i want to venture into making more natural habitats for some of my animals. I've always been afraid im just going to make a big mess of it if I try. Right now im thinking my Dune Geckos,gliding lizards,newts,anole, maybe my clawed frog. i
m trying to look up info on the dune geckos habitat, their burrowers so im thinking a stable sandy soil mix for them
the gliders are from tanzania, im thinking lots of plants but nothing tall enough for them to get to the lid of a 30 gallon tank. their masters of escape.
newts im not sure about substrate for underwater but they should have plenty of plants and a way to get out of the water
the anole will get a nice tropical setup with alot a plants for her to hide in. her plants can go all the way to the top her tank has a lid with a little door in the middle.
i have a website somewhere on how to setup the frog so i'll just follow that
any advice? i thin the substrate will be my biggest challenge to get right
i need hardy plants, plants dont do well in my care.
i have no decorating ability to organize these things

oh I also need to be able to find eggs in the gecko and glider tanks

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0.0.1 Mali Uromastyx
1.3.0 Nigerian Uromastyx
1.2.0 Bearded Dragons
1.0.0 Green Iguana
1.0.1 American Toads
2.0.1 African Clawed frog
0.1.0 Dune Gecko Steno Petrii
0.0.1 Leopard Gecko
1.1.1 Red Spotted Newts
0.1.0 Red Eared Slider
0.1.0 Box Turtle

I think you should work on each species/enclosure at a time, otherwise you will mix research data, have 10x more work to set up, close monitor all species at the same time for possible problems and if it goes bad for any or all, a lot of work to revert them back to what you have now.

Leave the gecko and glider for last until you know how to solve the egg issue and start with the simpler one (I think it's the anoles but I'm not familiar with all of them).

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Wish list: Blue Tongue Skinks and Uruplatus =)

I'm not sure if the dune geckos are burrowers or not, but I do know they like sand, and will utilize rock hides if provided. A soil/sand mix would suit them well. Arrange some rocks as hides and they should be good. Getting the substrate wet, then packing it down and letting it dry out can make it into a suitable burrowing substrate, as long as it doesn't completely dry out.

For the newts, mud or sand would be best for in the water. For the anoles and gliders, potting soil would make the ideal substrate, but coconut fiber or Bed-A-Beast would work too. As for the clawed frog, I've never actually seen a naturalistic setup for those. I'd go with sand or mud as a substrate, avoiding gravel. Plants for cover should be added too. Do you have a link to the website with the frog setup?

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"Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines." - John Benfield

yup heres the site for the frogs
natural aqutic frog tanks im not sure which to start with. the new gliders havnt been ordered yet so that tank is empty
or the anole, i think she needs something more natural or atleast more plants to hide in.
or maybe I should start by getting a couple plants?

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0.0.1 Mali Uromastyx
1.3.0 Nigerian Uromastyx
1.2.0 Bearded Dragons
1.0.0 Green Iguana
1.0.1 American Toads
2.0.1 African Clawed frog
0.1.0 Dune Gecko Steno Petrii
0.0.1 Leopard Gecko
1.1.1 Red Spotted Newts
0.1.0 Red Eared Slider
0.1.0 Box Turtle

Jade the clawed frog and anole tanks will be the easiest to setup, and since it seems you already have these two you might as well get started. Is it an ADF? The Clawed frogs would be good with a gravel substrate then some soft low light plants like java fern and java moss. However adults are pretty rough on plants, I would use lots of wood and rock and cheap plants until you find something that works. It will probably be easier to find plants for aquatic frogs than your lizards. A small cannister filter would work to filter the water.

I want to help you on the newts but can't get a straight answer on the substrate. Aquatic plants will grow in inert soil, so substrate isn't a big deal its just which one will be the best for the animal. I've heard gravel is bad for newts because they bounce their mouth's off the floor of the tank and gravel can injure them, I think I read the same about silica sand. I'm not sure, maybe Matt can help you out, you find a substrate, I'll find the plants

The anoles will be fine in a temperate setup. Building vivs isn't as hard as everyone makes it out to be, with a little research and patience it goes a long way. The substrate will depend on how you have the tank setup but a simple bag mixed of jungle litter will do. No matter what you'll need a drainage layer. With a few supplies you could have a viv setup in a few days and habitable in a few more. Some good plant choices would be ficus, pothos, palms (maybe), and Dracaena. Theres a ton of options but those are the most available/hardest to kill.

When buying plants you have to make sure they'll be safe for you animal, not that the plants will hurt it (anoles are insectivorous, they don't eat plants) but what the plant may have came in contact with (various -cides, bugs, various chemicals).

I wouldn't use potting soil in any of the mixes. Potting soil isn't what it used to be. It has fillers and is almost impossible to find any without perlite added, and you don't want any perlite, and most have time release fertilizers and animal compost. In other words you really don't know what is in it, plus making your own dirt is way more entertaining.

Sorry I can't really help you with the gliding lizards, I try to stay out of the desert. It looks like play sand will work though, you could try some mixes with clay and sand and see if you come up with anything 'burrowable.' Do they just burry themselves or make tunnels?

As far as retrieving the eggs there is a way around this. While the substrate will make the perfect medium for laying eggs I've found most lizards still prefer a 'box.' Simply place the laying box in the container at the end of gestation and remove after laying. It worked for my cresteds and I only missed one clutch which brings me to my next point. Eggs in the vivarium have a high survival rate for some lizards, for example the clutch I missed, I found one of the hatchlings running around the enclosure, I don't know what happened to the other, I'm guessing it fell prey to the parents, something I could have prevented had I been more cautious. When I tore the enclosure down I found the two egg casings.

my frogs an almost adult african clawed frog ,the frog site said anubis plants can stand up to adult frogs so I thought i'd look for a couple of those for them. what kind of wood can I put in an aquatic tank?
i've gotta look up what tanzania is like before I think about the gliders
the dune geckos are the burrowers, they dont bury themselves if provided with stable substrate their supost to make a small system of tunnels.
i was planning on leaving a corner with no substrate for the newts where I couild leave their food. im kind of afraid to use sand in the aquatic tanks, watching them eat it seems like they would get alot of samd in their mouths

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0.0.1 Mali Uromastyx
1.3.0 Nigerian Uromastyx
1.2.0 Bearded Dragons
1.0.0 Green Iguana
1.0.1 American Toads
2.0.1 African Clawed frog
0.1.0 Dune Gecko Steno Petrii
0.0.1 Leopard Gecko
1.1.1 Red Spotted Newts
0.1.0 Red Eared Slider
0.1.0 Box Turtle

Are you talking about substrate for the land portion of the newt tank, or for under the water? For the land area flat rocks will do well, or you can use soil or moss, or all three. In the water if they eat near the bottom a lot I wouldn't use sand. Mud or rocks too big for them to swallow would work better.

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+5 bonus points to whoever finds me a job!

"Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines." - John Benfield

well first things first I have to pick one to start with...
i guess i'll go with the anole.
I have an empty tank the smae size as her's that I can work on and then switch her to when its done.
i imagine I have to start with the drainage level?

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0.0.1 Mali Uromastyx
1.3.0 Nigerian Uromastyx
1.2.0 Bearded Dragons
1.0.0 Green Iguana
1.0.1 American Toads
2.0.1 African Clawed frog
0.1.0 Dune Gecko Steno Petrii
0.0.1 Leopard Gecko
1.1.1 Red Spotted Newts
0.1.0 Red Eared Slider
0.1.0 Box Turtle

Good choice, now lets get to work

Since your green anole is aboreal you'll want lots of plants occupying the upper regions of the tank. Palms and Ficus would be good for this. You could probably get away with a pothos on the ground, even with no light it will probably grow.

The drainage layer will be lowermost portion of the tank. It should be about 2 inches high and is usually made from gravel, aliflor, or a false bottom. Gravel is cheap, easy to find, and perfect aside from the fact that it is heavy. Filling your tank with a couple inches might make it too heavy to move. I recommend aliflor, expanded clay pellets used in hydroponics. It goes by several names, if you have to call around ask for expanded clay pellets, or try and talk to someone in the hydro dept.

I'll have to think for a little bit on the soil mix, it's going to depend mostly on the plants you want. Do some shopping and research and let me know what interests you.

well so far i've picked out 28 plants that look intresting.the hard part will be narrowing it down to a few. are all gesneriads safe?
i imagine in not going to find many of these things easily though. are their stores to get plants in or do I need to order them online?
how hard is it to find flat corkbark, i thnk I want to cover three sides of tank with it.

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0.0.1 Mali Uromastyx
1.3.0 Nigerian Uromastyx
1.2.0 Bearded Dragons
1.0.0 Green Iguana
1.0.1 American Toads
2.0.1 African Clawed frog
0.1.0 Dune Gecko Steno Petrii
0.0.1 Leopard Gecko
1.1.1 Red Spotted Newts
0.1.0 Red Eared Slider
0.1.0 Box Turtle