Oops, she did it again

[The Gecko Garden]

Went downstairs tonight to spray the geckos and saw Meow out and about, so I grabbed the cam. You could never tell that she is gravid again in this pic...

but in these it is a lot more obvious...

at this point she had had enough of the camera and retreated to her suspended coconut hide...

look at that hanging belly!


Hope all is well with everyone,
Adam

 

[Afelinus]

Looks like it to me............

when was her last clutch?It will be a good indicator to let you know an approximate deposition time.Great job

 

[The Gecko Garden]

her last clutch was laid around November 17th. Marcus, did you say it was one month or two months between laying?

 

[Afelinus]

It typically ranges between 43-68 days.They have a pretty large swing.It really depends on the particular female.She will be pretty steady in her deposition window.There wont be too much variation.Now it will vary from female to female quite a bit as mentioned in the range I give.Nothing would surprise me,as there is so much yet to learn.You are definately on the right track.

 

[The Gecko Garden]

wow, that is quite a range. I assume that temperature and feeding are factors that may influence the rate in one way or another like many other more commonly kept geckos. This girl seems to have either significantly reduced the amount of food intake or temporarily gone off food which is fairly common with geckos like leopards and fat tails for example. I will be keeping an eye out for deposition and be sure to let you know what the day count is when she does indeed lay.

 

[Afelinus]

Yes,that is a good assumption,along with weight and overall health.Going off feed is common and to be expected.They even fluctuate with their appetite,sometimes feeding ravenously a couple weeks before deposition.I am at the point that this kind of activity is very valuable and not being overlooked.It was such an event to keep them alive four years ago,that now I am really seeing that they are more than unique in appearance,but that it is rivaled by their behaviour.

 

[The Gecko Garden]

I am curious as to whether males are combative in this species? Obviously in captivity, one does not wish to keep multiple specimens together, but it would be interesting to find out if there is a natural territoriality between males.

 

[Afelinus]

I have made the assumption that they are,or at least would establish a heirarchy,leading to the demise of the subordinate one.Because my tanks are relatively close to each other,I have witnessed ritualistic behaviour between males.They would stare each other down and expand their throats and curl their tails,slightly waving them.This was always evident during breeding season as they were returned to their indiviual tanks after breeding and would engage in this behaviour.The rest of the year was less evident.They seemed uninterested in each other.Im going to have to stop providing all this information,no one will want to buy my book :wink:

 

[kenya_1977]

Great picks.. love the high hut. I think I could tell off the first pic that she was gravid.. she's fat. Great looking gecko.
-Crystal

 

[The Gecko Garden]

Thanks Crystal! The elevated coconut hide is just those simple coconut hidespots they sell in pet stores but I tied them together, attached them to a suction cup and stuck that to the viv wall. Was thinking about siliconing them together, but am hesitant to do that in case I need to access the inside for some reason.

 

[PreditorNprey]

don't mean to hi-jack your thread, but would it be alright if I made some hides out of real coconuts?

 

[The Gecko Garden]

I would think it would be okay if you were able to completely extract the white part (not sure what the proper name for it is) and then sanitized the shell. Might be time consuming though.

-Adam

 

[Brandon]

awesome looking female. Best of luck with the eggs! The double coco hut hide was a great idea adam. Any pics of the whole enclosure?

 

[The Gecko Garden]

Thanks Brandon! I have a couple pics that I just took, but the enclosure is soon to undergo yet another change since I want to add more wood and corkbark to it. She really seems to enjoy climbing on the wood the most. Don't mind the tacky plastic orange flowers, lol, they will be gone soon.

-Adam

 

[kenya_1977]

coconut

I have actually made my own coconut houses for darts before (have one in my male A. felinus cage. I'd say that's it's honestly almost worth buying them because it's a pain in the butt.

First, you bay .99 for the coco nut. Then you have to drill the hole and drain it. Then you have to score the shell and hope it breaks evenly.. Then you have to bake it so the coconut comes out from the shell. Then you have to score a "door" and hope it knocks out properlyBy the end of it you end up with about an hour invested in that $2.99 coco shell . I did about a dozen of them, so it worked out for me, but I figured it wasn't worth it again, just easier to buy one here and there if I needed.

-Crystal

 

[Brandon]

looks great man, Those exoterra cages have all kinds of applications. i love that arboreal coco hide you made. I bet she'll really love the cork when you ad it in there.