Blaesodactylus sakalava

[fenrisswolf]

Well, I just got 3 of these fellows from Tom at Starrynightexotics this morning.

I had them shipped to my workplace, and they gave the poor lady at sample receiving, who usually has to go through everyone's packages, a bit of a start. I guess that's one way to make it into the rumor mill for the day. :wink: But I apologized for the inconvenience, and she was a good sport about it, so it was all good.

They're beautiful geckos, fairly bold (well, 2 out of the 3 are anyway,) and very active so far.

I find it interesting to note that even if I've only had them for a very little while so far, all three show a little different personality already. One is bold, the other was either a bit shy or just somewhat dehydrated from the trip, as it was mostly interested in hiding and drinking water, and the third is more neutral. (curious and exploring the terrarium, but not hiding or lunging towards anything.)

They're driving my cat a little batty, as at least one of them is not scared of her (or me) at all and will climb the glass right up to where she is to see what all the fuss is about.

Here's a picture of the third one:

The first one keeps moving too much for my slightly beat up camera to give me a good picture, and the other one hid in a corner where I can't get a good, clear shot without the camera focusing on a stick or a leaf or something else but the gecko. I'll try to get some more pictures later.

 

[Reptiluvr]

Surprising, because when I kept a pair they were pretty shy. They had zero inhibitions when eating though. Super aggressive/opportunistic feeders for me.

 

[fenrisswolf]

Well, it surprised me too. Most of the time, new animals just want to hide for a few days until they get used to the noise and activity patterns around their terrarium, but not these guys.

Maybe they had been feeling a little cooped up from the overnight trip and had nervous energy to work out?

This morning before I left for work, they were all hiding, which was more along the lines of what I expected last night. I guess I'll just have to wait and see how they behave once I've had them for a while and they get settled in their terrarium.

 

[fenrisswolf]

Follow up...

Well, after two weeks of them settling in, here's a follow up.

They are relatively shy (and my cat's obsession with them probably doesn't help them much on that regard either.) In general they will wait until things are quiet and fairly still in the room before venturing out of their hide to feed or explore, and will scatter and hide if something moves too close or too quickly.
They certainly like to hop around when in a hurry. If scurrying doesn't seem to be fast enough to get them from one end of the terrarium to the other, they will hop from one decoration to another, or at least once that I've seen, even clear from one side of my 20 gallon to the other, (long-wise from a still position! Pretty athletic of them.)

Generally, this is the best view I can expect:

Click on any picture for a bigger version
(I want to put a darker background between
the terrarium glass and my white walls,
and see if I can get them to be at least a little less skittish.)
​

Personality wise, they remain the same: one is a bit bolder than the others, I hardly ever see the largest of the three, and the last one is somewhere in between.

Interestingly enough, "the bold one" seems to be a female.

With my cat out on a mouse hunting expedition at my sister's for the weekend, I had a chance to take a few pictures without them being immediately chased away.

... I think she looks gravid ...


And, just for fun, here's this rather grainy shot:
(Check out those eyes!)
​

 

[Animal34343]

my pair is aggresive when it comes to food(or my hand) and they are usually always out in the open on the glass, very rarely are they in their hides or behind leaves