Viper Gecko Information please!

[fastfoward5k]

Hi, I am thinking of getting 0.3 Viper Geckos (Teratolepis fasciata) to add to my collection (0.1 Leopard Gecko and 0.0.1 Crested Gecko). I would like some general information and some answers to my questions. Thanks in advance. :biggrin:

1. Would 0.3 Vipers be fine in a 10 Gallon (my leo's old cage, now in a 20 L)?

2. Is Reptile Carpet a good substrate choice for them?

3. Even though they are a desert species, I have heard that they have adhesive toe pads and enjoy to climb on rocks. Is this true?

4. Would a 50 Watt Nocturnal bulb on 24/7 be good for these guys (my room stays at around 78 in the summer and 67 in the winter)?

5. Would I need multiple hides for them? I was planning on getting a Medium Exo Terra Cave and leaning a piece of slate or cork bark against it and putting damp frog moss in it. Would this be good for them?

6. Are (small sized) Mealworms and Phoenix Worms a good staple diet; are (small sized) Wax Worms, Silk Worms, and Butter Worms good treats?

 

[René]

Hi, I am thinking of getting 0.3 Viper Geckos (Teratolepis fasciata) to add to my collection (0.1 Leopard Gecko and 0.0.1 Crested Gecko). I would like some general information and some answers to my questions. Thanks in advance. :biggrin:

1. Would 0.3 Vipers be fine in a 10 Gallon (my leo's old cage, now in a 20 L)?
I'm not familiair with these sizes, but I've got my T. fasciata in a 60 x 40 x 40 cm viv. For a trio I would suggest a viv of 60 x 30 x 30 cm.
2. Is Reptile Carpet a good substrate choice for them?
I keep mine on playsand. Impaction is a risk, but hey, howmany vipers in the wild live on carpet?? And howmany die because of impaction? When they're young put them on kitchentowel or carpet, but after 3 - 6 months just put them on sand. Looks far more natural and they're supposed to cope with it.
3. Even though they are a desert species, I have heard that they have adhesive toe pads and enjoy to climb on rocks. Is this true?
They've got setae but don't need them to climb rocks. That's what they use their nails for. The can climb glass because of the setae they have, but they're not fully developed. So they can and will climb glass vertically, but not upside-down.
4. Would a 50 Watt Nocturnal bulb on 24/7 be good for these guys (my room stays at around 78 in the summer and 67 in the winter)?
I use a 60 Watt spot in my viv. Under the spot the temperature rises to 100 F. and at night the temperature drops to 70 degrees. I don't use night heating or UTH.
5. Would I need multiple hides for them? I was planning on getting a Medium Exo Terra Cave and leaning a piece of slate or cork bark against it and putting damp frog moss in it. Would this be good for them?
Yes, use multilple hides. You can make a little rock formation with some rocks. I noticed they like to be in, behind, under, on top of it.
6. Are (small sized) Mealworms and Phoenix Worms a good staple diet; are (small sized) Wax Worms, Silk Worms, and Butter Worms good treats?
Be careful with the mealworms, they've got hard scales that are hard to digest. Use buffalo worms instead. Phoenix worms will be ok. But you can also feed them cricktes and flies. butter-, wax- and silkworms are ok as a treat. Just be careful that the prey items aren't too large.

Good luck!
René.

 

[fastfoward5k]

Ahh, okay I see you're from The Netherlands. My friend lived there for a year, but anyway a 10 Gallon aquarium is equal to about 40 Litres I believe (and 20 Long is about 80). I have never seen or heard of Buffalo Worms in the US. But the mealworm brand I buy is much softer than most, I have tried other brands and some were hard for my Leopard Gecko to digest. I can't do crickets, but flightless fruit flies are a possibility. What is a good species to get and how do you care for them? And I was going to keep them in the 40 Litre tank for about a year and then move them into an 80. And also, how handleable are they? I have heard they are generally tame. One last thing, how easy are they to sex and at what age are they sexable? My mom is hesitant about letting me get more than one in the same cage (I had gerbils like 6 years ago when I was 7 and the two "males" ended up turning into 4 females and 4 males :yikes: ), and I keep telling her how a pet store employees at PetLand (a pretty bad pet store here, but I didn't know any better when I was young) would NEVER know as much as a proffesional reptile breeder. And plus the first batch of eggs a female lays is usually infertile, right? So I could seperate them and not even have to worry about babies. And plus they only lay 2 eggs per clutch so I would just buy a 25 Litre and keep all the females together in the 40 and have the male in the 25. And thanks for all your help so far, and I hope you can help me a little more! :banana:

 

[René]

Ahh, okay I see you're from The Netherlands. My friend lived there for a year, but anyway a 10 Gallon aquarium is equal to about 40 Litres I believe (and 20 Long is about 80).
I'm not really familiar with the sizes of tanks in Gallons or Litres. But if you've got a tank of 60 x 30 x 30 cm, it's 54 liter. And 54 liter is around 14 US gallon (correct me if I'm wrong). And you can keep a couple in a tank that size for life. They don't need a bigger tank, because they won't get any bigger then 4 inches (including their tail).
I have never seen or heard of Buffalo Worms in the US. But the mealworm brand I buy is much softer than most, I have tried other brands and some were hard for my Leopard Gecko to digest.
Buffalo worms look the same as mealworms, only they're much smaller. I think they're called "lesser mealworm" in the US.
I can't do crickets, but flightless fruit flies are a possibility. What is a good species to get and how do you care for them?
You mean species of prey-items? I mainly feed them crickets. But you can also feed flightless flies (I think the fruitflies are rather small fo them), lesser malwroms, little waxworms and silk worms.
And I was going to keep them in the 40 Litre tank for about a year and then move them into an 80. And also, how handleable are they? I have heard they are generally tame.
They are a calm gecko species, but they dont like to be handled. My advice is to only handle them if you have no other choice. I.e. if you need to take them to a vet.
One last thing, how easy are they to sex and at what age are they sexable? My mom is hesitant about letting me get more than one in the same cage (I had gerbils like 6 years ago when I was 7 and the two "males" ended up turning into 4 females and 4 males :yikes: ), and I keep telling her how a pet store employees at PetLand (a pretty bad pet store here, but I didn't know any better when I was young) would NEVER know as much as a proffesional reptile breeder. And plus the first batch of eggs a female lays is usually infertile, right? So I could seperate them and not even have to worry about babies. And plus they only lay 2 eggs per clutch so I would just buy a 25 Litre and keep all the females together in the 40 and have the male in the 25.
The vipers are sexable at 3 - 6 months. I don't know if the first clutch is infrtile, but if it is fertile, just throw away the eggs if you don't want more vipers. Or only buy females if it's possible.
And thanks for all your help so far, and I hope you can help me a little more! :banana:

René.

 

[fastfoward5k]

Well, I have a leftover 40.5 x 20.5 x 25 (L x W x H in cm) but I might get something else to put in that tank (2 Mantella Frogs which only get less than 1 inch each) and I would just buy them a 60.5 x 25 x 25.5 (L x W x H in cm) because I just got my Leopard Gecko in a bigger cage and now she is so much more active, so I just want to give them as much room as possible, even though it isn't totally necessary. And I know what Buffalo worms are, and exactly where I can buy them. They are really small, but I have just seen them called Mini-Mealworms. I'll do whatever I can to get 3 females, but I could never just throw away the eggs. I would just try to find good homes for them (possibly including mine :evil: ). Thank you Rene! ;-)

EDIT: and I could handle not handling them. I already have my leo and crested for that!

 

[René]

I think you'll have a lot of fun keeping vipers.
You've got the right attidtude for caring for them.

Good luck!
And post some pics of your vipers when you've managed to get some.

René.

 

[fastfoward5k]

It might not be for a little while, but as soon as I get them I'll post pictures! I plan on naming them Gaboon, Pit, and Adder! Thanks Rene! :biggrin: