C. elok!

**Graham_s** · #1 03-14-2011, 07:42 AM

After a long time of wanting to keep this species, it finally worked its way towards the top of my list, and I was lucky enough to come home from Hamm with 1.1 CB (F1) C. elok.

The female is much more timid, but the male was quite active during the day yesterday, and they were both feeding which is a great sign considering their long journey

A photo of that insane tail:

Once they have settled in a bit better and they are more confident, then maybe I will post some new photos, hopefully of the female as well

purple-vixen · #2 03-14-2011, 09:15 AM

Absolutely loving the tails on these guys, congrats!

**Graham_s** · #3 03-14-2011, 09:28 AM

Thanks

I hope to have some success with these!

rhachic · #4 03-15-2011, 10:21 AM

Give them about a month, they'll be running around with no fear in no time

Mine were feeding out of my hand after about 2 months and my female stopped threat displaying at me after the first month. Now, a year later, as soon as I walk by they get excited for feeding time

**Graham_s** · #5 03-15-2011, 10:37 AM

Great to hear that they can build up so much confidence!
They can move extremely fast, so I hope that they calm down a bit, like you have described.
What sort of setup do you keep yours in?

rhachic · #6 03-15-2011, 11:32 AM

Mine are wild caught so for the first 4 months they lived in a 10 gallon tall aquarium with a few branches and oak leaves from outside that i'd bake to sterilize and cheap moss for substrate. I kept the temps around 78-80 and misted once every other day. They ate the first day I got them even though they weren't thrilled by my presence and are fed crickets, 3 species of roaches, wax worms and occasionally a moth or two that would find their way in in the summer.
After the quarantine (and them laying a clutch of eggs in it for me) I made them a nice habitat in the bottom half of a curio cabinet I turned into a vivarium. I used thick vines from outside that i baked, cocofiber mixed with organic soil (no chemical additives), spanish moss, sphagnum moss, and created a background with greatstuff, silicone, and cocofiber with sculpted mushrooms. I have tried orchids and boston ivy in it but I haven't been able to get them to live as the orchids had a type of white powdery insect eating them. I finally got rid of them and am hoping to try them again.
breeding at 2 am a few months ago in their new home

**Graham_s** · #7 03-15-2011, 02:26 PM

Thanks for the info and the picture. It seems that information on the husbandry of these guys is like gold dust. Do you keep them at a steady 78/80 then, or do you provide a hotspot and a bit of a temperature gradient? At the moment, mine are at around 22 during the day and 18 during the night, which are the ambient temps in my Uroplatus room at this time of year. So that's about 71F dropping to 64F. At this temperature they already seem to be very active.
I will raise the temperatures soon, as I will have a 5% UVB lamp over the vivarium when I can get hold of another tube.
What temperatures do you cool them to over the winter?

Thanks again! I'm keen to get as much information as possible on these as I have heard that they can be a bit tricky to breed successfully!

rhachic · #8 03-15-2011, 02:38 PM

Mine were super easy to breed, it's the eggs that have been hard for me. They appear to be fertile and i've been incubating them for 300 days! I found out recently from another keeper that I should increase the heat more to get them to hatch.
Instead of re-type what i've written about how i care for mine i'll just copy a link to my care sheet

As far as the hot spot, I didn't provide one in their quarantine tank but because the new set up has the light at the top and gets very warm and the bottom of the cage is about 2 feet lower and on floor which is cooler they did end up with a sort of "basking area". Though I have never seen them attempt to bask. Normally my male wedges himself beneath moss hanging from the clay mushrooms or on the larger vines and the female will either be on the bottom of the branches or in a little burrow she made herself in the dirt at the base of the biggest vine. I'm thinking she's going to be laying a clutch in there soon!
Malaysian Bowfingered Gecko (Cyrtodactylus Elok) - Good Life Herps

**Graham_s** · #9 03-15-2011, 03:07 PM

Thanks very much for all the further information!
I will take a look at your website

Yeah, I have heard that the incubation time can be something like 3-5 months, which is pretty long. I thought it was a bit tedious that some of my Uroplatus take >200 days...

rhachic · #10 03-15-2011, 03:33 PM

most people get them to hatch in 3-5 months but I am not so fortunate! haha I'm not sure why they didn't hatch as I had them for about 4 months at 82*F with around 60% humidity. They're not moldy, dented, or discolored so I believe they are still good. After the first 4 months winter hit and it got down to around 75 for a month. I put them in an incubator and got them back up to 80 for the rest of the time but have now been told I should go higher. Apparently they can take a year to hatch if kept too cool and still be good. Honestly, as long as they actually hatch at some point, i'll be happy! haha