community tanks?

beanersmysav · 08-03-04, 12:28 PM

Hey I've heard many places that its ok to house differant geckos together in a community tanks. Recently a post on here informed me differantly but I was wondering if their are any species of geckos that do well in community tanks w/ house geckos or if its just an all together bad idea. Just trying to hear differant oppinions.

Rebecca · 08-03-04, 01:17 PM

In general it's a bad idea. The different species would most likely fight and although they may seem to need the same reguirements there is always something different that they need/like or want. So my opinion in you shouldn't do it. Even though it is a neat idea and would look cool, I just don't think it's worth the risk.

Kevin McRae · 08-03-04, 01:38 PM

I disagree..........you can keep several different species together.....I keep my house gecko with my crocodile gecko and my green anole and 2 grey tree frogs.........for over 2 years.

beanersmysav · 08-03-04, 08:25 PM

ehh the torcher of searching for the correct answer lol. Right now its kind of a community tank with house geckos and green tree frogs but she wanted to expand to something she can hold.

silent_truth · 08-03-04, 09:34 PM

My theory is never say never, but when it comes to mixing species, it's almost always advisable to avoid doing so. The exception may be if it was the case that an experienced reptile keeper utilized an enclosure that was at least 10 times the amount of space required for the number of animals they would have if all inhabitants were of the same species. This way any present stress is kept to a minimum. Of course this would only apply to species of very similar housing requirements.

Example: A general rule of thumb may say that three adult leopard geckos are comfortably housed in a thirty gallon enclosure. (36"x12" floor space)

However, if one was to mix african fat tail geckos with the leopards (not saying to ever do this, but just for argument's sake), then the minimum floor space would be 30 square feet (10 ft x 3 ft)

Mixing species should still be avoided. The problem is that no matter the size of enclosure..... a box, is a box, is a box. Therefore, the amount of space for escaping other occupants is limited.

Something to keep in mind.

-Adam

Tim and Julie B · 08-04-04, 12:07 AM

Just because no one eats anyone else, that does not mean it's okay. If, and only IF it is done there should be endless research into natural habitats and who co-exists within them. I know that golden geckos and white line geckos live within the same regions, often overlapping resulting in the "golden white line geckos", but even that could be a stretch.

I guess my biggest concern would be the stress. Second the sharing of contaminants. What is beneficial to one species may be detrimental to another.

Julie

dj_honeycuts · 08-04-04, 12:57 AM

I think Adam makes an extremely important point here. When you do mixed species tanks you run the risk of interspecies aggression, therefore you run the risk of the animals injuring each other. I have done mixed species tanks myself, but I have always made sure that they are from similar environments to begin with, and I've never mixed species of geckos. This has also been done in rather large homemade enclosures (roughly in the 80-100 gallon size). There is way too much aggression amongst males, and as Rebecca pointed out it isn't worth the risk.
The 2 most commonly available species of Hemidactylus are frenatus and mabouia, both of which bear the moniker "house gecko" in the pet trade, along with the 76 other described species of Hemidactylus. Chances are you probably have one of those 2 species, but unless you did some research there would be no way of saying for sure by the common name. The vast majority of people who keep house geckos don't actually set them up in an optimal environment because they are so cheap, but because they thrive in so many different environments they tend to ok no matter what. The reason why they can do ok with green treefrogs is because they are both small species, and are usually harvested form similar locals in Florida. The same can be said for green and brown anoles because they are also harvested in Florida, plus they are diurnal baskers so their activity pattern is quite different.
As for your question about other gecko species you might be able to house in this setup, bear in mind that any of the species of geckos that may tolerate some handling tend to be quite a bit larger then house geckos and the treefrogs. They also come from some pretty diverse environments, but I don't think there are any that I would suggest can be kept with the species you have without risking the health of one of them. You might want to tell your girlfriend that it might be time to get another tank if she wants a species to handle. Leopard geckos and their setups aren't that expensive, or there is always crested geckos if she doesn't want to have to deal with heating the enclosure. Hope that helps a little!

Kevin - I visited your website and I must say it looks pretty good! Something I wanted to note though is that you should do an image search on google or yahoo and compare your crocodile gecko (tarentola mauritanica) to the results. The color of the pic you have on your website is kinda washed out so I can't be certain, but they are quite a bit more rare in captivity compared to several different species of Pachydactylus that commonly come into the pet trade with the same common name. The care is very similar for these geckos, but you also won't find green anoles or gray treefrogs hangin out on rocky outcrops or old ruins which would be the favored hangout spots of crocodile geckos.

Kyle Walkinshaw · 08-04-04, 02:09 AM

Quote:

silent truth says : However, if one was to mix african fat tail geckos with the leopards (not saying to ever do this, but just for argument's sake), then the minimum floor space would be 30 square feet (10 ft x 3 ft)

why would you keep 4 geckos in a 10 foot tank??

DragnDrop · 08-04-04, 08:29 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Kyle Walkinshaw
why would you keep 4 geckos in a 10 foot tank??

Because in his example, they are completely different species that need their own 'personal space'. His post mentioned the reason for the big tank - to minimize the problems of a mixed tank.

Even in a single species set-up, 10 feet isn't wrong. It's always better to allow too much space than too little. We tend to supply the bare minimum in our captive enclosures, but you can bet any species would benefit from a lot more elbow room. Too much isn't wrong, even if it does look excessive to us, the geckos wouldn't mind one bit.

Samba · 08-04-04, 08:58 AM

I haven't read any of the replies to your post (sorry guys) so if I repeat some information, I'm sorry...

I have successfully kept Fat-Tails and Leos together...

and

Anoles and House Geckos...

I believe the rule of thumb is, similar size, no more than one male, make sure one isn't a natural predator to the other, and always provide lots and lots of hiding places for 'escape.'

Always observe and remove animals showing signs of stress such as not eating, not moving around much or quareling with of members of it's enclosure.

Hope this helps, and sorry if I repeated info!!!

beanersmysav · 08-04-04, 12:14 PM

Thanks you've all been a big help. I've decided for her that another tank is definatly in order. Besides her lizards in this tank are doing to well to mess with it and possibly cause stress when they're doing fine with eachother.

Another tank is definatly in order because she does want to keep Leo's and before the end of summer if she feels her reptile experience is growing and decided to harbor another responsibility she's been interested in iguana's.

Tank sizes were never an issue as to holding different species of geckos our tank resources are unlimited and large but for now I think she should just let her Housies enjoy being the rulers of the tank instead of mixing. Just wanted to know IF there was a possibility of another species of gecko getting along with hers.

But again I thank all of you who replied and if you want please continue giving any input I'd like to hear more oppinions and I'm sure I'm not the only one debating this issue.

Zero · 08-05-04, 06:31 PM

so ive been told and i have seen u can keep anoles, long-tailed grass lizards and house geckos toget as long as they have been together. in ur case no u can't ur house geckos wont accepet a different species... but my friend does have a 50 gallon tank and he has 2 anole 2 grasslizards and 2 emerald swifts and they live together very well the anole lay on the swifts and even the grass lizards some times .... so u can have a community enviroments

Samba · 08-06-04, 12:18 PM

You know, I just remembered an exerience I had when I was younger, involving my first herp, a salamander named Baby.

When Baby was about 2 years old, and had lost her gills and spinal 'fin' I decided she might want company. (I was still extremely young at this time). I bought a red-eyed tree frog (named "D") and thought they would get along great together. One day, "D" was nowhere to be found. I checked all the hiding places, and knew there was no way he could have escaped (I had a full hood over the tank). Baby's swollen abdomen asnwered my question. That was a very important lesson for me and I never put any other creature in with her for the 10+ years I had her.

Looking back, I probably thought this arrangement would work because:

A.) They were both amphibians...

B.) "D" was a good sized frog (and I guess I thought he couldn't be eaten)...

C.) I never thought Baby would attack him.

Just a little story I thought that I would share....

beanersmysav · 08-08-04, 11:57 AM

Well I guess since I didn't add this you guys wouldn't have known. When I bought him the pet store had them in with anoles (green and brown) other housies, and tree frogs.

Samba · 08-10-04, 08:59 AM

Lots of Petstores don't even know what they're doing - I think they do that to save space... they definately don't do it for the animals' benefit...