Oedura monilis

[ryan]

I have just bought a pair of Oedura monilis from the lizard wizard in the UK and they should arrive within a week or 2 after cheques clear and courier etc.
Im just after inspiration and tips on housing breeding etc before they get here.
I have a 45/45/60 exo terra for them which is fine and im thinking about using the cocofibre for substrate with moss. should i put a laying box in there as well?
last time i had a tropical set up the springtail colony in there got huge so is there a way to control it?
Ive bred Oedura castelnaui for a few years - is there a lot of difference?

thanks ryan

 

[Brennan]

Ryan,
When you ask if you should include an egg-laying box, I assume you plan on housing the pair together? I would keep them serarate for several weeks and then introduce the pair. You may not need to quarantine, but I think it's a good habit to get into when buying new reptiles. I wouldn't use just coco fiber either. I would use sand for the majority of the substrate and sprinkle coco fiber on the sand so it can hold more moisture and create higher humidity when misting.
I haven't bred monilis yet but keep several species of oedura, and from what I hear, monilis is very prolific and hardy...so if you have done well with castelnaui, you should do well with monilis.
Good-luck,
Ryan

 

[ryan]

The only reson i would be keepng them together is to breed. everyone of my other geckos are kept seperate but thanks for the advice.
the only reason im asking about a laying box is to see if they use them as My castelnaui would never use one and i thought they may not. ill probably use one anyway to give a wetbox even if there not going to lay.
thanks for the tip on substrate!!!
ryan

 

[Justin]

Hi Ryan,
I kept monilis exactly the same as I did castelnaui. Mix of sand and coco-fibre substrate, though mostly sand. I did use a humid-hide which they utilised for shedding but the majority of their time was spent in the cork tube I had in there. I didn't keep tehe terrarium it wet, definitely not as wet as you describe but they did very very well.

Hope this helps.

Any more questions feel free to ask.