[bipolarbabe]

I didn't know I had eggs until I saw babies yesterday! Two little guys, one with a short tail. They are in the same enclosure with the parents and the parents look freaked out. Do I have to separate them, or will the parents be under too much stress or will they eat them? I don't have the money right now for a new enclosure, is there a economical way to conver a 10 gallon? Thanks!

[hexentanz]

Originally Posted by bipolarbabe

I didn't know I had eggs until I saw babies yesterday! Two little guys, one with a short tail. They are in the same enclosure with the parents and the parents look freaked out. Do I have to separate them, or will the parents be under too much stress or will they eat them? I don't have the money right now for a new enclosure, is there a economical way to conver a 10 gallon? Thanks!

Hi,

Yes. You will want to remove them from the parents enclosure or they could be eaten. You could either convert your ten gallon (which for me seems a bit large for 2 baby lygodactylus, i would more do two per 5 gallon tanks or divide the ten gallon) or convert a mason jar.

Raising hatchling phelsuma <------ Mainly about keeping Phelsuma babies, but it also works for lygos.

[bipolarbabe]

Thank you! I have a bunch of tanks in the garage and may have a 5 gal I can make tops for (saw pics in your link). The little guys look great, but it will soon be crowded as they grow.

[WingedWolfPsion]

A 5 gallon is minimum for them, IMO.
They do not do well in 1 quart mason jars--too small.

Baby Lygos will use a ton of space, just like the parents, but they are more easily stressed by smaller areas. They can fit through amazingly tiny holes, however. I would recommend the 10 gallon, IF you have a proper cover for it that they can't slip out of.

I'm rearing mine in a ZooMed 12X12.

Warning: When you go to move the baby geckos out of the parents' enclosure...good luck. I suggest chasing the baby into a deli cup, and then rapidly transferring it to the new cage, and chasing it into the new cage. Beware the parents taking advantage of your distraction to bail out.

They can and will leap crazy distances, and they're oddly fearless.
50% of my hatchling mortality so far has been from misadventure. (The other half, some hatchlings have simply come out weak, and never feed). Steel yourself for this--they are the size of ants, but not nearly as tough. Transferring them to another cage is always a tremendous risk, but if you don't, they will probably be lunch.

[hexentanz]

A wise person recently told me that you can give any gecko a huge space and they will use all of it no matter what. You could give them 3m x 3m x 3m and they will use all of that space as well. That does not mean they will be any less happier in a smaller space.

While I agree with 5 gallons being the minimum for two or three (you can even do more, you just have to watch every one is eating and nobody is being bullied). I cannot agree with them not doing well in mason jars (these come in more sizes than just quart and smaller). With careful planning this can be achieved, just like with Phelsuma. I have raised quite a few this way myself and they have done perfectly.

Lygodactylus babies are very fragile in general, I know someone to have lost one that simply fell a very small distance off the side of the glass the night before.

So long as you give them a properly thought out tank or jar where they can regulate their body temperatures accordingly they should do very well.

If they never ate, they were too weak to begin with and it was no fault of the tank.

[WingedWolfPsion]

Hex--I did specify 1 quart. I tried this, and the hatchlings stuck themselves to the underside of the screen lid and stayed there, clearly uncomfortable with the height. (They do like to hang from the underside of the screen, but actually move around and do other things in the larger cage).

A taller or overall larger jar would probably work. I still recommend front opening cages, since keeping the geckos in is still a priority, lol.

I suspect the person that lost the hatchling that fell off of the side of the cage probably had a weak hatchling as well (that's why it fell). I have had one these hatchlings dive to the floor from 4 feet and vanish (recaptured the next morning, high up on the wall), and she's fine.

[hexentanz]

Originally Posted by WingedWolfPsion

Hex--I did specify 1 quart. I tried this, and the hatchlings stuck themselves to the underside of the screen lid and stayed there, clearly uncomfortable with the height. (They do like to hang from the underside of the screen, but actually move around and do other things in the larger cage).

A taller or overall larger jar would probably work. I still recommend front opening cages, since keeping the geckos in is still a priority, lol.

I suspect the person that lost the hatchling that fell off of the side of the cage probably had a weak hatchling as well (that's why it fell). I have had one these hatchlings dive to the floor from 4 feet and vanish (recaptured the next morning, high up on the wall), and she's fine.

I misread the whole mason jar thing. I blame a weeks worth of terrible sleep. :P

Hatchlings can fall off the wall for other reasons than being weak. Being chased is one for example, not having gotten shed off fully yet, etc. Lygodactylus are clumsy buggers in general. For example I got ones months old that can fall off the glass if distracted enough and they are very hardy buggers by now.

[WingedWolfPsion]

That's true, I was just saying, I doubt it was the fall that killed it, there was most likely some other reason.