Orchid/gecko viv

[AmandaS]

Geckos do like to eat plants. You should check the toxicity of the various orchids you incorporate with the reptile. Some are more so than others. Dendrobiums work well. I also am in the process of building my repti-orchid-terrarium. Mine has a pretty little jewel chameleon. You should also be careful of the substrate you use, your gecko might ingest it - bark is bad for them to eat, if you use any planted orchids you could cover the soil with stones, and make sure you clean the plants THROUGHLY before adding your reptile to the terrarium. They really should be soaked but at least wash the leaves and you could even use a bit of dish soap as long as you rinse really well, your gecko will get water from the leaves and it is important there is no residue from fertilizers.

[AmandaS]

Originally Posted by kagura

As for your substrate issue if you are looking for something to use that will be good for the gecko and for the orchids use coconut bark. <

Yep. Use coconut bark. And sphagnum moss works well for both orchids and reptiles. You could buy some live for cheap.

I didn't really read through all the posts before I posted my last remark. There is an issue I think about feeding insects to your reptile, they might harm your orchids. Geckos will eat forages and greens but they like crickets and mealworms too. I would moniter feeding. Only give it a few at a time, make sure he eats them, especially if he is a baby you should moniter his food intake anyway.

[addictedcountryman]

i would also be careful of the media because when geckos eat, they get pieces of the flooring, i.e. bark or sand, with their food, which can cause impactions. basically, it will cause constipation that kills the poor guy.

[quiltingwacko]

DH used to keep poison dart frogs in a vivarium. He had aquarium gravel on top of a plastic screen of some sort. (Like they used in aquariums at that time.) He used cork bark for the back of the vivarium. It was beautiful and held plants like a bromeliad. There was a waterfull flowing over a large rock. A pump filtered the water and then sent it down the falls again. It was beautiful and the frogs were very happy. We fed them wingless fruit flies. Occasionally a frog would escape. Very exciting.

[quiltingwacko]

I forgot to say that there must be books and websites for gecko information and possibly info on building a vivarium.