[Geckogirl_88]

I read somewhere that it's possible to keep cresties in something called a live viv. Apparently this is where you use live plants and compost and you never have to clean it out because any fecal matter, food etc gets broken down by the compost.
Is this true? Sounds too good to be true lol but I thought Id ask anyway.

Does anyone keep a live viv? Or a viv with soil and live plants?

xx

 

[IndigoFire]

I have one set up ready for my gold dust day gecko, and my girlfriend has one for her cresties too, she has to spot clean the upper branches, but other that i dont think she has to clean the bottom. : victory:

 

[Geckogirl_88]

Seriously! thats awesome!!
How do you set it up?
xx

 

[atum]

Poo / mould etc gets eaten by little critters that live in the substrate. I have springtails and tropical woodlice in mine. Sometimes you may have to top the culture up but apart from that you just leave them to do their thing. Thats how you can go without cleaning the viv.

 

[Jim2109]

search for "bio active substrate" on here and on google. that pretty much covers what you are asking about. im doing this in my new viv, it needs to be quite deep ideally to work effectively, and it takes quite a long time for the substrate to start working, ive heard as much as a year. ive got a 14" deep area across half of a 5' x 3' base in my new viv for the substrate. thats going to require a lot of woodlice and springtails i think lol.

 

[Metal_face]

i have a live planted viv for my standings. dont think its a piece of cake though, keeping plants alive is harder work than cleaning out vivs lol for me it is anyway :devil:

 

[nickthehotspark]

live viv

This is my live viv. I use a false bottom, then a membrain to stop the soil falling through and then plants. It houses my Blue day geckos.

 

[freekygeeky]

we have live tanks for uroplatus and cat geckos, to be honest the amount of work and money that goes in to trying to keep the planst alive, in my opinion isnt worth it.

 

[IndigoFire]

You people say its hard to keep plants alive...I have an umbrella plant, and fern-like thing...and theyve been in there for a few weeks now...and theyve survived.

 

[freekygeeky]

OP a few weeks is nothing.. lol
if a gecko lives for 20 years...

 

[dave1992]

they are brilliant, my plants are healthy, humidity is stable and never seems to go up or down suddenly, definatly a good idea for cresties mine just loves to jump around at night on every branch and he seems to find the bromeliads a very comfy hammock

 

[IndigoFire]

OP a few weeks is nothing.. lol
if a gecko lives for 20 years...

A few weeks is nothing - this is true. My plants tbh are kept in a pretty sh*te position, out of direct sunlight, and watered every other day (theyre in water retention soil and spaghnum) But its not "Hard" or "time consuming" my grandparents keep plants...if you cant look after plants then you cant look after yourself.

 

[freekygeeky]

But its not "Hard" or "time consuming" my grandparents keep plants...if you cant look after plants then you cant look after yourself.

lmao. alright then....(flip me...)

 

[IndigoFire]

lmao. alright then....(flip me...)

As I saidmy grandparents keep some exotic 'hard' to keep plants, and my grandmother needs a double hip replacement, so if she manages to keep 20+ plants alive and you can't...then there may be something wrong with your gardening hands. Don't want to argue, just like to point out your opinion is not law.

OP if you want a live tank, then go for it, it may or may not work, depends if you find keeping plants hard...

 

[Jim2109]

As I saidmy grandparents keep some exotic 'hard' to keep plants, and my grandmother needs a double hip replacement, so if she manages to keep 20+ plants alive and you can't...then there may be something wrong with your gardening hands. Don't want to argue, just like to point out your opinion is not law.

OP if you want a live tank, then go for it, it may or may not work, depends if you find keeping plants hard...

its also fairly important to research the requirements of the plants as well. for example, if you put a plant that typically likes cool, dry, dark places into a rainforest vivarium then its never likely to survive for long. also its best to use hardy plants with strong branches, as opposed to too many fragile plants with lots of leaves held on by thin stalks. thats just asking for a climbing lizard to rip the plant to pieces. Ficus trees dont mind high humidity and temperatures, but they arent going to like lizards ripping leaves off, they are kind of fragile IMO.

 

[freekygeeky]

As I saidmy grandparents keep some exotic 'hard' to keep plants, and my grandmother needs a double hip replacement, so if she manages to keep 20+ plants alive and you can't...then there may be something wrong with your gardening hands. Don't want to argue, just like to point out your opinion is not law.

OP if you want a live tank, then go for it, it may or may not work, depends if you find keeping plants hard...

i didnt say it was law, i said that i found it difficult but we still do it, we have reseacrhed loads, and use the plants which would only be in their natural habitat, but we still have to replace them every now and then.

 

[herpmad]

have a look at a book like this one it may not be upto date on the animal side but the bloke who wrote it lists the best plants for a live vivarium and also tell you there care and requirments one ofthe best books in my collection for this sort of infomation

Amazon.co.uk: Used and New: Terrarium (Complete Encyclopedia)

BTW i think the new price is wronge i pay £5 brand new for this book in a book shop seen it in reptile shops for about £15

 

[jezhughes]

im moving towards a live viv. my crestie is only a baby right now so he's on carpet. in a few months when he's bigger ill peet it out and get the plants in the soil. at the moment they are in pots in there.

im going to get some moss going on too.

 

[Geckogirl_88]

Oh can't babies be kept on soil? I was told it was ok If I packed it down hard. xx

 

[jezhughes]

i dunno i asked my breeder and he said they have lost a couple from choking on it if it breaks off and they get a bit in their mouth. you can pat it down alot but there will still be loose bits. they said they are testing out peet and seeing how that is, and they did point out they only lost a couple out of hundreds of babys, so it is a low risk.

im being safe and waiting until he's a bit bigger. he's hardily ever on the ground anyway but i like to be safe rather than sorry