Flying Geckos - How to protect these eggs?

Marisa · #1 07-15-2010, 07:49 PM

My flying gecko pair has laid their first eggs!!!

Now, she laid them right on some horizontal bamboo. Just right on top of it. The bamboo can't easily be removed at all. How can I protect the eggs/babies?

This photo was taken before planting the tank. The substrate is about five inches high. The bamboo "structure" is free standing and about two inches from the tile background. The yellow dots are where the eggs are. Right on top of the bottom horizontal bamboo.

eggonbamboo.jpg

Any ideas?

Palor · #2 07-16-2010, 12:25 AM

Clever use of Dixi Cups, just trim them so the fit around the eggs.

Dyesub Dave · #3 07-16-2010, 01:58 AM

Congrats Marisa ... I had a few of these hatch out many years ago and wish I'd kept them. They are very interesting and unique geckos. However my eggs were on the glass so were easy to cover up. If I remember correctly they take quite a while to hatch but are adorable when they do. I would definitely be interested in some if you're looking to sell the babies.

Unfortunately I don't have any suggestions on how to protect them on the bamboo other than the above suggestion. Perhaps if you got two clear plastic cups and notch them to fit over the bamboo - one facing down and one facing up ... and then tape them together where the cups meet. You could also poke a few small pinholes in the cups to allow for airflow.

Good Luck and keep us posted. I look forward to seeing some cute little flying geckos several months down the road.

Dyesub Dave.

**thorrshamri** · #4 07-16-2010, 07:24 PM

Better idea to protect those eggs, on top of that you're a lady...

Use a piece of stretched pantyhose or stocking and 2 rubber bracers around the bamboo pole on each side so that the piece of pantyhose doesn't move...will prevent hatchlings from escaping and parents to prey on them

Marisa · #5 07-16-2010, 07:46 PM

Well I was able to remove the bamboo. I didn't want to use a cover because with my luck shed lay the next clutch right on top of that. LOL

Anyways I got them out no troubles. I have the bamboo with the eggs on it sitting in a tub with a couple inches vermiculite. At 78F.

**thorrshamri** · #6 07-16-2010, 07:56 PM

78F is pretty low for Ptych eggs. You can go in the 84-86F range for shorter incubation time

Dyesub Dave · #7 07-16-2010, 08:16 PM

Yeah ... I'm fairly certain that the ones I had were laid in the warmer end of the enclosure. And the first ones that I had hatch was when I lived in an attic apartment ... it was EXTREMELY hot up there and they hatched out no problem. I can't remember how long it was before they hatched but at least 5 or 6 months I think.

I'm fairly sure that there's a good care sheet on this forum. I think that Thor wrote it too ... wait here it is and he did write it.

Flying geckos personal care sheet (Ptychozoon species)

Dyesub Dave.

**thorrshamri** · #8 07-16-2010, 08:22 PM

Yes I did

well with Ptychs eggs and adults the basic rule is very simple: the warmer and damper the better

I've had a basking spot on a Ptych enclosure reaching 110-115°F and it was absolutely unproblematic for the geckos. Many care sheets tend to underestimate the amount of heat they need

Dyesub Dave · #9 07-16-2010, 08:38 PM

When I got my Flying Gecko about 15 years ago or so there wasn't a lot of info out there on them. I believe that I kept mine more like a desert. I didn't use sand but I certainly didn't keep them overly humid ... spraying them at least once a day. So they must be a fairly tolerant species.

Although since then I've learned more about them and realize that they like an environment similar to day geckos. I would definitely like to get some more of these amazing geckos in the near future. Oddly enough they don't sell for that much but they are certainly very unique and interesting.

I only purchased one from the pet store and several months later there were these little white ceramic looking balls on the side of the tank. Not having much experience with reptiles at that time I wasn't sure if they were eggs since I only had ONE gecko and they were so perfectly formed. Eventually I figured it all out and got several clutches in the span of a year or so. So these geckos can definitely store sperm for a while.

BTW Thor .... I don't remember mine being overly adverse to being handled. Similar to crested geckos but a bit more flighty. Perhaps I just got lucky. And of course the babies that hatched got used to regular handling so that probably made a difference as well.

Dyesub Dave.

**thorrshamri** · #10 07-16-2010, 08:48 PM

Of course, I agree. Caresheets only express their author's experience, not more. Well at least when caresheets are written by the same people than those who display them on their websites

When I tried to handle my flying geckos they would invariably bite me as hard as they can. Maybe they have a taste for French fingers, though this is not a really scientific assessment

Anyway I don't seek handling with any of my geckos except maybe for the AFTs. Many tolerate more or less handling but it would be too humanocentric to believe they "love" being handled. So as it brings them no benefit, I just avoid it.

Don't stone me to death in public for what I am about to say but if someone wants a pet to handle and to play with, cats and pet rats are much more fun and way more suited to this than any reptile.

As you said Dave, incubation time is really long. My first clutch took like 6 months to hatch and I had been thinking the eggs would be unproductive, I just left them in the tank just in case the female wanted to get extra calcium by eating the eggs.

True they are also adaptable. They would make great free-range geckos provided the reptile room is warm enough.

Marisa, I do hope your eggs will hatch. The sad thing is you can buy WC sexed adults for such a low price that many keepers don't even bother with hatchlings or breeding. Not a good thing in all ways.