[Xorac]

Do people really throw juvies in with their parents without incident? I've got two babies I've raised in a "nursery tank" but would like to save the space if I could. The juvies are about 10 weeks and 6 weeks old. The babies are still eating crickets significantly smaller than the adults are, but imagine they could find the dish and pick out the little ones. The tank is one of those 18x18x18 Zoomed boxes, the adults are a pair. Does anyone regularly practice this?
Cheers,
Sean

[hexentanz]

I have read in several books that the babies get along fine with the adults. However several of my friends who own Klemmeri have witnessed severe aggression towards the babies, if not aggression the babies were eaten.

I happen to own a Klemmeri that was placed with its parents and it has a kink in its tail from when the father grabbed it and shook it around the tank.

[Xorac]

Thanks, Maureen. I talked to the guy who sold them to me as well, and he said that often problems arise when the juvies are taken out and then reintroduced. So clearly I'm sticking with the nursery tank.
After your response I had pretty much ruled out even trying it.
Cheers,
Sean

[PrestonG]

I have only once had a bad reaction when reintroducing young Klemmeri to adult cage so it really depends on the individual animals. I think feeding them is the biggest concern as the adults would eat the small prey as well as there usual size prey items so out competing the young ones and slowing there growth. If you where using a MRP this would not ba a issue they all could just eat till they are full :P
Preston

[Xorac]

Pardon my ignorance, but what's an "MRP"? What are its advantages as a food source, aside from the size isn't an issue thing?

[hexentanz]

Originally Posted by Xorac

Pardon my ignorance, but what's an "MRP"? What are its advantages as a food source, aside from the size isn't an issue thing?

MRP is made by Repashy Super Foods Repashy Ventures - Retail Store - Superfoods

People are finding out more and more that this is the best brand on the market for supplementation, etc.

It has all the right blends of vitamins geckos need.

[zohariels]

Originally Posted by hexentanz

MRP is made by Repashy Super Foods Repashy Ventures - Retail Store - Superfoods

People are finding out more and more that this is the best brand on the market for supplementation, etc.

It has all the right blends of vitamins geckos need.

I very much agree, and apparently so do my geckos! For some of them, especially my larger species I dont need to clean out their dishes, they lick them clean for me!

[wildvet]

Hi.
I keep my P. klemmeri in a very large tank, and do not bother to search for the eggs, so the babies hatch in there. I never encountered babies dying from starvation, and they really need to look for their food in there. I usually catch them by the age of 4-5 months to keep them in a seperate tank, so males don't get bitten and females don't get fertilized. There was no aggression at all against the youngsters (in the picture, that's my male sunbathing with some of his offspring).
Because I always have youngsters with the adults, I suppose it wouldn't matter if I introduced older babies to the group. But I can well imagine how a pair would react aggressively towards newly introduced babies if there hadn't been any before, or if the tank's simply too small and not well furnished with hiding spots. They are phelsumas, after all.

Regards
berit

[Olivier]

Originally Posted by wildvet

Hi.
I keep my P. klemmeri in a very large tank, and do not bother to search for the eggs, so the babies hatch in there. I never encountered babies dying from starvation, and they really need to look for their food in there. I usually catch them by the age of 4-5 months to keep them in a seperate tank, so males don't get bitten and females don't get fertilized. There was no aggression at all against the youngsters (in the picture, that's my male sunbathing with some of his offspring).
Because I always have youngsters with the adults, I suppose it wouldn't matter if I introduced older babies to the group. But I can well imagine how a pair would react aggressively towards newly introduced babies if there hadn't been any before, or if the tank's simply too small and not well furnished with hiding spots. They are phelsumas, after all.

Regards
berit

how large is your tank and how do you catch them since they are very quick?

[wildvet]

Hi.
My tank is 75x75x120cm diamond-shaped, which as about 30x30x48inches, full of bamboo and plants.

I "catch" them in the evening. When the UV-lamp (bright sun) goes out, I still have some spots on, pretending it being sunset, so the animals go to their sleeping spots, which are usually bamboo sticks. All I need to do then is observe which one they climb in, then take the stick out and put it in the new vivaria. Sticks that are too long to be put in the smaller vivaria (31inches high) are sealed, so they can't climb in.
Often there are several animals in the same bamboo, but at the age of 4-5 months, they don't share the same spot with their parents, as they start to become hormonally active and try to avoid the adult animals, so it only happened once that I dislocated my adult female with the offspring.

This method is very much stress free, for me as well as for the animals. Plus I have a bunch of valuable orchids from Madagascar in my big tank. I don't want to hurt them trying to catch a running gecko!

When I started breeding phelsumas, I moved the youngsters much sooner (age 1-2 months) to their new enclosure, but from there they escaped often (a gap of 2mm is enough for them to squeeze through) and I sometimes found them again with their parents...

Hope that helps
berit