U. phant. on floor of viv. Should I be concerned?

ac251404 · #1 04-18-2009, 10:59 AM

I woke up this morning and the female of a pair of phants I got 2 days ago was sleeping on the floor of the viv. I think I have mostly heard that seeing Uros on the floor during the day can be a bad sign. Should I be concerned? They are both CB, the temps this morning are 68F and humidity before spraying is 61%. I have not been able to observe them eating yet so I think I am going to get 2 small critter keepers to temporarily house them and make sure they are eating but I am also concerned moving them again may be stressful. What do you guys think?

MonteQ's · #2 04-18-2009, 02:17 PM

It's usually not a good sign. Especially following the stress of shipping and a new space. But there's alot of variables to look at too. It sounds like your humidity is a bit low. The temps seem comfortable for night/morning.

If it were me, I'd give them a good misting and alot of space. I would lean towards not moving them again. Is there a noticable difference in her skin texture, tail shape or overall appearance?

If she was active on the ground, it could be a different story all together. Did it appear she was hunting, resting in a scrape? Maybe avoiding a pesky male? Every now and again, I'll catch one of them on the ground doing lights and misting in the morning. Sometimes they'll just freeze for a few minutes then sneak off into the plants shortly after.

Hope this helps.

gollum · #3 04-18-2009, 03:05 PM

Maybe they find more humidity.

ac251404 · #4 04-18-2009, 03:09 PM

Yea I went out to buy some kritter keepers just in case but by the time I got back she had climbed up into the ficus. So no worries I guess. I am still just trying to see if they have fed or not because I have not been able to observe it yet. Thanks for the replies, I most likely am overreacting but I want to make absolute sure there are no issues and I know how fast things can go wrong with this species.

thanks again
ac

MonteQ's · #5 04-19-2009, 01:59 AM

Glad to hear it. I can definitely relate to your concern.

I try not to bother new arrivals for the first few months, unless really necessary. It may just compound some issues. It might take a while before you see them actively feed. A few of mine took a couple months. But they'll leave you clues...

Best of luck with them. Love to see some pics when you get a chance

jadrig · #6 04-19-2009, 09:05 PM

At night, after their lights have been off for 20/30 min., try offering a cricket with some long forceps. If they are CB, they should take it. My wild caught female eats from my forceps in the day time. This can be helpful to ensure that she is getting the proper calcium too.

syntheticreality · #7 04-19-2009, 11:02 PM

On a couple of occasions, my male has fallen from the branch he sleeps on. When he does so, he continues to sleep on the floor. At first this worried me, but other reading and talking with an accomplished breeder has told me that this is not atypical behavior. In fact, some will argue that certain specimens enjoy sleeping on piles of leaf litter sometimes.

crestedtimm · #8 05-01-2009, 12:01 AM

Hi!

I JUST came up from my room and had found my LTC ( over 14 months) ebenaui male asleep on the floor of his tank that he shares with a male phantasticus. I touched him lightly and he took off. I had never seen him asleep on the floor, and the lights had not been off yet for the day.

To speak of another species, and bring about my point, I made a post a while back about my cb guentheri female lying on the cool moist peat floor of her tank sleeping off a belly full of roaches.

In established Uroplatus, I feel that this may be a decent sign, as it is a display of behavior that is not usually observed, nor expected. On the other hand ( you have different fingers...

) in wc, this is usually a sign of impending doom, at least in my experience.

Kudos to those who have already complemented this post with useful advice.

Timm

ac251404 · #9 05-01-2009, 08:13 AM

Thanks for sharing some more information. I have not found the female on the floor recently but now the male has been sleeping there. I think this is because of shedding as someone mentioned above and he cannot get a grip on branches or anything. What's interesting is he seems to have a favorite spot where I have been able to find him over the last couple days. He hides under a leaf in a small depression in the soil with just his tail sticking out. It took me forever to find him the first time he was like that.

My only concern with them recently is the males shedding. His head and entire body came clear but the top of his tail and his toes still have not released the shed. I do not want to unduly stress him so how long should I wait before its time to assist the shed?

miguel camacho! · #10 05-02-2009, 12:05 AM

The longer you wait, the more problematic the removal can be. Put the gecko in a deli cup with moist paper towel for 15-30 min. Afterwards, the skin should be loosened. get a pair of fine-tipped tweezers and carefully pull it off, piece by piece. Gonna take a while, but it should do the trick.

You should check into your humidity, because that's what most often created problems with shedding.