Hello...New comer here

[Jamie :-)~]

Hi everyone! My favorite Uro is the fimbriatus. In fact I have recently bought a pair, but I'm afraid they aren't doing so well after the shipping. The male seems to be ok, but the female isn't :?. I was told to mix calcium powder and vitamin powder into a gallon of water and mist them with it once a day for one week. I was wondering what the Uro experts out there thought of this. I would appreciate any suggestions...let me know if you need more info.

Thanks,
Jamie

 

[klondike4001]

The mixing of the calcium power and water sounds quite messy, try dusting the crickets, it's much cleaner. When you say isn't doing well, you must be a bit more specific, does she have any symptoms?

 

[GeckoMike]

I agree with Jonathan on this I would only dust the crickets not mix in to the sprayer. Also I dont use any vitamin powder with my Uroplatus what where you told to use?

What kind of calcium are you using? The reason I ask is we have had issues with some brands.

How long have you had them? Stress is a big factor on Uroplatus and they could be stressd from the move.

I have seen some geckos that will come back from bad shape with a showering. ( take a full screen cage put some branches in it and place it half in and out of the shower at room temp for about 15-20 min)

Hope this helps.

 

[Jamie :-)~]

I've only had them for 4 days and she was extremly cold, held her eyes sunken in, and her tail was clamped closed. I had warmed her up slowly and I did try showering her. I thought she was doing a little bit better yesterday, but today she has died . I was already attached to her and am quite sad. I do appreciate your suggestions greatly.

What calcium brand is bad? I have heard of that before and am hesitant on using any. I had the ReptiCal (or something like that) came in a blue container with a yellow lid and a pic of an anole on the front. I haven't used it yet....what brands are safe?

Thanks,
Jamie

 

[GeckoMike]

Jamie,

It sounds to me like she was very dehydrated and could of had other issues as well. Did she arive that way? From what it sounds she may have been sick when you got her.

How is the male?

tell me more about your set up.

Uroplatus are "cold geckos" so to say they dont require a lot of heat like most reptiles. I keep mine at room temp ( low 70's mid 60') and I mist them 2-3 times a day. Feed dusted crickets every night or every other night depending on how they are eating.

I have tried to avaoid calcuim powder with D3 in it too much D3 can cause issues with egglaying. I had a female U.Phantasticus that died egbound with 3 eggs, and after talking to Neil Meister I leared that he had simular issues.


Where did you get your pair?

Did they give you any kind of care sheet?

The reason I ask is I try to make sure that when selling a reptile I know the buyer is fully aware of how to care for the reptile. There are quite a few people that sell you the animal and think that is where it ends. I dont like that and I try to keep open comunications with the buyer.

But I am glad you found this Forum. The Geckophiles here are some of the best and most up to date on the diffrent breeds.

Uroplatus can be hard to take care of at first but they can be very rewarding after you get the hang of it. So dont give up on them just yet I am sure we can help you out here.

 

[Jamie :-)~]

I appreciate your reply! Yes, she arrived to me that way and I was very mad about that. I showered her and got her to drink quite a bit and for the couple days I had her, but then the day before she passed she would hardly drink at all....I figured she was dehydrated. She didn't want to move much and seemed weak when she did.

The male is doing just fine except I don't beleive he has eaten more than 1 cricket. I have lobster roaches coming for him though.

I do know how to take care of them and have had this species before , so I'm not completely new to what they need, thankfully.
My set up has 3 large branches, many live plants, and are misted about 3-4 times a day. The temp. is kept at 65-69 degrees F and is a little cooler at night. I'm not sure of what size the tank is as I have put two tanks together to make a custome cage. To my best guess it makes about an 80 something gallon tank.

I got them from a place called Rainforest Reptiles. When I talked to the guy on the phone he told me it was a family owned business and that he makes sure not to ship when the weather is unfair in my area (which I was more than happy about), there would be a care sheet, thank you letter, and he talks to the Fed-Ex handlers frequently to make sure all is well. But, when the geckos arrived; there was no thank you note, no care sheet, they were extremely cold to touch, and they had obviously been misshandled as the male was stuck upsidedown in the container and the female was squished into a corner. The box said "Perishables" on it instead of Live Animals. So I called the people the second I got them and of course they didn't return my answer, so I e-mailed them. They were no help at all and didn't seem to care too much. Then I find out they do not breed reptiles, they are a broker for people who do.

Thanks for the advice on the calcium powder. Sorry I wrote you a novel :lol:

I am glad I found this forum too! I greatly enjoy my geckos and hopefully I can get a replacement.

Thank you so much for your help, Mike, it is greatly appreciated!! Don't worry, I won't give up on 'em :wink:

Jamie

 

[GeckoMike]

I am going to send you a PM

 

[Jamie :-)~]

Ok

 

[Calfirecap]

Jamie,

I had the same problem with fimbriatus several years back. I was using a screen cage at the time and had difficulty reaching a high enough humidity levels. All Uros like high humidity and although they are cooler temperature lizards, you may have to try raising the temp. up a touch since warm air holds more moisture than cold air. A soil substrate also helps.

Lawrence

 

[Jamie :-)~]

Thank you for the advice, Lawrence. The cage I am using doesn't have a lot of screen so it holds in moisture well and I am using soil substrate.

Actually, I believe I was shipped a henkeli and not what I ordered which was a fimbriatus. The female was a fimbriatus, but she was shipped to me in that very poor condition....poor thing barley had a chance!

What temperature would you recommend keeping him at? Also, do you know how to help with airflow? I never had that problem before, but for some reason it seems like the air is stagnent (sp?). If you have any suggestions for this that would be great!

Thanks!
Jamie

 

[Calfirecap]

Jamie,

Regardless of whether or not you have U. fimbriatus or U. henkeli they will tollerate higher temperatures than the other varieties of Uroplatus. Temperature ranges of 72-86 f are within the norms of both of their ranges. By no means would I maintain the temps in the upper limits, but hitting the low to mid 80's would probably be beneficial with a temperature drop in the evening. I'm sure they could handle even higher temperatures for short periods of time, but I wouldn't intentionally subject them to that. Last July we had a week or two of extremely high temperatures where I live and one of our U. sikorae responded by dropping his tail, but they all lived and are doing fine now.

U. henkeli have a spotty distribution along the West Coast of Madagascar as well as the island of Nosy Be which puts them in the Western Climatic Zone characterized by high temperatures year round. U. fimbriatus are found in the Eastern Zone which is characterized by high relative humidity and long periods of heavy rainfall, more so than the West Coast.

As for the air circulation, you can try an aquarium air pump with the tubing comming in from the bottom. I'm currently trying out a "Tropic Aire" humidifier and air exchanger in hopes of raising the humidity without raising the temperature for our U. sikorae, but so far the results have been disapointing. If nothing else this device does increase the air circulation.

Lawrence

 

[Jamie :-)~]

Lawrence,

Thank you very much!

I was actually thinking about getting a humidifier; the one I had that I was going to use decided to not work anymore (of course, just my luck). If it increases air flow than that would be very good. I just bought some aquarium tubing recently because I was going to rigg some tubing through the cage from the humidifier to spread it out a bit.....still working on that idea though.

I have seen some cages that have a "sprinkler" system that sprays the cage from the top every so often. I thought that might be a good idea too.

Thanks,
Jamie

 

[klondike4001]

A misintg system perhaps? Another option is going to big lots or walmart and buying one of the little clip on fans, they are quite good for added air flow.

 

[Jamie :-)~]

Jonathan,

I have heard of people using those little fans, but I was concerned about too much airflow (if there is such a thing). And a temperature drop from the air, but I dunno becuase I have not tried it yet. Do you use one? If it works and is safe, then I may just go get one .


Thanks!

Jamie [/quote]

 

[klondike4001]

with regards to the fans I only use them on my fimbriatus encloruce, top pointing down, I try to keep the mold at bay. I haven't had any temp issues yet.

 

[Protean]

Using a fan will increase airflow, but to add humidity and fresh air to your enclosure try using live plants. fans really are not needed unless your enclosure is room sized and has dry spots. Even then, that can be corrected with use of live plants.

Mold can be curbed by using proper lighting and having adequate ventilation.

 

[Jamie :-)~]

Jonathan,

Thanks...I got a fan just to circulate air for a short period at a time, that way it helps with the staleness, but doesn't cause a temp or humidity problem.


Monkey,

Thanks for your response, although, I have all live plants in my enclosure which does help in humidity, I agree. The air seemed stagnent, that is why I was asking about a fan, but I was thinking a humidifier will help with airflow and humidity at the same time.

I appreciate the suggestions always!
Jamie