You have to order them without ventilation if you want to keep mourning or other small geckos in. They’ll slip right through the slots.
2 Likes
If you mean the conversion lid I’m going to cover the vents with screen. If I didn’t then they would escape.
As an update breaking the glass made a huge mess (even with it contained as well as possible) and it’s hard to get the last shards out of the top rim. But it was the best stress reliever I’ve had. 
I’m going to use this current aquarium to experiment with different methods (like using fishing line to cut in between panels). Once I figure out something that works I’ll get another aquarium and use it for the enclosure.
2 Likes
Well, even with the blood, sweat, and tears (mainly just blood ) I still haven’t figured it out. I tried removing the frame, removing the silicone, using fishing line in between the panels and none of it worked. I think I’m going to try just cutting the needed piece out instead of removing the whole panel. Does anybody have any experience with glass cutting that can offer some tips and a recommended cutter? I’m planning on getting either a Camdios glass cutter or a Red Devil 102370 professional glass cutter (maybe both just to see which works best).
2 Likes
It’s been a long time since I’ve updated this. It’s been super busy so I put it on the backburner for a while. I tried using the glass cutter (I used the Red Devil one) and it scored perfectly, but there wasn’t any good way to break it over the score line without destroying the tank (since the silicone prevents it from just falling out). I decided that the only way I would be able to do this easily multiple times would be to use a dremel and glass cutting piece to cut all the way through the glass. But, if it went a tiny bit too far it would cut the side panels and right now I’ve put too much money into this project than it’s worth, at least for now (since I’ve decided I’m not planning to get day geckos for a long while, and if I do it would only be 1 species in an exo-terra).
So, yesterday I went out and bought an aquarium. I didn’t bother trying to install a screen and I’m just going to install the door on it and keep it simple, since that would be a huge improvement for the mourning geckos I have. Right now the silicone on the top rim is drying and I’m going to glue and silicone the front door on. I’ll update once it’s done.
4 Likes
I finished that a little while ago but I’ve been waiting to use my computer since I had silicone all over my hands. It worked out well and the door is attached and it looks good. I’m going to wait until tomorrow or whatever the instructions say until I start setting up the enclosure. It was a bit annoying since the silicone container developed some holes and silicone got everywhere.
2 Likes
The instructions say that it should dry for 2 days before holding water. I probably don’t need to wait that time but I will since I’d rather it’s done right. There was a small leak in the bottom corners where I used superglue to hold the doors on. I used silicone over it to seal it. Once that dried I noticed an area that was a bit loose so I re-siliconed that part. So today I’m going to see if it will hold water. I used a drainage layer of a light diffuser and screen and I hot glued all of the screen to the side of the tank (I’ve read horror stories of geckos drowning in the drainage layer so I don’t want to risk it). Once everything works right I’m going to work on the substrate and decorations. I wanted to use an expanding foam background but because they are egg-gluers I wanted to be able to cover the eggs once they are laid so I can separate them. And I think that would be difficult to do if there was a small angle between a background and a branch (which I think they would be likely to lay in).
3 Likes
Thank you for keeping us updated, @erie-herps !
Question as I’m confused:
So the tank you bought with the kit didn’t work? But a regular 20gal long from Big Box worked?
1 Like
There wasn’t a tank with the kit. The first tank I got (which was the right size) I broke because I was trying to take a panel out. I bought another tank (the same one) which worked and I didn’t try to modify it. The tank I got was a 20gal high, but the company makes lids for many different sizes and shapes. Hopefully that clears it up.
I’ve been busy for a while so I haven’t had a ton of time to work on it, but I just finished it a couple days ago. I put the mourning gecko in and it works great. Everything is sealed and it would be impossible for them to escape.
2 Likes
I got you. Thank you for elaborating. 
1 Like
I realized that I forgot to add pictures. Here are some pictures of the enclosure. I siliconed cork bark flats on the side to provide more climbing area and cover.
3 Likes
They look really good.
I hadn’t thought of silicone anything in.
I have a hot glue gun, I might put some bits along the side also.
Great job
1 Like
Thank you! 
I got the delivery of the cork flats after I had all of the substrate in, so I used silicone and a bit of hot glue to attach them to the sides. I used silicone so it would be a stronger bond, and hot glue so it would stick quickly. I’m planning on adding some air plants on the ledges and I added a plant in the back that will hopefully grow.
I also added green egg-laying containers (you can see one towards the top in the 1st and 2nd picture) and black film containers for them to lay eggs in. Since they are egg-gluers I wanted to avoid any small gaps since I would end up leaving them and risking them getting eaten, or covering them with a modified deli cup so it fit the space perfectly (which would be tricky to get the babies out). Since there were a lot of gaps in the cork bark I filled a lot of the gaps with silicone to avoid them getting stuck or laying eggs there. Since the silicone looked bad on the ledges I hot glued sphagnum moss over it (which I think turned out looking pretty good).
2 Likes
Sir, you have outdone yourself. It looks beautiful! 
1 Like
Thank you! It should look a lot better when I can replace the fake vine with real plants. There’s only 3 geckos in there and since the space is so big I only see one gecko every other day, lol. Once they start laying eggs I’ll probably be overrun, haha. I can house up to 7-10 geckos in that enclosure, so it should be even better then.
1 Like
Those are fake?! Totally thought they were real. 
1 Like
Well, I guess that’s good that it looks realistic. It’s hard to tell the difference other than looking closely or seeing the wire stem.
2 Likes
This turned out great!!! I really like those vines, definitely had to do a double take to see if they were real.
2 Likes
It’s a Pangea Leafy vine. You get 6 ft of it for only $10 I use it in almost all of my crested gecko enclosures and I’m planning to add it to all of them.
3 Likes