[postskunk]

I went to to the hamburg show this morning and as usual there were no leaf tails to be found, there was a spear point but I needed some satanics and the only one I herd about sold the fist half hour. But that didn't stop me from shopping. I saw this behemoth and I had to have it. the label said Malaysian Giant Gecko, I did some quick research when I got home and I'm thinking it's Cyrtodactylus irianjayaensis but I don't know much about Cyrtodactylus so a confirmation would be very helpful. also it was sort of dark in the section were I got him or her and when I went outside in the light the eyes are a little sunken in so I'm thinking its dehydrated, and it had a little bit of shed stuck to one of its nails so i guess it just shed but its does not look malnourished so I'm gonna do what I can and hope for the best. Also I'm gonna sift threw the forum for care info but if there is any info/help people could provide that would be great, even directing me towards another species that has similar care and more info on would be very appreciated.









thanks for checking it out
-Matt

[DDReptiles]

It is indeed an irianjayaensis, looks to be about half grown

[postskunk]

Thanks for the confermation. It only looks half grown, it's pretty big already but the bigger the better. Do u know if the husbandry is simaler to any other cyrtodactylus that have more info written about them?

[DDReptiles]

I would treat them just like any other Cyrtodactylus in terms of quarentine and getting the animal established. But I can't help you in terms of specific care help with them as I don't keep any myself.

Thanks Derek

[Bowfinger]

I have a trio myself for almost 5 years and they are great! Keep a large bowl of water (large enough to soak in) and keep temperatures 70-78F Yours looks to be a male and they tend to be a little smaller than females, so he could be almost maxed out on size. Dusted large crickets and wax worms to get a little weight on him. Also, use filtered water, not tap. I use extra large bamboo tubes for hide, but any large cave above the bedding works good, even a large bird breeding box...

[postskunk]

Excellent thanks very much Shane! I did a lot of digging and found some care sheets for other Cyrtodactylus and found a little info on here and repashy about them but getting a response directly from someone who's worked with the herp in question always makes me fell more comfortable. I think your right about it being a male I searched for references and the male photos I found seem to match what's going on with the tail end of mine. The only other thing I need to figure out is how much food, how often, and a healthy weight? I know I need to fatten it up but once that is accomplished what kind of feeding schedule should I go with, and what should I try to keep the weight at (generally)?

Thanks again Shane and Derek
-Matt

[Bowfinger]

You have to see his demands by observation for the eating schedule, so use a cricket keeper with gut load (green cubes) so you never keep loose crickets in the cage for any length of time. Usually I feed at night when the lights just go off and go from 5-10 large crickets per feeding, trying to give all that they can consume. Every 2-5 days is a good feeding schedule, at times I have gone 7 days due to my work schedule and has not effected their health. I can say though, it has effected their breeding cycle, so closer to every three days seems to be the best. He will get his weight up if conditions are right, but offer a few (5 or so) wax worms on a tray every night for a little while along with dusted crickets.
Also, due to shipping issues with Indonesian species, get him the water bowl and possibly offer a light misting for him to lick off his face as he could have slight dehydration, he does not look too bad though compared to others I have seen. I lost another trio due to dehydration issues on import and I did everything right.

As for weight, these geckos come from a vast habitat with likely many variants, species and sub-species of different size and fairly little study. I would not be concerned with weight, if you get him the food, water and right living conditions he will live a long healthy life. They are thin geckos, but you will notice him bulk up more than he is now.

Here is a picture of my male and size to compare, and honestly I think mine could use a little weight in this picture...

[postskunk]

Again thank you Shane Very very helpful. And thats a gorgeous gecko is it always that brightly colored, are those it's night colors, or is that from the camera flash?

[Bowfinger]

He looks the same color as yours at times. Your right, this is the night time/active coloring, females can actually turn a true white. Here is an example of the darker daytime color...

[bloodpython_MA]

MI'M looking into gettig a pair of these guys in the near future. Any pics in comparison of males/females tail region? I wanna get a sexed pair. Thanks