roots from the top down into the substrate. I don't know about you, but I just love when this happens. The Pothos and Cynthia's tank has also done the same thing. Even though coverage isn't as dense as I'd like, the geckos have been doing well. There is another issue, though, and we need look no further than the outside of the tanks. Unfortunately, the glue holding a few of the magnets has been failing. One is enough to keep them closed, but both have let loose in Cynthia's. Needless to say, I've been taping the thing shut, which isn't a good look. I must address that immediately and want to handle the plant situation. I just have to remove the geckos, and we can begin. I kept it simple and added a few larger plants to each. They'll have to grow, of course, but they significantly improve the aesthetic and function of everything. As for the magnets, I reattached them with a fast set epoxy. This should be a better long-term solution than the glue. While it cured, I replenished the leaf litter so the isopods will leave the plants alone. Since the bones were good, it didn't take much to get everything looking proper once again. I'm pleased with the results, but I want to see the geckos back in their homes. I just love to see it. However, there is another edit I want to make. I've been using cheap LED lighting this whole time. I think the plants could do better if I swap those out for something more appropriate. I put Arcadia Jungle Dawn lights on each tank, and the difference is astounding. Looking back, I can't believe this all started 9 years ago. It seems like just yesterday that I got Henry. Honestly, I was apprehensive about taking him at first, but I knew I had to, and I'm glad I did. I'm also happy to have got Delilah as well. It's cool to see just how different they are. I can confidently say that crested geckos are some of my favorites. Don't get me wrong. I enjoy Cynthia as well and wouldn't give her up, but it's not the same. I've worked with her enough to where I can be in and around the enclosure without her going crazy, which is good. However, I never see a time where the trust between us is mutual, but that's fine. I'm happy to enjoy her from afar if that's what she'd prefer. The thing about reptiles, or at least what works for me, is to obtain trust through positive interactions and continually providing better living conditions. That's why everything was so easy with Delilah. I was in control from a very early stage, while Henry likely dealt with some questionable scenarios initially, and Cynthia learned distrust from lack of exposure. All in all, I'm pleased with everything, but if I had to make one change, it would be putting them in larger enclosures. If I were to go twice as tall, I think that would be cool, and I'm sure they wouldn't mind either. And regardless of where this journey takes us, I'll do my best to continue improving what I do for them. Because if there's one thing I've learned from all of this, taking the time to do what's right is an excellent way to make a great companion.