[Ken Bartenfeld]

I've wanted them for soooo long and I have finally got them. I'm still waiting for their cages to come (Large Breeder Box.) I wish I would have went with something more on the tall side. They do love to climb! So after the pictures the next day I added a bunch of sticks and small branches for them to climb on. I never thought they would be like that? I didn't want to stress them out so I took quick pictures.

Enjoy them, I do...and the females are much smaller than the male.

Male


Female


Female


Finally, after 6 1/2 years of wanting and waiting!

[aquapimp]

don't forget me brother.......

[Riverside Reptiles]

It's a shame they're so ugly! LOL! J/K
Great looking animals Ken. Congrats.

[Love Pets]

These are great looking geckos for sure.Anyone has a caresheet about them???

[scavenger]

These are definitely awesome geckos. How old are the ones you have? I currently have six eggs of these in my incubator with the oldest been 50 days, so keeping fingers crossed still awhile to go. Congrats

[josse]

Really nice, Ken! How many did you get? They are indeed a very nice species to work with, quite active (also during the day) and they look so damn cool! Hope I can breed mine coming season...
Good luck with them,

Jesse

[Ken Bartenfeld]

These are no doubt SICK geckos to work with! I just transferred them into their new cages and they are freakin' loving it!!! I share enclosure pics in the next few days, I have to find my camera charger. Still haven't found it since I moved into my new house. These are the most active gecko I've had! Pigs too! I'm glad you all enjoy my pics and you will really like my enclosures when I post them! These are young. Under 5-6 months of age and so much time to grow! You can find a suitable caresheet on pachydactylus.com!

[blair]

Hello Ken,

great looking geckos for sure!!

You also can find a caresheet on spinygeckos.at!
But sorry it`s only in German at the moment.

regards Stefan

[Chondrodactylus]

Very very nice!
Are these CB animals?
One of my favourite geckos!
I too have some eggs in my incubator waiting to hatch

[Ken Bartenfeld]

@ Chrondrodactylus
These are by far my favorite I've kept! I don't mess with them much so I don't stress them out, or take pictures galore like I used to. These are CB. It's impressive how long it takes for them to hatch. I like these even more then when I owned O. coggeri. I liked those a lot too. But these are a must for anyone in the hobby!

@ Stefan
I did in fact find yours too. I translated it with a site and I could understand it quite well and I really appreciate you having this on your site for others. I'm sure it's helped many people and for such a rare and sought after geckos, I'm sure others will find it useful in the future and for yearrrs to come!

Here you go! I edited it too for you.

Pachydactylus rugosus:

General:
This very rarely kept gecko is found in the southern part of Africa.
Pachydactylus rugosus belongs to the genus of thick-toed Diplodactylinae (Latin pachy = dactylus = finger), which currently includes about 60 species. P. rugosus is a terrestrial gecko who likes staying close to the ground. P. rugosus also is fond of climbing branches and hiding in loose bark and in terrariums they enjoy climbing on vines, sticks or can like to reside in and around cork tubes.

Appearance:
P. rugosus reach a total length of 85mm with the head-body length approximately 58mm. Females tend to be heavier in weight, and the males remain smaller. The basic color is dark brown, adorned from head to tail about 9 white / beige horizontal bands running across the back of the gecko. The coloration is more pronounced in juvenile animals than in adults. A very striking feature of these animals is that they have extended all over the body scales, which look like little thorns. The juveniles lack these (or by far are not as pronounced) for the first months. The head is distinct from the body. The tail is thick and serves as a place for fat storage like with most geckos.

Another interesting aspect is the tail curls when the gecko feels it's in danger - one could surmise that he would like to mimic this a scorpion in order to intimidate predators! Also P. rugosus has adhesive strips on his toes with whom he can safely climb even on smooth surfaces!

Housing:
The terrarium of P. rugosus, the minimum size should not fall below LxWxH 40x40x50. The size of 50x50x60 would be better . Since the animals should also like to climb the terrarium will always be slightly higher than wide.

The temperature in summer is between 25 ° -28 ° C (77 ° - 82.4 ° F) and locally at about 32 ° -35 ° C (89.6 ° - 95 ° F) , in the quiet night the temperature can drop to 20 ° C (68 ° F) (room temperature).

In the winter (Nov.-Feb.) Are slightly reduced as the temperature around 22 ° C(71.6 ° F) during the day and about 18 ° (64.4 ° F) at night.

The animals would represent nothing short notice if it would be colder, because in winter the temperature can drop in South Africa in the evening for up to 4 ° C (39.2 ° F). The illumination duration should be reduced from 14 hours of light (summer) to 10 hours of light (winter). The humidity is about 40%, by spraying two times a week, this should be sufficient. There should, however, be a small part of the terrarium kept constantly moist, preferably under a stone so that they can move back down there if they like it moist.

When I use a basic soil mix of sand and slightly coarser gravel (1-8mm grain). There are approx 3cm (1 1/4 inch) of rich sand as P. rugosus is not buried! Branches and shrubs should be added for the animals to climb upon, rocks can be added for decoration, even though that's not 100% corresponding to their habitat!

With sufficient lighting being normal fluorescent lights and a spotlight heating a centralized spot to 32 ° C (89.6 ° F), the best we have found to use it on is a stone because of this heat retains in the stone and the gecko can bask on it after the lights go out like in their natural habitat.

There are breeders who in their heated terrarium have heating cables or mats. Of these, I would advise against me because one case is known where the animals are dehydrated by a faulty heating cables and have died! I would suggest a small dish of water to be on the safe side!

Feeding:
Feed Pachydactylus mainly insectivores (insectivorous), which means that insects come to feed the correct size in question. You can use crickets, grasshoppers, mealworms, buffalo worms, firebrats, roaches, moths and many other feeder insects! It is important to feed the animals regularly (about every other feeding) with vitamin powder (Eg Korvimin ZVT or Herpetal Complete T), and calcium mineral (dust available in the pharmacy), because we are the food supply in the terrarium can not compare with the freedom of nature. Also a small water bowl with fresh water should be constantly available to prevent dehydration.

Breeding:
About this species I can not say much...I can only hope that out of my Located soon something slips and everything goes well! According to the NZ experienced breeder is not easy, because the young are very difficult to raise!

Conclusion:
Finally, I would like to mention that the above rearing conditions, only my own experiences and does not purport to comply completeness or accuracy. Other breeders may have other successful methods!

As one of P. rugosus almost nothing on the internet and it takes only a handful of people are these animals breed successfully, I hope you here can give a little assistance on the attitude!