Turnip-tailed geckos

G

Greenstar

New member
I just picked one of these odd-balls up from a local reptile store. It's been there for probably over 3 years and I felt bad for it. I have got her set-up in a 29g planted, x-dart frog tank. It's probably about 85% humidty and 75 degrees ambient and around 85+ directly on afew branches under the light. I am curious how often these guys get imported and if there is any hope of me pairing her up? Does anybody keep these or know of what care the require.

Thanks in advance
Danny
 
Y

yuri

New member
These do get imported. I got a nice pair from Strictly Reptiles about a year ago. I saw them on their price list recently. Aparently there are two forms, one reaches up to 7 inches and the other gets larger, up to 9 inches.

I think the temperatures sound good, but the humidity may ba a little high if it remains at your stated humidity all day. While they can come from rain forest areas, there are humidity fluxes in these areas. I kept mine in an Exo Terra that was misted daily, soil substrate with potted plants and a cork tube (where they spent their days). Very active feeders.

I lost my male (escaped) and sent off the female to someone with a male. The female had laid four eggs. I just had my first one hatch out this weekend! The three other eggs did not hatch (laid before the one that did hatch). I kept this egg drier and it seems to have worked well. The hatchling is very active.

Yuri

Greenstar said:
I just picked one of these odd-balls up from a local reptile store. It's been there for probably over 3 years and I felt bad for it. I have got her set-up in a 29g planted, x-dart frog tank. It's probably about 85% humidty and 75 degrees ambient and around 85+ directly on afew branches under the light. I am curious how often these guys get imported and if there is any hope of me pairing her up? Does anybody keep these or know of what care the require.

Thanks in advance
Danny
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Y

yuri

New member
I have also seen these on kingsnake a while back, I think it was Mark M. Lucas who had them advertised.

I really liked these and hope to get some more eventually. Surprisingly colourful with small specks of greens, yellows, reds.
 
G

Greenstar

New member
Well my female is at least 5 years old, because according to one of the assocaites she came in about 4 years ago. There is a large vent, but the humidty stays that high with no misting. I just will hold the lid open for a minute a day so that less humid air can blow through the tank and dry things out before it goes back up. Also if anyone has a spare male/pair let me know I am highly interested.

thanks
Danny
 
B

Bushmaster

Guest
Hey Yuri, what more do you know about the two forms? Do you know their localities?
 
Y

yuri

New member
From what I recall, Thecadactylus rapicauda may be split up into several species.

When you consider its wide range:
Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico;
Peru/Ecuador;
Guyana/Surinam;
Bolivia;
Trinidad and Tobago; and stops in between it seems amazing that this is all one species. There are some papers that discuss this potential, but I don;t know if anything has been published proposing the creation of new species within this taxa.

The western Amazon population is different from the eastern South American population, although the Yucatan population shares some traits with the western Amazon one.

I am just interested in them and the potential for the creation of new species. If at all possible, try and get accurate locality information for the animals you acquire. In a couple of years, they might be described as new species.
 
Y

yuri

New member
That is cool that you got to see them in the wild.

I thought the larger population was the western Amazon / Yucatan one, but I would not trust my memory. You can find some articles online that delve into the differences.

Bushmaster said:
this is a cool info. Unfortunately I dont have any turniptail, but it is one of my prefered species. I have see two while traveling in north Brazil, next to Guyana. That is not the larger type population, right? I thought they were bigger, but still awesome.
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Y

yuri

New member
new species: Thecadactylus solimoensis

http://people.umass.edu/pjbergma/PJB_MasterRes.html

So this should no longer be a monotypic genus in the near future, look out for Thecadactylus solimoensis.

Thecadactylus correspondence with Philip J. Bergmann
"For example, animals from Antigua are huge (~18 cm SVL, weighing over 50 grams), while those from Grenada and Guyana seem to not exceed 10 cm SVL or 10 grams! I have also seen specimens that look very bizaare - for example some from Guadeloupe have a strange spotted pattern (I've never seen these alive, just museum specimens). I guess to paraphrase, there are massive differences in adult size between localities, these do not seem to represent different species or subspecies, and there is a second species that will be described shortly."
 
Xanadu1

Xanadu1

New member
East Bay Vivarium is such a wonderful reptile shop. They're not like your typical pet store, I like to go there just to window shop and take pictures of their wonderful animals. I've gotten several geckos from them. I was there a week ago but didn't see any turnip tails, but then again, I wasn't looking for them. If they've got them, you can bet they're top notch.

Heather
 
G

Greenstar

New member
Marcus
I actually bought the only one they had and they have had it for a number of years. I remember seeing this one there on multiple occasions. Are you sure they got more in or just that the tank hasn't been refilled and still has the old label? If they do have more in I will run down there asap and pick up a male and another female.....


Danny
 
A

Afelinus

New member
Could very well be,but there is a tank labeled there of those,so I would call and ask.I didnt see any of them out in view.Just was walking through there and always glance at their gecko selection.
 
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