Ok, so I went out today and bought supplies for my new Crested Gecko Tank.

Shopping List:
~25 Gal tank (check)
~Eco Earth (check)
~Water Dish (check)
~Brown Silicone -2 tubes GE II (check)
~Great Stuff -2 cans (check)
~1/2" PVC pipe (check)
~1/2" T joints (check)
~1/2" angle pieces (check)
~Organic Potting Soil (check)
~Screen Lid (check)
~Feeding Dishes (check)
~Plastic Cup (check)
~2" PVC T joint (check)
~Crested Gecko (no check)

So first thing I did was wipe down the new tank and lay it on its side. I taped off a line on each side (to make a straight line with the expoxy)

and then with gloves on spread a thin layer of silicone to back of tank and up to tape marks.

Then before the silicone could cure to much I removed the tape and cleaned up any missed areas.


While that was drying, I soaked the Eco Earth and then cut the PVC pipe into pieces for a tree. using the T joints and angle joints I put together a "tree" with a few branches coming off it. This I put a layer of Great Stuff on to try and hide the differences between the pipe and the joints. I did this by spreading it on with my hand (again gloved).

Once it had about an hour to cure I took smoothed out some of the areas that were getting to puffy.


I also took the 2" PVC T joint and turned it into a hide. To do this I covered it with the brown silicone and while it was still wet I covered that with the dried Eco Earth. (to make sure it was dry I put in in the oven on a cookie sheet and let it bake at about 350degree until dry.



The silicone on the tank already seems dry, but I think I will give it another hour or 2 and then will start the Great Stuff process on that. I plan on using the plastic cups as my flower pots. And also have some other bark and branches to add as well.

What do ya'll think so far?

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someone was busy today!!!

Shell I think its looking great. I love how you are hiding the PVC with the eco earth!!! if you want, i have a few pieces of cork bark you could set in the great stuff. I got it super cheap from a rescue and not sure if i'm ever going to use it, so you are welcome to whatever you want.

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My name is Liz
Do what's best for the animal, not what's best for you.

That sounds like its coming along very well. I never thought to use pvc piping to make a tree. nice touch.

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"Nobody can do Everything, but Everybody can do Something."

have to say that I got the idea from someone else on here, but I think they used plaster or something like that to cover it. I really like the way this has turned out. I ended up working on finishing the tree tonight instead of working on the background. I will work on that in the morning.

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Crested Geckos are easy to set up! hope you fall in love with them like I did

I like the PVC idea to,,,great idea!! I cant wait to see the finished tank

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MARSHA
A man without a woman is a bachelor, A woman without a man is a genius!.

We have enough youth, how about a fountain of smart!

To finish the tree I covered the Great Stuff with the brown Silicone and then added EE.


I think the final product looks pretty good. (Its upside down in the pic cause the bottom was still really wet)


That all I finished last night. I was going to start on the background first thing this morning but then realized that the pieces of bark that I wanted to include were still pretty wet from soaking, so I tossed those in the oven at 350 and decided to work on my other hide. I had a log that has an interesting bark pattern and already had a bit of an abscess on the underside. I wanted to try to chisel out more of that to make it into a hide. Considering my lack of tools this was probably very fun for my boyfriend to watch. I started with a hammer and putty knife. That actually worked pretty well for the outer layers that were still pretty wet. Once I started having trouble with that I got out the drill and drill bits. Of course the first bit had to get stuck and I had to start working on trying to get that one out...


but I think the final result is pretty good. The underside isn't pretty to look at but it will work well as a hide.


Now the hide is in the oven at 350 while I work on the layout for the background

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So I finally got to great stuff the back ground. I started with placing everything I wanted to add in and figuring out spacing.



I also wanted to be able to hide the cable for my temp probe so I took another piece of PVC piping cut the length of the tank and ran the cable through there. I then added an elbow to it so the wire to the display part was able to be placed outside the tank when not being used to gauge humidity or the cool side temp.


I then realized that with the large pieces of bark the tank was going to be too crowded. Especially after the addition of plants and hides and bowls ect...
So I took the bark out and added an extra flower "pot".


I also wanted the cups that are going to be holding my plants to be angled out a little bit, so I placed a small extra piece of pvc under the rim of each cup.



I covered everything with the great stuff. I tried to keep it a fairly thin coat so there would be more room inside the tank. I also had removed the tree to be able to get under it and be able to get good coverage on the actual back wall.and then put it back as the last thing I added great stuff to.



I also made a ledge out of the piece of PVC going across the back of the tank. Not a whole lot to it, just thought it might be used as a basking area?


I think that I might have to wait until the great stuff cures and then remove the tree again. I think its just going to be near impossible to cover the great stuff.

Also, if I got some great stuff on the glass it should come off once it cures right?

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yes, you can scrape it off with a paint razor blade. It may even just peel off if i'm not mistaken.

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My name is Liz
Do what's best for the animal, not what's best for you.

YOU are a seriously inspiring person! I love your ideas! I may have to incorporate those for my little guys final home! I really like it so far. Where did you come up with these ideas? If they're yours, they're awesome! Even if their not your ideas...your doing quite well with them.

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Veronica
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Exotic Animal Rescue of Henry Co.
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