[reptirus]

I picked up a Cyrtodactylus consobrinus from a local show. Ill admit it was an impulse buy, I saw the cool looking little guy and had to have him. He is a WC, that the seller supposidly had for awhile but just called it a marble gecko and had no clue what it really was. I was curious if anyone has any real info on these guys as far as housing and temps. I found online saying that he likes high humidity and 74-78 degree warm side. I thought he would go PERFECT in my goniurosaurus rack. Only problem is he doesnt seem to happy there, he is in the same corner of his setup every time i check him and does not seem to like to use his hide either. I gave him 3 days to settle in but he still doesnt seem to like it. Any suggestions on a setup that he might enjoy alittle better?

[herpluvr]

Just look on some well known reptile sites. On the bottom of this page it has exotic pet site ratings. Use on of them. Just curious could you post a pic of him?

[reptirus]

I have looked everywhere and cannot find info about them.

[reptirus]

[herpluvr]

He's gorgeous, I can see why you would want him. The only advice I have left is to consult a reptile vet. They must know something about their care. You're in a really tight spot right now, I looked all over the internet and all of the websites had no idea what their requirements are.

[DJreptile]

Congratulations on getting it, consobrinus are very cool little animals!

1st off I'd say give it some climbing space. I've never seen a Cyrtodactylus that didn't appreciate being able to curl up in a cork tube above ground level.

2nd Cork tubes, they're your friend. I was just taking care of a collection the past two weeks that includes Eloks, Consobrinus, Pulchellus, Intermedius, Peguensis and Quadrivitattus. All of them spent the bulk of their time during daylight hours curled up in cork tubes or wedged between a couple of cork slabs in the upper half of their cages. Give them the ability to get off the ground, and give them plenty of places to hide.

3rd temperatures. Which side of the tray is it spending most of it's time on the heated or the unheated side? In the collection I was taking care of all of the Cyrtos are at room temperature right now which is around 73+/-2 degrees fahrenheit. If you're cooling your Gonis right now I suspect the temps on your rack may be a tad low.

In closing 3 things; Check, check, and re-check your temps, low to mid 70s is a good range, get the little bugger off the ground, 12x12x18 exo-terras are great for that, and give it lots of places to hide. Live plants are also good, some philodendron cuttings, ficus benjamina, and mid sized ferns would definitely help it settle in.

...oh yeah, as far as vets go don't bother asking them about Cyrtodactylus care. No books have been written on them, only a handful of folks even keep them, hell new species of them are still being described! A vet will most likely know nothing about keeping them. What a vet would be good for is doing a couple of fecal cultures and prescribing some broad spectrum antibiotics. Unless you trust the dealer implicitly collect some fresh poops in a ziploc and get them to a solid exotics vet so they can check for unusually high levels of any parasites or bacteria, and prescribe any necessary medications.

[reptirus]

Originally Posted by DJreptile

Congratulations on getting it, consobrinus are very cool little animals!

1st off I'd say give it some climbing space. I've never seen a Cyrtodactylus that didn't appreciate being able to curl up in a cork tube above ground level.

2nd Cork tubes, they're your friend. I was just taking care of a collection the past two weeks that includes Eloks, Consobrinus, Pulchellus, Intermedius, Peguensis and Quadrivitattus. All of them spent the bulk of their time during daylight hours curled up in cork tubes or wedged between a couple of cork slabs in the upper half of their cages. Give them the ability to get off the ground, and give them plenty of places to hide.

When you say that they like to curl up in cork tubes, do they like really wide cork tubes that they can really move around in, or smaller diameter ones that are just big enough for them to crawl threw? Ill have to pick a few tubes up just trying to figure out what size I need, the little cyrto isnt very little. I would say length wise she is the size of a pretty big adult leopard gecko, just alot thinner body build.

Another question, sexing these guys... Do males show big bulges like alot of other gecko species? If So then I have myself a female here

[DJreptile]

Like all herps they prefer hides they can really wedge themselves into. Something small so they feel secure.

[Bowfinger]

Cyrtodactylus consobrinus are much different than a lot of the Cyrtodactylus we see commonly in captivity. First, they come from the lower forests typically (there are many locals) so require a little warmer than highland spp. If you look at their leg spread and flat profile, they are climbers living in rock outcrops to large trees/logs hiding in wide (flater than typical) locations, but will use any available hide. Branches and small climbing perches are not their typical habitat, so this along with glass would give them little surface to feel confortable. The best cage is large log's or faux rock work large in a fairly large cage with a fair amount of live or fake plants.

[ReptiRutger]

That's a nice looking animal!!