Ornata an Cepediana?

[pono]

I am hoping to go to hamm in december to get some more phelsuma. I think i will try to get some of the rare, more expensive species as i wont be able to go to hamm again for a long time as i am only 15. I am considering a pair of ornata, a pair of cepediana, and a pair of something less expensive like nigristriata's or a female standingi to pair with my male. I was wondering, how well do you think i would do with the cepediana's as i only have experience with standini and pasteuri, and no breeding experience (but done LOADS of reasearch)? I hear they are very hard to keep, or is this breed? Are they relatively straight forward to keep if i were to keep the pair separate to begin with until i was more confident with them, and then put them together to attempt breeding? I would be keeping a pair of each species in a 40x40x80 glass viv, with a hallogen hot spot of about 95-100F, and a uv 5 florescent tube and a uv 2 florescent tube (or a 'daylight' tube). There would then be sanserveria, bromiliads, and bamboo in the vivs. Misting twice a day. Substate of clay granules. Feed crickets three times a week, once dusted with multi vitamin (has a little bit of calcium in it), once with calcium dust, and once with 'bare' crickets. Also feed once a week with 100% fruit baby food, and leave a small dish of calcium in the viv for the geckos to help themselves if they require more at all times. Does that sound ok for cepediana's and ornata's. If they become hard to keep when they are kept together for breeding, i would be happy to keep them separate for a while, while i got used to their care etc. Or should i just go for some easier species to begin with. The problem is sadly i don't think i will be going to hamm again for quite a few years, so wont have another chance to get these for a while. Thanks,

Ed ;-)

 

[zohariels]

Sorry I dont have an answer for you! But I'm curious about this as well. So far this is what I keep:
p.l.laticauda +angularis
p.grandis
p.dubia
p.standingi
p. lineata elanthana
p.quad. quadriocellata + parva
I keep them all in naturalistic terrariums, and so far they've thrived, but honestly I'm a wee bit petrified to move onto the 'expert' breeds. I'm planning on getting a few from Geitje next spring,ornata, inexpectata, and hopefully cepediana, but I'm just wondering if you think I'll do well with them? Do you think they would be to advanced for me? Any criticism/advice is welcome and thanks!

 

[zohariels]

Oh, and I also breed l.williamsii. Not phelsuma, but still awesome!

 

[kruler]

What I have read about cepediana is that they are quite shy and require a very well planted viv to reduce stress. They also need higher humidity than most phelsuma, especially the standingi you have kept. The struggle is to maintain high humidity (80%) while having good air circulation.

I have no personal experience keeping this species, just what I have read/heard.

 

[colinmelsom]

They are both lovely geckos.You have clearly researched the subject,the only observations that I would add are that you could give a fruit based food once a week and it would be easier to add vitamins to this.I personally use 10% U.V.B. tubes as I have them outside of the vivarium on top of the mesh.the mesh cuts down the input of U.V.B. considerably into the vivarium.I dont use any Halogen bulbs as my reptile room is heated and the animals could overheat with the Halogen but I do use daylight stimulating tubes or bird light tubes which replicate natural sunlight.
Have fun at Hamm,it can be manic.I would try to book any animals beforehand as it is along way to go on the offchance.The cepediana and ornata are not cheap,well for males at least, but the ornata are a little easier and cheaper to come by.

 

[pono]

They are both lovely geckos.You have clearly researched the subject,the only observations that I would add are that you could give a fruit based food once a week and it would be easier to add vitamins to this.I personally use 10% U.V.B. tubes as I have them outside of the vivarium on top of the mesh.the mesh cuts down the input of U.V.B. considerably into the vivarium.I dont use any Halogen bulbs as my reptile room is heated and the animals could overheat with the Halogen but I do use daylight stimulating tubes or bird light tubes which replicate natural sunlight.
Have fun at Hamm,it can be manic.I would try to book any animals beforehand as it is along way to go on the offchance.The cepediana and ornata are not cheap,well for males at least, but the ornata are a little easier and cheaper to come by.

Thank you very much for your reply. I also have my uv trubes outside the viv, so maybe in the future i will try a 10% uv tube as i hadn't thought about the mesh cutting out some of the uv. I plan on feeding 100% fruit baby food once a week as i do with my pasteuri at the moment. My bed room (also rep room) is quite cool, so i have to use hallogen spots as at the moment for instance, the ambient temp with just the florescent tubes running is only about 73F. I use the hallogen spots to give them a basking spot of 93-100F, and they can get away from the heat to plenty of retreats in the viv if they wish. I am hoping to reserve animals before i go (i am very close to reserving an ornata pair at the moment). What species are you keeping as there really are not many people keeping the rarer phelsuma species in the UK? Cheers,

Ed

 

[PhelsumaUK]

Sorry I dont have an answer for you! But I'm curious about this as well. So far this is what I keep:
p.l.laticauda +angularis
p.grandis
p.dubia
p.standingi
p. lineata elanthana
p.quad. quadriocellata + parva
I keep them all in naturalistic terrariums, and so far they've thrived, but honestly I'm a wee bit petrified to move onto the 'expert' breeds. I'm planning on getting a few from Geitje next spring,ornata, inexpectata, and hopefully cepediana, but I'm just wondering if you think I'll do well with them? Do you think they would be to advanced for me? Any criticism/advice is welcome and thanks!

You've been keeping a few different species, so the move to the Mauritians won't be that much of a change. They're a bit more demanding re the climate, not so much in the keeping but more with the breeding. When you get more than a couple of tanks, it's sometimes easier to manipulate the room climate that to try to balance the individual tanks...but that depends on the room..Not so easy if they're in your bedroom! You can always set up a tank in advance without any geckos in it and see how easy/hard you find it to control. Ornata and inexpectata are the fastest of the Phelsuma so you might have to hone your 'escapee catching' skills! If you're really worried, just get a female to start with and see how you go. If you're then happy, go ahead and get a pair (you're not likely to get a male on its own). You can always use the first female for breeding and they're much easier to get hold of than males. Personally, I find cepediana are the easiest of the 3 to breed, followed by ornata and then inexpectata..and they're also more likely to be 'on show'.

 

[zohariels]

Great, thankyou very much, makes me a bit less nervous! It feels like when I got my first day gecko, when I went to upgrade their tanks I was a nervous wreck! I was so sure I was going to hurt her or lose her! Now I'm used to it, and definitely cant wait to get them. Thanks for the info!

 

[pono]

You've been keeping a few different species, so the move to the Mauritians won't be that much of a change. They're a bit more demanding re the climate, not so much in the keeping but more with the breeding. When you get more than a couple of tanks, it's sometimes easier to manipulate the room climate that to try to balance the individual tanks...but that depends on the room..Not so easy if they're in your bedroom! You can always set up a tank in advance without any geckos in it and see how easy/hard you find it to control. Ornata and inexpectata are the fastest of the Phelsuma so you might have to hone your 'escapee catching' skills! If you're really worried, just get a female to start with and see how you go. If you're then happy, go ahead and get a pair (you're not likely to get a male on its own). You can always use the first female for breeding and they're much easier to get hold of than males. Personally, I find cepediana are the easiest of the 3 to breed, followed by ornata and then inexpectata..and they're also more likely to be 'on show'.

Thanks very much for the reply. What i may do is either keep the pairs separate for a little while till i get used to them a little more, or keep them together with enough tanks free if i were to need to separate all of the pairs (in a worst case scenario lol). Thats very interesting that you say you find cepes the easiest to breed as from what i read, most people find them the hardest of the mauritians and ornata and guimbeaui easier. I think it must be down to the individual geckos and also differences in care between keeper to keeper. Thank you very much for your imput,

Ed :biggrin: