Ptenopus garrulus

[PassPort]

i keep mine on cardboard.
I do it to keep up with the dudes who keep their geckos on egg crates.

:rofl: ahahahahahahahahahahahaha:crackup:

 

[Ingo]

Hi,

I guess, you got me wrong.
I do agree that there is no strong need to really closely imitate the natural habitat.
I just have fun in doing so.
Thus in my Ptenopus tank, metal halides let surface tamps locally reach 50°c and more and at night temps dropped strongly, assisted by some fog in early morning. The geckos had the opportunity to dig 10" deep and they did so.
Not necessary, but kind of the part of the hobby which motivates me most: Mimicking microhabitats.
And yes, I am aware of the risks of overdoing or loosing balance in critical points.
But I do my best and I have more fun with that than with other type of setups.
I openly say that I strongly dislike semisterile shoebox type setups. But I absolutely have no problems with seminaturalistic minimalistic setups serving all the gecko needs.
In fact, I also have some of those.
However, I just do not like the optics and the lack of dynamics, the ease of setting it up etc pp..and have more fun with the complex types.
Hm....I wanted to stop posting here.
Thus just a final Pic of one of my ex Ptenopus after removal of the dried thorny bush covering the entry of its burrow to allow taking a pic.:

SonyUserforum :: Galerie
[lightbox]819/ptenopus7.JPG[/lightbox]
-> Bild in der Galerie

And very finally one short info about my experiences with feeding, depicting nothing more but personal observation on only three individuals: My Ptenopus strongly preferred Bruchus quadrimaculatus Imagines, Alphitobius larvae and -to a lesser extent- Thermobia domestica over every other food I offered.

Ingo

 

[Geitje]

I want to briefly touch on some of Ingo’s points relating to “husbandry philosophies”. My primary objective in husbandry technique is to meet all of the animal’s basic needs: general terrarium structure, fixtures, climate, lighting, food and social issues. The rest (personal satisfaction with the appearance of your terrariums), which you fervently refer to, are issues that appeal to the keeper and the ‘keeper’s needs’, not the gecko’s needs. A gecko could care less if we scrape the crap from a rock or the glass. A gecko could care less if the set-up is 100% naturalistic. I do not use a very simplistic or “semi-sterile” setup. In fact, my terrariums are closer to naturalistic in most cases. Anyone who has field hunted geckos can attest to finding animals in smelly, dirty, cramped and sometimes oxygen poor retreats that would make some people reading this sick if those conditions were duplicated in someone’s terrarium. I can assure you that a plugged Ptenopus burrow is not fresh and airy like a fresh Caribbean breeze. Most geckos that I’ve found in nature are holed-up in very tight spots to avoid predators and in actuality live most of their life in a few square feet (not cubic feet, geckos don’t fly) of surface area. Only when the very basic of needs (climatic, food and social) are not being met would a gecko go wandering abroad. Knowing this, it’s pointless to allow 3 inch (total length) geckos free run of something the size of a horse’s stall, unless you cannot meet their needs and need to allow them a chance to go and find it for themselves. Understand the species need and deliver it, or give them to someone else who can do so. Decisive evidence that we are adequately meeting our geckos needs is expressed in reproductive output and longevity.

Ingo, you’ve finally provided some good substance here to the topic of Ptenopus husbandry – listing preferred food items for your animals in captivity. I, and I’m sure others, appreciate straight-line factual experience, while leaving the misleading speculation out.

Terrariums are like opinions = we all have them, none are identical and some stink. There’s no right or wrong - siift out what matters and discard the waste (turds or ideas).

 

[clint545]

A very interesting read guys, thank you. Some interesting info through out it, Jon you should post more often. It gives some of the more unique geckos a chance at spending a few moments in the spotlight.

 

[alecfeldman]

geckos don't fly

"Geckos don't fly" ... HILARIOUS! I just got a new 3 CUBIC foot cage, what am I going to do now? Nothing to do with the topic obviously... just enjoyed that statement. BTW, from personal experience...if Jon wrote it... its fact, believe it. My two cents, not that anyone asked for it :evil:

 

[Matty]

Sorry to re-open this thread, but I have some questions which I hope can be answered.

I have aquired a CB Parthenogenic form of Ptenopus g. maculatus Yellow form. I have had her for a few weeks now and she is feeding and doing everything she should be doing.
My questions are these

1: Is there such a form as a parthenogenic Ptenopus? Literature is very sparse on such.

2: She laid 1 big egg, but I had leopard geckos lay eggs without a male present, that were obviously infertile. Could this be the case with this "form"?

I really hope someone can answer these questions for me. Thanks Matt

 

[thorrshamri]

Sorry to re-open this thread, but I have some questions which I hope can be answered.

I have aquired a CB Parthenogenic form of Ptenopus g. maculatus Yellow form. I have had her for a few weeks now and she is feeding and doing everything she should be doing.
My questions are these

1: Is there such a form as a parthenogenic Ptenopus? Literature is very sparse on such.

2: She laid 1 big egg, but I had leopard geckos lay eggs without a male present, that were obviously infertile. Could this be the case with this "form"?

I really hope someone can answer these questions for me. Thanks Matt

Ask Geitje, he is probably the best person to answer your questions.

I too have heard of parthenogenic populations, and I know a guy in the Netherlands had one such female, though I don't know if she has produced fertile eggs.
According to some papers, it seems some maculatus females do act as parthenogenic ones. Google for papers from Hibbits on the Ptenopus genus.

 

[Matty]

Thanks. I have some papers from Hibbits, that I have found very useful. I have messaged Geitje a while ago, but not had a reply I would really like more info on them in general as well as the parthenogenesis. Great little geckos to own and watch, but very hard to come by in the UK sadly.

 

[thorrshamri]

Ptenopus maculatus - Reptile Forums have you seen this thread? Maybe contact the owner.

 

[Matty]

Ptenopus maculatus - Reptile Forums have you seen this thread? Maybe contact the owner.

Hi thorrshamri. Yes I have seen the thread. It's my thread lol. I have had an egg, but can't be sure if she wasn't mated before. Sadly I didn't rescue the egg in time and she had dug it back up with her movements. Really would like more info

 

[thorrshamri]

Geitje would probably be the only person here to know, maybe send him a pm?

 

[thorrshamri]

Some of my garrulus garrulus, they thrive and started laying infertile clutches a while ago, hoping for good eggs in a near future! I currently have 1:3.