Ptenopus carpi

[oli]

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Here are a few pictures of some red eyed Ptenopus carpi. They are really cool geckos. I haven't seen too much written on them or other Ptenopus species so I figured I'd throw up a few pics

[Sybet]

Cool geckos you've got there!

[Salzy]

From what I know, there aren't too many people that have them....probably good reason why you don't see much about them.

I like the Ptenopus genus...I had the pleasure of seeing some P. kochi at Tinley Park NARBC this past year and I guess they were 2 of only a handful of them in the country. Pretty cool little geckos for sure. They are way faster than I imagined too!

[Sporonicle]

They look like cool geckos! Too bad more of them aren't around.

[slgeckos]

rly nice Oli,i have Ptenopus garrulus garrulus

[David]

I haven't seen too much written on them

then you are welcome to introduce them a bit

do they behave like the others species and do they feed well on the same preys?

also please tell me which sex is shown on each of your pics

btw Happy New Year to everybody!

[oli]

David, the first picture is of a juvenile female, and the other pics are of a sub-adult and an adult male. These geckos only lay one egg at a time opposed to most geckos that will lay a clutch of 2. In regards to your question on their prey items, I have found that they will get tired of eating the same insects and that they will only eat at night. They will sometimes walk up to the insect and give it a few nudges with their head/snouts. I believe that is just to test it somehow, or perhaps even to chase it off when they are not interested in eating it. They enjoy spiders, but will also eat crickets (back legs pinched sometimes), roaches, flies, mealworms, waxworms, hornworms, silkworms, and termites. I was told that they prefer larger food items, and they have a large head and mouth for their size, so that isn't a surprise. They don't behave like other African geckos such as Pachydactylus as they have some interesting traits. First off the males are very vocal, calling at night and during the day even. It's a nice clucking sound, but it's incredibly loud when their size is looked at. I can't even imagine what a sizable colony would sound like! There are two varieties of P. carpi, one with silver eyes, and this variety with 'red' eyes (more like a maroon color as you can see). They like to burrow if given the opportunity. Sometimes I will open their bins to see them sleeping in the wide open, making me believe that they don't have all that many predators in their native environments. They blend in very well to their sand substrates which helps them in that regard too. And when they are touched or disturbed while out in the open they play dead and will not move unless repeatedly harassed. And both the males and the females of this species have beautiful yellow necks. Hope this gives you a little better perspective on the species.

[David]

thanks for the fast answer Oli

Did you observe a "special rush" on spiders compare to others prey items?
I've been told that you won't see no bugs but only spiders and those famous big beetles in their habitat

[oli]

I think they like the movement of the spiders, and like you said, I don't think that there are many different species of insects that inhabit their native environment. They must be used to slower moving insects such as a spider as they don't react, or eat as well with fast moving crickets or roaches. I tend to injure these faster moving insects before feeding them to slow them down a lot. I've tried to feed them beetles to see if they would take them, but they haven't eaten any. I've been told by a few people that have been to their turf in Africa and they have said that all they really saw were spiders (trap door spiders, I believe?). It is possible that the carpi will eat the younger spiders and the older spiders may eat the carpi, which I'd conclude as somewhat of a love/hate relationship

[thorrshamri]

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Very interesting Oli, and congrats for your purchase. You will be glad to know there will be an article on the Ptenopus genus in the next issue of the GGA Journal, Gekko.
I have P. kochi, do your P. carpi are also able to move backwards really fast?
I agree on large prey items. My kochi feed readily on crickets and subadult, half an inch locust, but what they prefer is silverfishes.
Two common mistakes with these geckos are:
-to offer them a THICK layer of sand; you will notice they will dig all the sand away and stay at the bottom of the tank. Geitje/Jon told me to use fine sand, no more than 1 inch/2 cm thick as a substrate. They have fringed toes, to help them move fast on sand. I use PVC pipes and cork bark pieces as shelters, which they readily use.
-to keep them in groups, as they are known to live in colonies of several tens of individuals in the wild. Don't do that, keep these guys in pairs or trios, not more. Otherwise they will bully each other.
Sexing them is not easy when they are young. Even as adults, they hardly have bulges, due to their sandy habitat.
Some males of the same species do vocalize and have colored throats, while some males don't- this would maybe indicate different subspecies.
I keep P. kochi for about a year and a half and I have not noticed they get fed up of the same diet. But I have also heard the opposite on P. garrulus, especially when the latter are WC.
Oh, and kochi are active even at daytime, maybe that is a noticeable difference in behavior with your carpi.
Hope that helps guys