Reptiles to put in a 45 gallon aquarium

All Reptiles Enclosures & Setups
1

I got a free aquarium with a stand and I’ve been wondering what to put in the aquarium, it measures
48" x 12" x 18". I originally wanted to put a pair of crocodile skinks and a few gargoyle geckos in there except I don’t think that’d work since I’d be reaching in through the top all the time and the gargs would be right there ready to jump out.
Species requirements

  • No sitting water (eg paludarium)
  • Cohabitate 1 male and at least 1 female
  • About $750 or less for the pair of reptiles
  • Something different than a snake for variety
  • Something unique that I can make the habitat either bioactive or out of excavators clay
2 Likes
2

so no snakes?

3

Not this time with this project

4

this is my personal opinion.You want something rare and unique? if so u can try some European lizards for example Timon Lepidus , or some podarcis gene lizards example Podarcis milensis and klemmeri that personally are the coolest

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5

It doesn’t even necessarily need to be rare, even something as common as chameleons would work.

6

What are some desert species that would fit the requirements, maybe like some skinks or swifts.

7

Not desert animals, but a few green anoles could go in a 45gal. Or brown anoles. Both are very cheap.

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8

That’s what I was about to recommend.They are beautiful, and they can be really fun to watch😀

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9

African fat-tails and Chinese cave geckos are fairly robust and commonly available species that do well in naturalistic set-ups. You might also look at knob-tails, though they are a bit more advanced and costly.

A pancake tortoise might do well in something that size. But again, a bit more advanced and costly.

Might also be able to get away with some akies in something that size.

Caveat that the only one of these I have kept was AFTs about three decades ago so research research RESEARCH before just taking my word and committing to any of the others

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10

Would an Ackie or other kind of monitor be able to live in the aquarium for their whole life or would they get too big?

11

You need a larger enclosure for an ackie. No other monitor would be good for that small of an enclosure either.

2 Likes
12

I would not recommend an ackie for a 48x12x18 for their entire life.
They should have at a minimum 48x24x24 as adults and that’s still quite small as they love to explore their enclosures.
Ideally 6ftx2ftx2ft.

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13

Okay, that’s what I thought, a juvenile would easily be able to live in it but I don’t have any larger enclosures for it once it would get bigger.

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14

Aaaaaaaaand this would be why I put my caveat in there

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15

The only monitor I can think of that could possibly go in a 45gal would be a King’s Dwarf monitor. They only reach 9in in length. But tbh the floor space sounds too thin.

16

A 45 gallon would probably be too thin for adult monitors.