My Exo Terra Paludarium ..?

Mikeee · #1 09-30-2008, 12:32 AM

Hey Guys,

New to this hobby and new to this community so I thought i would make my first post here!!

My friend just bought me an Exo Terra Terrarium Enclosure and i've just completed most of it last night. However this was actually the 2nd attempt as with my 1st attempt I tried playing around with the expanding foam and while i was half way complete the one of the doors on the enclosure broke. I super-glued it at first but then it just broke again so I had to stripe the whole thing down and exchange for a new enclosure which worked out great b/c I found the perfect center piece to make what I wanted in the first place.

The Tank:
- Exo Terra 18x18x24 Enclosure
- Background: Exo Terra Background - originally i didn't want to have background but I needed a way to hide the wiring
- Pump with Filter for waterfall. Waterfall runs down half of the back wall
- Exo Terra Canopy with 2 x 25watt uvb lamps (max recommended for ballast is 26watt .. )
- Critters: 1 Gecko, 1 Anole
- Driftwood: found at my local Pet Shop (what a score, exactly what i was looking for)
- Grape Vines

My Questions:
1) Lighting: I would like the tank to be brighter and i'm affraid with the current setup there will not be enough lighting for the plants to grow.

2) Land: Currently there is no land, now that i've built it what are some ways to add land? Main intentions would be for the crickets and perhaps some newts

3) Newts: If i put a few newts in there and didn't want to feed them in the water, do you think they would climb up the stump to get crickets?

That's it for now - hope you enjoy the pics and sorry for the crappy phone pictures.

sinflspeed · #2 09-30-2008, 10:24 AM

Mikeee-
1st welcome to the forum. You have started off with a very nice set up. What UV rating are the bulbs? The 10.0 bulbs are very bright, but being that you do not have any live plants not neccessary. I would probably change one out to the Exo 10.0 UV bulbs. It will brighten it up quite nice.

2nd - This is just an educated guess from what you wrote(correct me if I a wrong) with the level of water I see it appears that you have stranded your gecko and anole with out any way to get off the tree. I read that you want to add newts. With that much water it would take some time to construc t a land feature, but it can be done. Now there are floating features/docks you can buy, which is your best option. I myself would probably bring the water level down and raise the gravel on oneside to atleast make a better accomodation for the gecko and anole down off the tree every now and again. It is kind of like putting a dog in a dog house allday. Sure he likes it but he doesn't want to be in there forever. It might be an option to make a divider to seperate the two, but that will mean you have to tear what you have down. If anything draw a few different ideas out, and pick you best one and go from there. Adding another type of herp to the group is a whole different aspect, and I would recommend looking into having a "mixed species" tank before going into it. From a personal aspect, again my own opinion, with a tank that sixe and the need to accomodate each one comfortably I would not do it. My issue woul be they are going to be in to close quarters and could infringe on on anothers territory or not allow them to eat comfortably. Again, I am not saying it can't be done. I wouldn't do it.

Again, welcome. I hope you find everythin gyou need. If not feel free and ask.

Mikeee · #3 09-30-2008, 10:50 AM

Hey sinflspeed,

Thanks for your comments and thoughts! I think i'm gonna go to another pet shop to get some bulbs as I purchased the 1st set at pet smart and their selection was actually quite limited. The ones i purchased were these guys

I'm gonna start shopping around for some live plants to put in but i'm gonna slowly add them in. (which i forgot to mention in my 1st post)

I'm gonna really try to put some land in there however the Gecko and Anole never used the land available in the old setup so that's why in building this setup with them in mind I didn't need to put land anywhere and all the climbing/hiding areas were suffice for them. But i'm going go shop around for some floaties today - see if anything jumps out at me. Thanks for your comments again!!

Mike

sinflspeed · #4 10-01-2008, 01:45 AM

I do know that those bulbs would probably dehydrate a newt so I would stick with a flourescent. For a gecko or anole a basking bulb would be great, so just changing one bulb and sticking with the two species would probably work out great.

Austin · #5 10-05-2008, 11:14 AM

A few people can get away with mixing,unfortunatley, your not in that position. From what i understand you want 3 different animals in there. A gecko, an anole, and a newt. I know its been brought up before, but, I can hardly imagine an anole being happy in there with almost no land.

Don't take this as a personal attack, just want the best for you and your animals.

everywomanshero · #6 11-18-2008, 04:20 AM

I've kept a lot of newts and if there is one thing that will lead to fungal problems with most species it is heat. You don't want to be keeping newts in reptile conditions. Show me a sick newt and I'll show you a newt that is being kept too warm.

Perhaps a tree frog of sorts might be an option? Hopefully one that won't eat your lizard!