Gekko Petricolus (Sandstone Gecko) info

A

amazoncat

New member
I'm looking for any information available on Gekko Petricolus / Sandstone geckos. I rescued one about 5 months ago which was being kept with three other geckos all of different species. I have since rehomed all the others but I was rather taken with this little guy so he has stayed with me. Unfortunately there appears to be no information out there on these so all the temperatures etc. I'm using come from research I've done into the climate of Thiland, where this species originates, whilst he seems to be doing alright at the moment more information is always handy especially as I would like to get a female at some point and try breeding them although given their apparent rarity in captivity that may have to wait a while.

What I'm really looking for is to hear from anybody who keeps or has kept this species or has any information on their husbandry.

Many thanks,

Cat x
 
A

amazoncat

New member
Great to hear from you both. I did think there might be more about in America than on my little island lol! Could you provide me with temperatures, humity and set up information. From your description, Cliff of keeping them like Tokays I'd imagine we have fairly similar set ups. What do you guys feed yours on? I had a lot of problems getting mine to eat although he's now decided he loves mealworms.
 
I

Ingo

New member
Hi,

they are regularily bred in Germany. G. petricolus -as the name implies- is a sandstone dweller which spends a lot of its time underneath rockspurs. Thus the viv should have a fake rock backwall with many crevices and spurs. Uncommon for a Gekko species, males and females differ a lot in coliouration. While males have quite resemblance of G. ulikovskii, females do look very similar to G. grossmanni.
Other than tokays, they do not protect eggs and eat their young.
Peter Harbig is one of the most experienced keepers of this species and he also visited their natural habitat several times and spend a lot of time watching these geckos in the wild.
I would suggest to contact him for more detailed information on husbandry.

Maybe you can start via his profile in the DGHT forum (German Society for herpetology and herpetoculture)
DGHT-Foren

BR

Ingo
 
A

amazoncat

New member
Thank you very much for this. I will wait a few days to contact him as I'm currently staying with my parents for a few days and my partner speaks German pretty fluently.

I'm busy refurbishing the viv at the moment and building a fake rock face so I'm pleased to know of their love of rock spurs so I can build them in.
 
cliff_f

cliff_f

New member
I guess I do want to correct my self. I have some rock in with my petricolus to climb and hide on (I dont have rock in with my tokays). But the temps and how often I mist are pretty much the same as tokays.
 
Gongylus

Gongylus

New member
Okay , no one ask me.
Here i post some pictures from Gekko petricolus in the wild.
Thai provinces Si Saket, Ubon Ratchatani, Kemmerat all close to Borders of southern Lao and northern Cambodia.So you´re maybe inspired in how to build the artifical rocks.

You can find G.p. on all different kind of rock formations.
They prefer rocks offering shade at base ( look like mushrooms)
usually they spend the daytime hanging on the ceilings.
Thats why I would always suggest to create the artifical rocks including the ceiling inside a Gp- Terrarium.
They are also common in urban struktures like under bridges,houses, toilet buildings ...
Often I observed G.p. in a Shrine in a grotto that gave me inspiration to create the Terrarium like a shrine (last pic)

sorry for my bad english


Peter


detailed i wrote about G.p in german magazin " SAURIA"
HARBIG, P.: Records of Gekko petricolus TAYLOR, 1962, from the Thai Province of Si Saket and from Northern Cambodia, and complementary Data on its Biology Gekko petricolus
&
HARBIG, P.: Observations on Gekko petricolus Taylor, 1962 in an Habitat near Khong Chiam, Ubon Ratchatani, Thailand
 

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J

joyszoo

New member
so what have you gotten them to eat besides the mealworms? Do you think they might like lateralis roaches? Found some for sale and thinking about getting them.
 
I

Ingo

New member
Hi,

they are voracious feeders, which do eat everything that moves and fits into their mouth. And yes, soft roaches -like lateralis- are very welcome.

Best

Ingo
 
Gongylus

Gongylus

New member
Yes, of course, they also like to eat roaches.
Wax moth & their larvae make whith about 40% next to the crickets ( 40%)
largest share of the food from Gekko petricolus in my terrariums.

I leave at the time, several young couples.
If someone wants to pick them up in Berlin
 
J

joyszoo

New member
Requesting pictures to confirm their identity. Thanks for the info on their feeding habits. I haven't found anywhere that states their size or even ideal tank size.
 
Gongylus

Gongylus

New member
I would say for a couple ( 1,1 ) not less than 50X50X70 cm length X depth X heigth. For each additional female approximately one-third larger.
Requirement :artificial Rocks also covering Terrarium -walls including -ceilig.
 
PassPort

PassPort

New member
joyszoo said:
Finally got a picture- they are regular golden geckos. Don't know why they listed sandstone in the name. Still a good price for those.
Click to expand...

First off, THAT'S A TERRIBLE PRICE FOR THOSE GECKOS! It disgusts me to see them offered so low. That's the biggest reason why these neat geckos aren't captive bred more, WC's go for next to nothing and we can sell CB's for more than a few bucks more, when they should be worth about 5-10 times as much. I feel it will ultimately be the down fall of the species in captivity.

Secondly, goldens (badeni, aka ulikovskii, aka "auratus") get listed as petricolus all the time by importers who don't care to take the time to properly identify them.

I HATE the mass importing business.
 
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