change of direction...

i think i am going to change my focuses, with my leopard geckos. i believe, after much though, that i am going to be selling off alot of my geckos. i am going to keep my best, and more rare animals, and sell the rest. i am going to focus on large, naturalistic enclosures. i think i am going to keep around ten, of my best animals...maybe a few more. i am going to keep my diablo blanco, my phantom, my bold stripe, all of my white and yellow stuff, and my red stripe enigma male...unless i get a very fair price for him. i am going to still breed, but on a very small scale, and specific projects will be all i will be working on. i want to focus on some really nice vivariums. i was looking at some of my animals, and thought what a waste it is by having some of these animals in a rack system, and not in a really nice display... i am going to start by setting up one of my 125s. i am going to devide this one to start...and that is all i KNOW for sure at this point. i think i am going to do a more natural type floor though, and not tiles. i want to go with a cement type system with caves and landscapes built in...i will keep you guys updated with pics as i go. keep step by step records...

Good for you, props for stepping towards being a hobbyist rather than just another mass breeder.

All of our breeder geckos are housed in 20 gal tanks, none of them in racks & bins. Their babies would have to be in racks until they are sold, but we just couldn't stomach putting our pets (yes they our pets first, breeders second) in places where we can't see them.

Without the fun of it, to be able to decorate the tanks, and be able to see the geckos on a nightly basis, I know for myself breeding wouldn't be worth it.

yeah, im with ya. my adults are in 28 qt tubs, so they have plenty of room...but still, i dont get to see them in a natural enclosure. i have a few displays...but tht is not good enough for me. i am going to be going with all bigger displays though. in the 75gal and up sizes. i will be setting up both of my 125 gal tanks. and i have some really big multi level displays, measuring 5 foot wide, six foot tall, and two foot deep. they have five levels, with the centers divided...so there are ten cages in each of the two units. i am currently working on taking the deviders out...i am also going to be building a few more custom enclosures. i have a few years experience in this, so they should all turn out nice. i also have a 30"x30"x30" cage that is solid surface, but i am either putting an emerald tree boa, or a green tree python in that one.....MAYBE an eyelash viper. i have always had my best animals in displays, and right now i only have a couple even in displays...so i want to change it up a little bit, and concentrate on natural displays. there is no point in having thousand plus dollar leopard geckos in a rack...i should still produce in the seventy five to hundred babies a year, but they will all be white and yellow combo stuff, and a few others. white and yellow phantoms, white and yellow urban snow diablo blancos...and stuff like that. and no, i wont be asking rediculous prices...even though i will be only working on really high end stuff. my outlook wont change, only my direction has.

thats a great direction to go, i have found that having smaller amounts of animals means you can give the animals you have all the love and care they truly deserve ^_^ if your thinking about making a awesome landscape for your leos look into making it like this person shows, its light weight and very nice looking and easy. that is what i am doing with the tank i am working on for charm ^_^
http://www.lizard-landscapes.com/index.html
good luck!

i have seen his stuff. it is good. i am going with a more "usable space" type direction though. i want my animals to have more than enough room to run around and act natural...and my geckos can enjoy even more...and my family and friends can more enjoy the animals i do have. went down a little bit ago and somewhat decided the ones that i will be selling, or trading, or what ever...i think this will be a good direction for me. i always have enjoyed my naturalistic enclosures, and the way the animals act and live in a more naturalistic enclosure. i am pretty excited to see what i can do with some of the displays, should be fun. i am going to start one of my 125s next sunday...should be fun. i have already somewhat figured that my red stripe enigma is going to get one half of the 125 project...may try two females in the other side. i will be using black plexiglas for the divider, so they do not see each other.

sounds great, and i wasnt saying use his desighns i was more or less saying you should fallow his tutorials on how to make what you want ^_^ some of his stuff is really bulky and takes up a lot of space but the one i am doing is making my tank have 2 levels and keeps most of the floor space open. i was thinking you could do something like that. but you just make sure to show us the awesome stuff you do for your awesome leos!

i have some pretty good ideas. i have built some pretty nice custom stuff before. i used to do custom cabinets and counter tops. i would buy materials off of my boss, and use the shop tools to build custom enclosures. i have built some pretty elaborate setups. on was a corner cage that was six foot wide in the front, four foot deep, and five foot tall. it had a fully filtered and plumbed waterfall that was two foot tall, and the bottom i ran a small 'stream' to a pond in the front. it had a tree in the middle, with rock shelves and live plants. it looked really great. i want to do some stuff that will be as nice, just not with the water functions.

awesome i cant wait to see ^_^