Doing research for Uroplatus phantasticus

[Sarra]

I've been debating for a while between getting Uroplatus phantasticus, Rieppeleon brevicaudatus, or a Dendrobates species (Satanic Leaf tail gecko, Bearded Pygmy Chameleon, or Poison Dart Frog) for some time. So, I did what I would normally do, and asked my friend. She said, "Get the Uroplatus phantasticus!" So, here I am, doing research for getting a pair of them.

I've been looking at care sheets, and noted that cork bark is highly recommended. Having some cork bark around, and having easy access to purchasing more of it makes me happy, but I was surprised when I read that the female will lay eggs in/on the cork bark. Can anyone go into a little more detailed information on how to incubate the eggs after they're laid, or do most people just leave the eggs alone and let them incubate in the terrarium?

I've only got a 10 gallon planted terrarium, which is semi-setup already, with a drainage layer, some non-perlite potting soil, terrarium moss (real moss), a few small plants, and the ever useful and good looking cork bark tube. I have a thicker bend-a-branch left over from a past Chameleon project that I have sanitized, would a phant enjoy running around on it, or would it be something to leave out of the tank?

I do plant shopping at lowes, what plants specifically are recommended for these geckos?

I also keep Poison Dart frogs (in another tank), so the temperature in my room is usually around 75 degrees, with the windows open at night so it drops down in to the upper 60's.

Knowing that these guys need high humidity, would it be recommended to use a glass top with vent holes, a solid glass top, or a screen top with frequent misting?

Are CF Reptiglo bulbs beneficial, or are they potentially dangerous (as with crested geckos)? I prefer CF bulbs as they are low-heat, so I can use the hoods I already have, but I may be converting to Florescent bulbs very soon (an expensive undertaking, I am not looking forward to it).

Any and all advice would be appreciated, it'll probably be another month before I actually get some phants, since I prefer to set up a tank and leave it a few weeks to make sure that conditions are perfectly predictable, and so I don't have to replant with the poor gecko, frog, or other critter still in the tank while I do so. I am planning on breeding these guys if that makes a difference on any kind of plant or bulb selection.

 

[Graham_s]

Firstly I would suggest reading miguel camacho's care sheet which is the best you will find IMHO. Uroplatus portal |

and secondly, I would suggest making sure that when you get your phants, get CB!

 

[Tokoloshe]

Sarra, playing devil's advocate here: Availability of CB. Cost. Life style.

The R. Brevicaudatus are currently available as CBB which they haven't reliably been for years. $25+
I have not seen any CB Phants available, probably don't run in the right circles But if available they would not be cheap.

The other concern would be: Do you want a diurnal or nocturnal species?


Either way both species are great, (Dendrobatids are cool too but I don't know much about them) enjoy!

Cheers,
T.

 

[miguel camacho!]

ive gotta be short with my reply for now, but hopefully ill get back to it later

i wouldnt go with corkbark so much as i would go for live plants, twigs, and vines. my satanics never made that much use of corkbark, though i made a stump out of a slab of corkbark that many females laid clutches at the base of. i would be careful about cork tubes, if your females lay eggs, they may lay them inside, and that would make it tricky to get them out.

take the eggs out once you find them. if you let them incubate in situ, you might never find the hatchlings.

for lighting, it's really up to you whether you use CF or strip fluorescent. UV depends on your supplementation of D3.

 

[MonteQ's]

The care sheet Graham linked to covers it all! I would suggest going to a 20+ gallon tank for a pair. I've had a few singles in 10s, and once you get the plants in there, it gets a little too cramped for a pair, IMO.

I'm not sure what you meant by laying the eggs in the corkbark, they will mostly be layed in the substrate unless they are infertile. In that case, they'd be glued just about anywhere. The care sheet covers the incubation, there are a few pics of the non-contact method on posts around here.

One key point I'd suggest is to keep an eye on your temps/humidity for a little while. To make sure you're in the safe range during the day, especially with the heavy part of summer still to come. These guys can be very sensitive.

My phants love the benda-branches. They spend most of their time on the plants, but they are great to connect different areas of the tanks together. Watch for mold on these though. I've had to scrub mine down from time to time...Oddly enough, the only place in the tanks. My kids' favorite plant seems to be Schefflerra Arboricola. It's a great "anchor" plant if you keep it trimmed. Hope this helps. Good luck.

 

[Sarra]

Sarra, playing devil's advocate here: Availability of CB. Cost. Life style.

The R. Brevicaudatus are currently available as CBB which they haven't reliably been for years. $25+
I have not seen any CB Phants available, probably don't run in the right circles But if available they would not be cheap.

The other concern would be: Do you want a diurnal or nocturnal species?


Either way both species are great, (Dendrobatids are cool too but I don't know much about them) enjoy!

Cheers,
T.

I really don't mind paying more for CBB, but I really, honestly, don't want WC. I have had enough difficulty with WC house geckos, not something I want to keep dealing with.

Diurnal or nocturnal, doesn't matter to me. My Dendrobates Auratus (Costa Rican darts) are diurnal, but I never see them unless I look through the tank. I also have crested and gargoyle geckos, which are nocturnal, as long as I know they're doing okay and are healthy, I don't mind not seeing them during the day.

ive gotta be short with my reply for now, but hopefully ill get back to it later

i wouldnt go with corkbark so much as i would go for live plants, twigs, and vines. my satanics never made that much use of corkbark, though i made a stump out of a slab of corkbark that many females laid clutches at the base of. i would be careful about cork tubes, if your females lay eggs, they may lay them inside, and that would make it tricky to get them out.

take the eggs out once you find them. if you let them incubate in situ, you might never find the hatchlings.

for lighting, it's really up to you whether you use CF or strip fluorescent. UV depends on your supplementation of D3.

Ah, they lay at the base of the cork bark, makes sense. I can get a massive slab of cork bark from a LPS and simulate a tree trunk as well. Plus, my cork bark tubes are all slit down the side, just get them wet and the tube opens up.

I have some calcium powder with D3 for my Dendrobates Auratus, so supplementing D3 isn't a problem. It's actually marketed as leopard gecko supplements, but it's just calcium and D3.

The care sheet Graham linked to covers it all! I would suggest going to a 20+ gallon tank for a pair. I've had a few singles in 10s, and once you get the plants in there, it gets a little too cramped for a pair, IMO.

I'm not sure what you meant by laying the eggs in the corkbark, they will mostly be layed in the substrate unless they are infertile. In that case, they'd be glued just about anywhere. The care sheet covers the incubation, there are a few pics of the non-contact method on posts around here.

One key point I'd suggest is to keep an eye on your temps/humidity for a little while. To make sure you're in the safe range during the day, especially with the heavy part of summer still to come. These guys can be very sensitive.

My phants love the benda-branches. They spend most of their time on the plants, but they are great to connect different areas of the tanks together. Watch for mold on these though. I've had to scrub mine down from time to time...Oddly enough, the only place in the tanks. My kids' favorite plant seems to be Schefflerra Arboricola. It's a great "anchor" plant if you keep it trimmed. Hope this helps. Good luck.

I'm definitely going to look through that care sheet, I'm glad you linked to it.

I'm thinking a 20 long might be the way to go with these geckos, but I don't currently have room for a tank that big. I could do an exoterra 18X18X24, but then I'd have to move everything in my room except the 40 gallon tank with my Gargoyle gecko in it.

I'll hold on to the bend-a-branch, then. I never had a mold problem, is yours the rough textured or the smooth crinkle textured one type?

This has helped tremendously, I'll probably have a few more questions once I've had a chance to read the above-linked care sheet.

 

[MonteQ's]

Glad to hear it. I was referring to a 20 tall, they really need the height. The Exo's are great, I love having the front opening doors. In either case, the larger foot print would help.

Mine are the rough/crinkley ones. It's the flexi-branch made by aquarium systems. I think they somehow hold water in all the crevices. It's a pretty quick fix though. Good luck.

 

[allen]

Everyone knows, CB is the best to get, especially with uroplatus.
I have/had phants, brevicaudatus and poison darts. Only freshly imported brevi`s are not that hard to keep, the other better go with CB. But i think there are enough cb`s of brevi also, not? Don`t know the situation in the US.

As everyone says, check Mike`s caresheet, that would help you a lot.
The more ventilation you can give, the better. But keep it in balance with the humidity.
Phantasticus is a coldtemp and "high" humidity-lover, just keep that in mind.

For rhampholeons, check out chameleonnews or something like that. A person named Roo has written a very good caresheet on them there. On that could also help on the smaller uro-species, i think.

For background, i have foam with pieces of wood and other stuff in it, and layer of "cement" on top of the foam. Half of the time, the phant is resting on the woodpiece during the day, rest of the time hanging around in the ficus. So i dont use cork for them, but small plants and small twigs. A lot to climb on/through!

greetz
Allen

 

[Sarra]

Glad to hear it. I was referring to a 20 tall, they really need the height. The Exo's are great, I love having the front opening doors. In either case, the larger foot print would help.

Mine are the rough/crinkley ones. It's the flexi-branch made by aquarium systems. I think they somehow hold water in all the crevices. It's a pretty quick fix though. Good luck.

Ahh, mine's made by a different company and is smoother, and less crinkley. It doesn't seem to hold as much water, so less mold.

Everyone knows, CB is the best to get, especially with uroplatus.
I have/had phants, brevicaudatus and poison darts. Only freshly imported brevi`s are not that hard to keep, the other better go with CB. But i think there are enough cb`s of brevi also, not? Don`t know the situation in the US.

As everyone says, check Mike`s caresheet, that would help you a lot.
The more ventilation you can give, the better. But keep it in balance with the humidity.
Phantasticus is a coldtemp and "high" humidity-lover, just keep that in mind.

For rhampholeons, check out chameleonnews or something like that. A person named Roo has written a very good caresheet on them there. On that could also help on the smaller uro-species, i think.

For background, i have foam with pieces of wood and other stuff in it, and layer of "cement" on top of the foam. Half of the time, the phant is resting on the woodpiece during the day, rest of the time hanging around in the ficus. So i dont use cork for them, but small plants and small twigs. A lot to climb on/through!

greetz
Allen

After reading the caresheet a few times, it seems that buying Uroplatus Phantasticus for a breeding animal is going to be difficult. I'd like to have more than a few viable clutches a year. Perhaps I will go with Rieppeleon brevicaudatus, though they tend to live fast and die young. I've already got darts, and I don't really want more of them than I already have. It's still a difficult debate.

 

[Calfirecap]

Sarra,
I haven't been on the forums here for a while, but let me see if I can catch up a bit. I also haven't read the care sheet in mention for quite some time, but I do recall it being very good. However, if it does say they will only produce a few viable clutches a year, it's an under estimation. Six clutches a year for a mature female is very reasonable, but if you are in it for the money, think again and don't quit your day job.
As for housing, 12 x 12x 18 Exo-terra cages are fine for a pair or even a trio of Satanics. Of course larger caging is preferable. Low temps and high humidities are key, especially with the young. Here in California we have been seeing some extremely high temps and very low humidities and it has taken it's toll on my collection. Egg laying is also off, but that's somewhat normal for this time of year, at least where I am at. I believe that humidities are key here.
As for Corkbark, it's not necessary for Satanics. However, dry leaves on the bottom of the cage are highly desirable. UV light is important, and full spectrum flourescent tubes work well. I believe you said that you were keeping Crested and Gargoile Geckos, which have simular temperature and humidity requirements, so housing them in the same room would work well.
Satanics are great geckos to work with and depending upon what part of Oregon you are from, and how much you are willing to work with them, they can do well and live for years. Just how long, I can't say. My oldest WC's were adults when I got them 3 1/2 years ago, and my oldest CBs are about 3 years old now.

Lawrence