[knightowl71]

Thanks Dave!

That is what I was thinking. What range should the temps be in? It averages about 80, should it be higher?

I have a red light to watch him at night. I know this will give off heat and keep the hab warm all night. Do they mind the red light? It is not like total darkness that they would get in the wild. Would the blue 'moonlight' bulb be better?

Also, how do you post a pic right in the post?

Thanks again. I am so glad I have found some friends to help with my pets.

Chris

[Dyesub Dave]

Has your gecko started to eat yet??

As for temps ... the ambient temp of the enclosure is likely around 78-80 deg. F. however under the puck light it can get up to 90 deg. F. or a bit higher. However I don't usually see them basking under the light. I have no light on mine at night ... I just turn a room light on for a bit to view them.

I mentioned how to post a pic using Photobucket in this thread .... http://www.geckosunlimited.com/commu...ting-pics.html.

Dyesub Dave.

[knightowl71]

I have held food a couple days then introduced some food. I dont think he is eating the crickets but he has been eating a few mealworms. I also see feces in the tank so I know he is digesting something. I have added a few more plants and am leaving both lights on. The temp has risen to an average of 85 from 80. I am thinking that he likes it hotter than is has been.

I am so used to my anoles just eating when I put crickets in the tank. I am worried since it seems like the gecko is not eating.

Thanks for your help so far. I will let you know how he is doing.

Chris

[knightowl71]

The temps have consistently been higher and I have moved the hab to another location with less foot traffic. I have seen more activity from the house gecko that has been hiding in the wall. The white-stripe is still very skittish. I have been removing any food in the morning if not eaten and waiting a day or two before introducing any more. Also been alternating between a couple of mealworms and a couple of crickets when I do feed them. I have seen the mealworms disappear from the bowl overnight. I have not seen the crickets but it is possible they could be hiding. Overall, it seems like the geckos are eating little bits. Maybe they will eventually settle into their new home and eat more regularly. I just want them to be healthy.

[Russ90]

Hi Knightowl

Hope things are improving with your G.Vittatus! I recently got some G.Gecko and it does seem to me that they tend to be alot more skittish and prone to stress than other types of Geckos as mine took alot longer to settle in and start eating properly than my Rhacs and Paroeduras did. I have had mine about 3-4 weeks aswell and they've only just really started establishing a regular eating pattern and venturing out more often.

If you're seeing poops in the tank then that's always a good sign!

I would agree with Dave in regards to putting some cork bark in there, mine spend their day hiding behind it and seem to love is as a secure spot to rest and hide.

I have also found all my geckos to be more active and visible in the evenings using the Moonglo nightlights rather than a red bulb, i know some people say they can't see red light but mine definitly seems to notice it as they won't come out with the red light on. (may just be the type of red bulb i'm using!?)

Without meaning to hijack your thread Knightowl (sorry!), in regards to the picture you posted of your setup Dave, are those eggs covered by a deli cup in the top left corner of your tank? If so, have you had any success with hatching them out this way? I'm hoping my pair will breed and lay soon but i'm worried about them glueing them somewhere where i can't remove them for incubation!

Best of luck with your Vittatus Knightowl, i've had my eye on getting some for a while now so i'm quite jealous!

[Dyesub Dave]

Originally Posted by Russ90

.... in regards to the picture you posted of your setup Dave, are those eggs covered by a deli cup in the top left corner of your tank? If so, have you had any success with hatching them out this way? I'm hoping my pair will breed and lay soon but i'm worried about them glueing them somewhere where i can't remove them for incubation!

Hey Russ ... yeah ... those are eggs covered by a deli cup. I put some moistened sphagnum moss inside to help keep the humidity up but it didn't seem to work. They eggs started to look moldy from the humidity after a while and when I uncovered them I believe the gekcos ate the eggs. I've heard that these geckos will eat the eggs if they are no good. I was also told that perhaps they didn't recognize them as their own eggs since they seemed to be GONE for a while and then all of a sudden back!

I had read that these geckos won't harm their own babies but wanted to stay on the side of caution which is why I was using the deli cup. However I have had 5 babies hatch that manage to survive in the enclosure with the parents until I find them.

I have had a couple eggs where the babies didn't make it out and died inside the egg. I've also noticed the female licking and biting the eggs when they're close to hatching. I think that she may perhaps be trying to help them out of the egg. When I spray the enclosure I ensure that the eggs get a bit of the moisture but I try not to saturate them.

I currently have 4 eggs in the enclosure. The last two laid are definitely fertile, one is definitely not fertile and I'm hoping that the fourth will hatch out any day now.

Hope this helps!!

Dyesub Dave.

[Russ90]

Thanks for the info Dave and thanks Chris for letting me borrow your thread!

I've read on certain breeding caresheets about the method of covering them with Deli cups but haven't seen or heard any first hand accounts of the results so i was a little intrigued. Sorry it didn't work out on those ones but happys days with the five babies you did get!

Most of the decor in my viv is removable so should they decide to lay on any of that i can remove and replace it and incubate the eggs seperately but if they decide to glue to the enclosure itself i guess i'll just have to let nature take it's course and see what happens!

Thanks again guys. Best of luck with the rest of those eggs, let us know how they get on!

[Sinosauropteryx]

Hey Chris,

I haven't read the whole thread yet but I can think of a few pieces of advice that may help you:

1. Feed your gecko in the evening. Unless they are used to eating during the day, they will probably be sleeping and hence will not notice the crickets when you put them in. If you are letting the crickets loose in the tank, they may have found some really good places to hide by the time your gecko wakes up and, unless you are putting food in for the crickets too, those crickets are more likely to die before getting eaten.
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2. Use a dish. This is beneficial for several reasons. First, it keeps all of the feeders in the same place until your gecko wants to eat them and your gecko can take more time eating them instead of wating time chasing them down. Geckos usually don't like doing this in captivity because the chances of them being seen before they have a chance to get the insects is greater and it discourages them from persuing the insects. In addition to keeping in crickets, the disk can also keep mealworms since the glass keeps them from digging and therefore they are always seen. If you are going to feed crickets of any kind, clip their legs before placing them in the bowl and make sure the bowl's sides are high and steep. Another neat tip I learned is to make the dish see-through so that the gecko doesn't need to be peering into it to see the bugs. And thr third benefit from using a dish is that it prevents the crickets from eating your gecko. This may not be as much of a problem with arboreal glass-climbing geckos but it can still be enough to discourage them from coming down to the floor of the terrarium and it can add unnecessary stress. If you can't use a bowl or you would rather just let the crickets loose in the terrarium, the least you could do is remove the crickets after each feeding. Even professional sources recommend not leaving crickets in a lizard's terrarium for too long out of concern for the lizard.
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3. If you are using a dish, place the side of the dish against the far wall of the terrarium or whatever wall your gecko feels most comfortable on and/or is found on most of the time. If the rim is particularly steep, make sure it rests on the glass so that the entire side of the dish is completely paralell to the wall. From my experience, glass-climbing geckos usually tend to catch their food while they are still on the glass so they don't have to tackle the insect head-on. If the dish is away from the terrarium wall, your gecko may either be unable to climb into it or may tip the dish upon getting into it. Which will release the insects into the rest of your terrarium and will probably scare the gecko.
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4. Leave your gecko alone after you give it the bugs. As several members may already have pointed out, many geckos are shy to the point where they will not eat while someone is watching them. My white-lined gecko eats a lot but only when he is not being watched. Some geckos don't mind it but initially they probably won't be very tolerant unless they were previously hand-fed or are particularly bold. One last benefit to using a dish is that you can keep track of when and how much your gecko is eating. I can leave crickets in Pepe's bowl for up to two days and I am still able to tell when and how many he ate if I check the dish periodically.

I hope all of this helps. Once again, I am sorry I didn't read the whole thread. I will do that right now.