[Saurian]

I lost my female sikorae tonight. I just got them just two months if that. Granted I had some bad feelings about her when she came but I thought she would snap out of it. The male as far as I can tell is doing ok. I have them in a 20 high cause I had some issues with their main enclosure that decided to show after I got them (door fell off) and had to fix it. I mist them twice a day. Feed every other day 8 crickets for 4 to each. Max day temp is about 75 but have had instances of it getting a little over that but did last long and night temp is about 68. What am I doing wrong? I dont want to loose the other one cause I was planning on breeding them at some point. Thanks.

[rhacoboy]

Unfortunately, with Uroplatus sometimes this just happens.

Blaming yourself for the sudden death of Uro's eventually will just make you crazy. I have lost a large group of my WC's within the past year or so, but anything that I've gotten that is LTC or CBB does very well for me.

The only thing's I can think is:
Enclosure size. Although there are some people that will say a 20 high is ok for a pair of Sikorae, I disagree. I keep pairs in no less than an 18x24x24. Also, adult Uroplatus do not need to be fed every other day. Obesity is something that these animals are prone to, and this can also cause death.
I would feed adults around 2x a week.

Sorry for your loss. Try not to get frusterated and don't give up on Uro's yet, I promise they can be very rewarding.
Thanks,
-Armen

[aquapimp]

i can "true dat" as can every Uroplatus keeper on here. Despite your best efforts, losses are a part of the reality of keeping captive animals. I have lost many imported Uroplatus. Its tough. At the same time, Its an awesome feeling to hatch out another generation. Dont give up.

[Saurian]

Thanks guys. I keep phants and bred them in the past and have 0.2 right now. Wanted to try a different species so got sikorae. It just kills me cause I felt like maybe I did something wrong. Just feels like setbacks when your trying to get some projects started. I was gonna move them asap the enclosure was ready which is a 29 gallon high converted to a vert but the door fell off and had to fix it so they were in the 20 for a bit.

[Jackp308]

Your care seems fine, I like to acclimate them individually though. Even as small as 10 gallon aquariums seem to work well especially if the geckos health is already in question. You can monitor things easier and can read the geckos body language/signs, feces, ect. Good luck with your next female, these geckos are a lot of fun. I also feed every other day, I think it stimulates more activity for them to hunt more often.

[luevelvet]

Uroplatus are the "chameleons" of the gecko world. By that I mean, WC's quite often arrive very dehydrated an ill and take a tremendous amount of TLC to rehabilitate and acclimate. Some wil do great off the boat but having worked with 100+ WC's per year for the past two years I find those hardy WC's few and far between. They usually take a few months of extra hydration, fecal examinations and often require treatment in order to overcome their ailments brought on by collections, export and resale.

Don't give up, sikorae are not the toughest, but their also very commonly imported thus making them less "profitable" to be acclimated as they should. In my experience, the keys to healthy acclimation of WC's is extra hydration without allowing the enclosure to stay too wet, super clean enclosures and fecal examinations.

Luis

[NigelMoses]

I feel misting twice a day is too much. Once at night will suffice, also maintaining your relative humidity at around 50% in the room will help the terrarium maintain the appropriate levels of humidity. If the room humidity is at this level it will not be necessary to mist the enclosure as much as you did. Also, as Luis mentioned a fecal exam goes a long ways. I recently found that out for myself. You mentioned that she looked poor upon arrival, did you ever get a fecal done? It could have been a parasite load that eventually she couldn't fight anymore and it would have been a simple fix on your end. Also like the others above, it does happen so don't get down on yourself and don't give up, you owe it the sikorae to figure it out.

[NigelMoses]

Also Zoo Med enclosures of 18x18x24 make great enclosures for sikorae. If you can go larger go for it but that size will work. They provide great ventilation and can be found at just about all pet shops.