[Mark_D]

is it right that only females develop calcium sacs and at what ages can they start to develop them?

Mark

[Gecko Ranch]

No, males get them too. They can start developing them as hatchlings. I have found full-spectrum lighting helps to decrease the size of these. Most notable for this is P. standingi.

[Mark_D]

thank you? i had thought i had read somewhere only females develop calcium sacs and had noticed that one of my hatchlings had started to develop some and thought this might be an early indicator of gender!

[Gecko Ranch]

Originally Posted by Mark_D

thank you? i had thought i had read somewhere only females develop calcium sacs and had noticed that one of my hatchlings had started to develop some and thought this might be an early indicator of gender!

Nope! Old wives tale!

[daggekko]

No, males get them too. They can start developing them as hatchlings. I have found full-spectrum lighting helps to decrease the size of these. Most notable for this is P. standingi.

I assume that you have hatchlings that appear as if they could be female due to the sacs end up male? One of my first 2 P laticauda hatchlings definately had those sacs and did turn out female. At the same rate, I think the other is female as well but never really had the sacs as much.

Why do you think full-spectrum lighting decreases them? That seems kindof backwards to me.

[Gecko Ranch]

Originally Posted by daggekko

I assume that you have hatchlings that appear as if they could be female due to the sacs end up male? One of my first 2 P laticauda hatchlings definately had those sacs and did turn out female. At the same rate, I think the other is female as well but never really had the sacs as much.

Why do you think full-spectrum lighting decreases them? That seems kindof backwards to me.

A good non-domestic vet, Dr. Ken Harkewicz, in Berkeley, CA and I had been talking about this. He suggested that certain geckos can only process so much Calcium with oral D3, that these types were more dependent on the sun for the metabolic reaction with D3. Having over 100 Phelsuma of 30+ species I have observed some species do tend to get the sacs more prominently that others on the same supplements. Since I have put them under full spectrum lighting it seems to have decreased their sacs.

Folks familiar with Phelsuma in the wild tell me they do not have these big sacs. In captivity I have noticed it in both sexes, females just tend to get bigger sacs. They have taken in calcium, they just can't do anything with it and it stays in those sacs. I have x-rays of a P. standingi with four broken legs and huge calcium sacs! So, what I took from this as a breeder was calcium sacs do not represent calcium metabolism. That is a separate matter, in fact the presence of large sacs may indicate there is an issue with processing calcium for the rest of the body and for things like eggs. IMHO.

[dakinecornell]

I would have to side with the Julie's stance (The Gecko Ranch ) on the calcium sac issue. I am currently working with 20 species of Phelsuma and all of them are kept under full spectrum lighting. I have observed the differnces.

[daggekko]

I wasn't disagreeing, I just wanted more explanation. I knew Julie could deliver too. She has been completely helpful to me. This goes down with the big UV debate and I always like to hear why people have an opinion. This is changing mine

[Gecko Ranch]

Fortunately we keep working together on these important issues in our Phelsuma community and slowly but surely we will figure things out. Sharing info is key!

[daggekko]

Julie, do you have any additional instances where plenty of calcium was present but there were still calcium deficiency-like symptoms?

Also, what kind of behavioral and breeding difference have you seen since you switched?

Lastly, which types of bulbs do you prefer?