Bought two Phantasticus on Sat & male died

[postskunk]

I've been on this forum for a while and now after like 8 years I finally have geckos again, it sucks that this is what my first thread is about.

On Saturday I went to the Hamburg Show and bought a male and a female Phantasticus. The Male was one of the best looking Satanics I've ever seen it was mostly various shades of green and they were only 60 each. He was a little lethargic but I chocked that up to the weather, he was also in a shed so I guessed that was stressing him on top of everything else. All that being said it was probably something I did cause yesterday he wasn't looking that great so I gently took him out and he had a bunch of lizard litter caked into his mouth. not enough to choke him but a thin layer on the inside bottom. he then proceeded to open his mouth and thrash his head about which really got me worried so I took a pare of long tweezers and when he would open it I would very gently try to scoop a tiny bit of it out at a time. I'm almost certain I didn't hurt him in the process (minus the stress) and when he started rubbing his front foot on his head were he was still shedding I thought he might just be aggravated about the shed, so I put him back. I was misting them both three times a day and the female is doing very well so far but when I got home after work he was dead. Maybe there was some fertilizer in the dirt from the plants I put in that he ingested while going after a cricket I don't know? Is There any advise Anyone can give on what I can do to ensure that the female doesn't die aswell.

 

[jadrig]

Man, the same thing happened to me a while back...

They were fresh imports, but the guy shipped them to the wrong person...

So, they had to be shipped back to the guy and then shipped to me...

It was a long and drawn out process...

These animals were robust and great looking colors...

He ate shortly after, he had a bad shed...

He was doing the same thing with the substrate too...

I initially thought that the substrate had fertilizer in it and that that was the cause...

It is just what these things do right before they die...

They squirm on the bottom of the tank and get a mouthfull of substrate...

You will almost never find a dead satanic without substrate in their mouth...

It is most likely dehydration. If he was in a shed when you got him...it was probably too late...

Wild Caught leaftails are a whole lot more suceptible to dehydration than CB ones... I have a WC and a CB adult male henkels...IF it gets dry and I dont have time to mist them...The WC ones will always go into a shed right away.

The dehydration really affects the satanics badly when they are first getting acclimated to captivity...

There is a good chance that the damage was done before you aquired them...
That is why they were so cheap...
Even though they looked Robust and healthy, the dehydration attacks them too quickly...

 

[postskunk]

I'm not gonna lie I'm on some other forums for my other animals and from past experience with them (the other forums) I was almost sure I was going to get totally chewed out, So first of all I want to say thank you for the non critical response. Maybe at GeckosUnlimited everyone doesn't think there the President of all animals.

Second of all that does make me feel better not so much because it wasn't my fault but because it should mean the female isn't living in the potential death trap I was loosing sleep over last night. I think I'm gonna wate until next month to see how she holds up and then talk to my friend who has a real great exotic pet store about ordering me another male and maybe even another female aswell. I love satanics but the real reason I bought them was cause I was looking for a breeding project. Also I was thinking about the show last night and I remember walking by a man and a women talking to another women at a vender trying to sell them a meillers Chameleon. The couple was totally looking into buying it and the women keeped saying it was very excited and thats why it was so pretty. The thing was almost entirely white with some faint yellow bars down the side and I really wanted to say "I think your mistaking excited for about to keel over and die in your hand" but I didn't know if I wanted to buy anything from that vendor yet so I said nothing. Maybe Karma got the best of me on this one. (it wasn't the same vendor I bought the Satanics From)

Thanks again for the info and have a great day

 

[crestedtimm]

The first week or so that you have your animals (uroplatus) is when you know they are going to sink or swim.

Most of the Uroplatus are pretty hardy IF you get them in good shape, and take measures to accomodate them. Buying an animal that is at all lethargic, or in shed, or the unthinkable, a lost tail, is almost always a losing situation.

I would say to keep trying, try to be in touch with someone who gets Phantasticus in on a regular basis, and if possible, imports them directly, and try and set-up your order so that you receive them in the shortest amount of time after they arrive in the states. The other two feastible options are aquiring captive borns or buying animals that have been acclimated by someone in the know.

Good Luck,

Timm

 

[rhatfield]

I am in California, and I know there are a couple of people who breed and have cb phantastics. They are more. At a retail pet store- at a show, I did get a pair for 230(oh my god, I almost peed my pants when I got the price) , and the second pair I got from Lawrence and they were over 350 for the pair, but he keeps insanely, anal records of his babies. Once she goes through quarantine, you may want to speak with them. I can give you the info if you pm me.

As to the death. I am so sorry, I lost one of wc female sikorie, and she was having seizures before she died, and I could see her getting dirt in her mouth if she was not on paper towel for quarantine. Sorry for your loss, and rip pretty boy.

Did you contact the place you got it? They should have a guarantee. Also what did his tail look like when you got him, was it curled? I have also been told that is a symptom of dehydration. Did you keep the body?(in the fridge is the best)