[bugman426]

Hey, I was wondering if you could tell me im missing anything in my milii setup

itll be a 55 gallon tank cut in half, one half ( 24Lx12W) will be cut in half again, so the male and female will each have their own small enclosure while not breeding. I was told you shouldnt keep them together.

2 hide boxes in each enclosure, one with moist spagnum moss, one just a plain hide box. A water bowl in each.

Do i need a heat pad, or is room temperature good enough?

Also, all i know about breeding them is that i need to cool the temps for a few weeks. Any special things i need to do during this period, such as feeding, etc?

thanks in advance

Mike

[bugman426]

Well 55 gallon idea is deffinately out---so now its either i canbuy a cheap rack system, make one, or keep the miliis in their own 5 1/2 gallon tank then during breeding put them both in a 10 gallon tank

[Nathan Hall]

Mike, sorry for the delay. I've been busy with the geckos and getting all of the Aussie species down for the winter. I keep all of my U. milii singly, and introduce the male throughout the breeding season. They are kept in rack systems (see photo) in 15-quart plastic boxes (see photo). The substrate is a thin layer of Jurassic Sand, and there is an inverted plastic plant catch basin on the warm end of the enclosure. There is also a moist nestbox with coconut fiber and sand. The females usually lay in this box. I think that any fine sand is a suitable substrate. These guys don't really burrow, so there is no need for much sand depth. I mist the cage a few time a week, and I keep the nestbox moist at all times. I use heat tape to warm the rear portion of the box to 88-92 degrees F. The ambient temp is usually 82-84 during the summer, and I do cool them in the winter. Females love to hang out in the box, and it really aids in shedding. I love this species. They are interesting and extremely hardy.

[bugman426]

the gladware containers you use...how high is the coconut fiber filled up to--and its easy for the geckos to climb in and out of them? i purchased plastic plant potter things from the local nursery and cut them down the middle and figured i would use that as the dry hide box....i wanted to use the terracotta ones but no way of cutting those

and for the gladware thing again..i just mix bed a beast with jurassi sand? does the ratio of bedabeast to sand matter? is the glad ware on the cool side or the warm side?

sorry for all the questions.....thanks

[Brandon]

Nathan--nice setups. I've heard that if eggs are left in coco fiber for more than 24 hrs. they will go bad. Has this ever happened to you?

[Nathan Hall]

Mike,

I use the shallow containers, and I fill the boxes up about 1/2 way. The ratio does not matter as long as the medium is slightly moist. I do about 50/50.

Brandon,

Someone was pulling your leg. I've never had any problem with that.

[Nathan Hall]

Mike,

The Gladware is on the cool side for a couple of reasons. The boxes remain moist for longer periods of time, and the eggs don't cook. I keep the heat tape cranked up, and I think that the eggs would go bad at such warm temps. Don't apologize for asking questions. That's why I created this forum!

[bugman426]

in that case, heres a few more...you said this in the above post:
" I use heat tape to warm the rear portion of the box to 88-92 degrees F. The ambient temp is usually 82-84 during the summer, and I dool cool them in the winter."

so during the year the avg temp is about 90, but in the summer you cool the avg temp to 83 and in the winter, you cool it even more to what?

how long do you cool for, and do you introduce the male before or after cooling?
during the coolinmg, are you supposed to mist the tank less, and feed less?

[Nathan Hall]

The ambient temp in the enclosure during the summer is 82-84. The heat tape keeps the warm end close to 90. I shut the heat tape off for about six weeks during the winter. The ambient temp during the day is 68-70 and 60-65 at night. They will brumate at these low temps. I do not feed them during brumation, but I mist the enclosure about once a week. I introduce the males a couple of weeks after brumation when the heat tape is back on and the geckos are feeding again.

[robk]

sorry to hijack the post a bit, but are the enclosure actually resting on the shelf they are on, i couldnt quite make it out from the picture. If so is the heat tape running along the back? Do you run all of the enclosures on one thermostat?

Thanks