is this okay.

joe5555

New member
i have a 17.5 gallons tank. i was thinking of putting a pair of uroplatus in there. that tank is really tall.. what species would be okay in this kinda tank. ANd what cage decorations would be good. I have dirt substrate. would adding a layer off moss on top be better.m thanks.
 

GeckoMike

New member
Joe

I am going to have to disagree with JB on the U.Sikorae and a first time Uroplatus gecko.

Let me explain why.

The U.Sikore are great geckos and they come in awsome colors as well but they do require a lot more work to keep happy. I have 1.1 U.Sikorae Samenti and 0.2 U.Sikorae. Now dont get me wrong I like mine a lot but I would not recomend them as a first time Uroplatus they are not as forgiving as some of the others.

If you are going for your first Uroplatus I would recomend U.Ebenaui because they are more active and much more easy than the other Uroplatus geckos. Not only that they are a little bit cheaper than the others as well and a lot more forgiving to small mistakes in husbandry. I have 4.5.2 right now and they are fast becoming my favorite Uroplatus gecko.

Now this is just my opinion but I hope it helps!

Thanks

Mike
 

joe5555

New member
well thanks. the guy at the show actually has lots of u ebenaui. DO you have any good advice for them. he also has phntasticus and lineatus. so what substrate do u use for your ebenau. do you have pics of your tank.
 

GeckoMike

New member
The ebenaui I have I use a coco fiber(bed a beast) sand and organic soil mix(70%coco,10%sand and 20% soil) for mine. I kinda go over board on that the coco fiber by its self will work but I find that the plants grow better in the mix. They like corkbark (the males will hide in it)and lots of plants in the tank. I use pothos and some bromiliads(SP?) with mine. If you get with Deven (Terra5 Designs) I am sure he can recomend lots of great plants for you. That is where I go to get good plants. I dont have any pics of the tanks right now but when I get back (in December) from Iraq I can take some if you want to wait that long!

I would not get the U.Lineatus just yet and as far as the phantasticus I would wait on them as well. They both dehidrate FAST and they will some times crash HARD and fast if there is any mistakes with them. I have 6.6 U.Phantasticus and 1.1 U.Lineatus and I think that the U.Lineatus are one of the most dificult Uroplatus to take care of. Because they dehydrate so fast I have to "shower" them once a week to keep them hydrated.

The U.Phantastuicus are good and hardy once they get set up and can be kept simular to the U.Ebenaui but with a few additions. They will need to be sprayed more and I would recomend a ultasonic humidifyer(SP?) I got min at walgreens and I love it. They are a cool mist and they woork wounders. And thay are cheeper than the exo-tera, they are cool mist not the 85 degree ones, and they last longer too.

I know that the U.Phantasticus look "cooler" but trust me they U.Ebeanui are so much more fun to watch they are so active and funny! Not only that they are much stronger geckos as well.

Hope this helps!

Thaks

Mike
 

joe5555

New member
i like real plants it just ive had hard times keeping them alive. It always seamed like they were dieing cause it was to humid and the leaves were alway like wet. then they just die. but is plain old dirt a good substrate for them. or moss.
 

GeckoMike

New member
Joe

I would recomend not going with "Plain old dirt" If you are going to go with something other than the coco fiber or the mix I use I would use an organic poting soil with NO fertelizer(SP?) in it. I would not use the moss as a base but if you want to put some on top it works well for ground cover. I have som spagmah(SP?) moss on the top of mine that I have in 2 places in the tank. That way I know where to look for the eggs when the females are gravid.

I have had no problems with the bromiliads and the pothos vine that i have used in my tank. The reason I chose the mix that I have is because the soil and coco fiber help to hold the humidity and the sand gives it a little extra firmness that I like. The plants seem to thrive in it as well.

If you want to go realy deep in to making a good tank get some pill bugs or sow bugs and let them loose in the tank they will breed fast and they will eat all of the dropings that the geckos leave cleaning up your tank for you. The pill bugs wil also dig in the soil and help the plants by leaving their dropings in the soul and making a natural fertelizer(SP?). They will also take care of any dead crickets for you too, and if they get to breeding too fast they will end up getting eaten by the geckos. I have them in my U.Phantasticus, U.Ebenaui and U.Guentheri tanks and they work wounders on them.

Hope this helps!

Mike
 

joe5555

New member
well i phoned all the pet stores and apparently they ll dont sell bedabeast.i bought a couple of plants. right now i have the 20% dirt and 10% and nothing else. what else can i add.
 

GeckoMike

New member
Petco and Petsmart sell it is comes in a brick and it is some times bed-a-beast and some times called eco-therm or eco-dirt I forget I know it is eco something. :D Ask them if the have shreeded coco fiber on hand. If you can not find it there look online at some of the larger pet suply places on line. I know that LLLreptile has it.

Hope this helps!


Mike
 

joe5555

New member
yah i checked all the stores for it and none of them had it for some reason. There was a large area for but nothing there .is there any alternatives. i dont really want to get anything shipped.. is just adding more dirt and putting a layer of moss on top okay.
 

GeckoMike

New member
Well you can get the "jungle earth" it is a composted dirt and it has some other ingredence in it, but be careful it has some sticks in it and that might hurt the gecko when they do the dive for food thing. I nknow that they sell that at petco and petsmart. If you want to go with the organic potting soil I dont see any reason why it would not work for you. I just like to kinda go over board on mine.

Hope this helps!

Mike
 

joe5555

New member
could i add some perlite to the soil or is that toxic to reptiles.. Or add some of that fluffy dirt called vermiculite.
 

GeckoFiend

New member
Vermiculite and Perlite can be harful or fatal if ingested, especially in smaller species, such as ebenaui. I wouldn't suggest using them.
 

GeckoMike

New member
I agree with babamba That Perlite or Vermiculite are good for incubating but that is about it.

Hope this helps!


Mike
 

joe5555

New member
i got th em on sat and your right they are so cool. ive never seen a gecko so active and not stressed on the first day. . they were already going after crix. and there almost breeding size too.
 

GeckoMike

New member
Post some pics of them!let me know if you need any help with them. I would shower them ASAP to make sure that they are hydrated. Other than that they should be good. How many did you get?


Let me know if you need any help!


Thanks

Mike
 

joe5555

New member
well i got a pair. but they are amazing geckos. but god was i tempted to buy the lineatus. they sold within minutes. i got from the guy 1.1 g.luii and 1.1 u.ebenaui.
one more question how do you say ebenaui i hate being corrected everytime i say it.

i have the pic of one of the 2. not sure what sex it is. i think its the female.

e1a42478.jpg
 
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