# Your leopard gecko set up



## robzab (Dec 10, 2011)

Hi,

My young lady has decided she would like a leo to go with our beardie.

Could people please put up pics of their setups to give me some inspiration?

Thanks


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## Higgt4 (Apr 25, 2009)

Bettys house









and a couple I just built
a double








and a quad - no furniture in this one yet








: victory:


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## simon31uk (Jan 6, 2012)

*my setup*








w

I'm new to Leos but this Is my setup at the minute


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## machine66 (May 21, 2010)

no offence to the 2 people who has already posted but id go for a more natural look with sand im sure their leo's are perfectly healthy and happy i just think making a viv look like the correct envioment looks best


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## robzab (Dec 10, 2011)

machine66 said:


> no offence to the 2 people who has already posted but id go for a more natural look with sand im sure their leo's are perfectly healthy and happy i just think making a viv look like the correct envioment looks best


I think people tend to avoid sand due to the impaction risk?

All the rock stuff looked good for Afghanistan to me


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## trogdorable (Feb 4, 2011)

sand isnt a natural substrate for them : victory: slate tiles would be closest to natural.
they live in rocky outcrops where there is light loosely sprinkled sand.
look at their feet. clearly not evolved for dune sand.


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## simon31uk (Jan 6, 2012)

I did want to use sand but with all the comments about impaction and stuff I decided against it.
my Leo seems happy enough on vinyl tiles he has rocks that he climbs on gonna stick with what I put in there
I'm sure there's ppl on here who Neva had a prob with sand but every1 to there own


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## heatherjhenshaw (Jan 30, 2010)

This is going to be my Leo's set up, I haven't got her yet, just needs some more greenery I think, although I'm new at this


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## simon31uk (Jan 6, 2012)

heatherjhenshaw said:


> This is going to be my Leo's set up, I haven't got her yet, just needs some more greenery I think, although I'm new at this
> 
> image
> 
> image


that setup looks really good
yeah a few more greens would finish it off although u could get away with what you already got.
enjoy your new gecko when u heatmat him/her


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## Welsh dragon (Oct 27, 2009)

Mine are all in my albums in my profile


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## nsn89 (Jun 11, 2011)

machine66 said:


> no offence to the 2 people who has already posted but id go for a more natural look with sand im sure their leo's are perfectly healthy and happy i just think making a viv look like the correct envioment looks best


Who gives a :censor: about what looks natural or in other words 'cool', it's about what is safest. I've got slate tiles, and lino that looks like nice mixed coloured stone. But retains heat incredibly well, and if anything it's much closer to the conditions they would be living in, rather than a completely loose substrate.


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## heatherjhenshaw (Jan 30, 2010)

simon31uk said:


> that setup looks really good
> yeah a few more greens would finish it off although u could get away with what you already got.
> enjoy your new gecko when u heatmat him/her



Thanks :2thumb: only 21 more days :mf_dribble: bet you can't tell I can't wait :lol2:


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## MP reptiles (Dec 30, 2010)

nsn89 said:


> Who gives a :censor: about what looks natural or in other words 'cool', it's about what is safest. I've got slate tiles, and lino that looks like nice mixed coloured stone. But retains heat incredibly well, and if anything it's much closer to the conditions they would be living in, rather than a completely loose substrate.


 natural can sometime be th best for the animal. For instance some geckos are recomended to be kept on sand.

Having a natural seup for rainforest species has the abiliuty to maintain a higher humidity for longer.

im not saying that a natural leo setup is good but in some cases a natural setup is not only appealing to the eye but good for the lizard/snake in question.


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## robzab (Dec 10, 2011)

Welsh dragon said:


> Mine are all in my albums in my profile


Your setups are amazing, I wish I had the time and skill to do something like that


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## nsn89 (Jun 11, 2011)

MP reptiles said:


> natural can sometime be th best for the animal. For instance some geckos are recomended to be kept on sand.
> 
> Having a natural seup for rainforest species has the abiliuty to maintain a higher humidity for longer.
> 
> im not saying that a natural leo setup is good but in some cases a natural setup is not only appealing to the eye but good for the lizard/snake in question.


Yes i know, what i said was in relation to Leo's as the thread is about Leo's.


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## yuesaur (Aug 29, 2011)

my leo setup.









its almost finished just need bowls, extra hides, humid hides and heatmats and the leos in. they get moved in around the middle of feb


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## machine66 (May 21, 2010)

nsn89 said:


> Who gives a :censor: about what looks natural or in other words 'cool', it's about what is safest. I've got slate tiles, and lino that looks like nice mixed coloured stone. But retains heat incredibly well, and if anything it's much closer to the conditions they would be living in, rather than a completely loose substrate.


whats with the attitude ?

i wasnt being offencive about the other peoples setups i was just saying i like a more natural look to a vivirium so id use slate, rocks and sand


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## roddymclaren (Mar 11, 2011)

just a couple


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## Delbertsavage (Aug 31, 2011)

This is my leos set up all finished...


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## polaris2582 (Jan 19, 2011)

machine66 said:


> no offence to the 2 people who has already posted but id go for a more natural look with sand im sure their leo's are perfectly healthy and happy i just think making a viv look like the correct envioment looks best


:gasp:
Leo's don't live on sand in the wild. more of a hard pack dirt/shale, gravel and slate type area. :2thumb:


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## robzab (Dec 10, 2011)

How do you all make the ace looking fake rock? Is there instructions anywhere? I'd love to have a go


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## SnoopyLeoGecko2011 (Dec 9, 2011)

Here are a couple pictures for you.

Currently working on the cold end of the Viv at the minute, but hot end is finished :2thumb:



















And here's my Leo! Had her since the 23rd of September 2011, she was roughly 4 months old when i got her. Can't believe how fast time has gone seems only yesterday when i got her :lol2:


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## Dan Trafford (Mar 10, 2011)

Yuesaur that's mint condish!


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## SnoopyLeoGecko2011 (Dec 9, 2011)

yuesaur said:


> my leo setup. image
> 
> its almost finished just need bowls, extra hides, humid hides and heatmats and the leos in. they get moved in around the middle of feb


Amazing setup! Love the Dinosaur theme :no1:


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## yuesaur (Aug 29, 2011)

SnoopyLeoGecko2011 said:


> Amazing setup! Love the Dinosaur theme :no1:


 
thanks ! its still not finished yet though, still got more dino related things to go in and around it


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## Recluso (Dec 3, 2010)

My Leo's viv is in my signature  Either my facebook album or the finished viv link


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## robzab (Dec 10, 2011)

Recluso said:


> My Leo's viv is in my signature  Either my facebook album or the finished viv link


Thanks, your guide is ace, bookmarked it already.

I may have this step, but did you seal the polystyrene before you grouted, after you grouted or not at all?

If you sealed it, what did you use?


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## Elmodfz (Jan 18, 2008)

This is Jiniwin's set up from a few years ago. It's still pretty much the same apart from the thermometer fell off the wall and the bits of wood have moved right a bit more.










As you can see I am one of those that like to use sand for my gecko. He's been on sand for a couple of years now and it's fine. I much prefer gecko set ups with sand then those with slate or lino etc. It just doesn't look a good in my opinion.


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## Recluso (Dec 3, 2010)

robzab said:


> Thanks, your guide is ace, bookmarked it already.
> 
> I may have this step, but did you seal the polystyrene before you grouted, after you grouted or not at all?
> 
> If you sealed it, what did you use?


I sealed the vivarium before building with aquarium silicon/sealant.

As for the poly, I slapped the grout straight in on top. My first layer was really quite runny (about the consistancy of paint) so was thick enough to leave a nice obvious layer, but was runny enough to fill any cracks and could also be applied with a paintbrush. All the subsequant layers I made (there's roughly 6 in total) were JUST runny enough that I could apply them pretty comfortably with a flat painter's brush but thick enough that I could use my fingers to easily smear it about into holes.

Then it was painted and varnished 

So no sealant onto the poly, just grout 

On the substrate side of things, I use sand with Juno, and so far have seen no problems (she is watched carefully). I'm actually considering a soil/sand mix with a few small pieces of slate. It's all very well to say 'zomg sand isn't natural either' but I'm sure there's part of their 'natural' environment that probably DOES have loose substrate. It's silly to say that they're climbing around on packed soil and rocks all the time, because how do we know how every inch of their 'natural' habitat looks?


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## Welsh dragon (Oct 27, 2009)

Look in the habitat section lots of fake builds in there and instructions how to build them.


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## Cluck79 (Jan 11, 2012)

This my Leo's set up completed yesterday


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