Holodactylus

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Coleonyx

New member
Once acclimated, the majority of mine have shared one hide, and the rest have made burrows not far from the hide. The hide is a clay saucer set upsidedown on the surface of the substrate, with a smaller saucer filled with water on top of it.
 
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Brian

New member
Let's hope i can keep mine alive. They got here. I didn't relize how small some of them actually are.
 
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geckomaster

New member
Hey guys, I just noticed something interesting. I've heard complaints about how the males aren't as sturdy as females and die off easier. Well I noticed a habit of my first male, that my new male I just got today is also displaying. I don't use an undertank heater, but a heat lamp instead to encourage them to come out more. What I've noticed is that the females will bask towards the edges of the heated zone, and roam the tank more, while the males (I've been watching one for over a month, and now the new one on it's first night is doing the same) will bask directly under in the warmest spot and pretty much stay there. The two tanks are side by sides and they are in the exact same spot, curled up asleep. Their day behaviour is the same, they chill in their burrows, but at night they're there most of the night. I'm wondering if the males have a greater need for heat than the females, or do you think that they just dominate the best location? Looking forward to your feedback (if it's the latter I hope they knock it off or the ladies will want nothing to do with their rude selves :D ).

mark
 
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Brian

New member
I was curious as to maybe risk taking behaviors played a role in the male mortality people were talking about.

Just curious approximately how big is your basking spot and how hot does it get approximately where the males sit?
 
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geckomaster

New member
It's not that hot in the evening as I keep my room air conditioned inasmuch as it's a 4th floor attic apartment and I keep Goniurosaurus and cat geckos there also. The ambient temp of the room this time of night is around 70 by the cool parts and mid to upper 70's elsewhere depending on location in the room. Right now the temp at the hottest point under the lamp is 85 in one tank and 82 in the other. Now during the day the room gets warmer so I'd guess so do the hot spots, and I'm only using 70 watt, and may go to 100. I've also concluded that the females aren't frightened/intimidated by the males because I just compared my former group to the ones I got from Alex and it appears they are sub-adults being a little over half the size of group 1 so I don't think he would influence them as of yet. By the way please elaborate on what you mean by risk taking, cause I didn't quite understand.

Thanks,

mark
 
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geckomaster

New member
Sorry to be a post-hog...I'll simmer after this, but this is fascinating to me. When I temped the tanks the one male moved from his corner to the other side of the tank under the light. Now I noticed that the basking spots dry out quicker from the heat. The new male's tank hasn't had a chance to dry yet, but the old males had and that corner was dry. He's trying to sleep on the wet side, but is perturbed and keeps lifting his, um, netherregions off of the wet substrate. Looking at the new male he's asleep, but his back end is lifter so as the hemipenis bulge is not touching the wet ground. Male number one doesn't do this when it's dry. Any ideas on this?

Done now,

Mark
 
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Brian

New member
I meant risk taking as staying in dangerous situations or potentially longer. In the wild sometimes that skews or balances the sex ration in some way because one sex has higher mortality.

Can I ask another question. Do these actually make burrows or just dig down. I can't actually see burrows for 3 of the Holos while the other 3 stayed on the surface under stuff and packed themselves full of food again. I hope i'm not dealing with cave ins. . .
 
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Coleonyx

New member
I have witnessed both (burrows and digging down). Once they got used to their surroundings, most of mine have just used the hides that I provided.
 
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Brian

New member
I'm not actually useing any supplemental heat yet. In some rooms here it's going above 90 in the day. They all seem to be eating so far fairly well. The biggest one-3 seem to be mainly useing the hides. 2-3 seem to be digging down maybe an inch or two. One though goes all the way down.

It seems they are making burrows that they close off. I just wanted to make sure my substrate wasn't collapseing.

These things eat so much . . .

Hey, at least they're still alive. :mrgreen:
 
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