sciteacher
New member
I'm pretty frustrated and disappointed right now. I've lost a few geckos in the last couple of weeks, and I'm sure my brumation technique must be to blame. I brumated 4 species this year... Geckonia chazalia, Nephrurus milli, Nephrurus wheeleri, and Palmatogecko rangei. The Geckonia were proven breeders. I haven't cooled them much in the past, but I had a hard time getting them to stop laying last year, and I was afraid they'd get burnt out if they didn't get a break. The milli were also proven breeders, having finished their first year of production. The other 2 species were cooled in preparation for their first upcoming breeding season.
I stopped feeding them in early / mid December and kept them on heat for a couple of weeks to make sure they had time to eliminate food from their digestive tracts. I then took them off heat, but kept them in the gecko room for a couple of weeks (temps around 68 - 70º F). In early / mid January, I transferred all the containers to an unheated storage room in the house that held in the 50's most of the time, possibly getting up into the low 60's on mild, sunny days. I lightly misted the tanks every week or two. I tried to keep one patch of sand slightly moistened, but did not keep a water dish in the tanks (I wonder now if this was a mistake). They seemed pretty inactive when I would check them, but the rangei seemed to be out and about even at these cool temperatures. I did not feed them at all during this time.
A few days ago when I went to mist them, I found 1 of my female helmeted geckos dead (appeared to have been dead for several days), and a male of the same species (in a separate tank) not doing well at all. I took him to the reptile room to try to warm him up a bit, but he died within 24 hours. That was Wednesday, and I decided that I would bring all of them out of brumation this weekend when I had some extra time. They had been in these cool conditions for approximately 2 months. Today when I went to bring them out of brumation, I found another of my female helmeted geckos was in very poor condition (basically limp and unresponsive... I don't hold out much hope), and my female P. rangei was also dead. I am really quite shocked and disappointed in the outcome. This really decimates my G. chazalia breeding groups and leaves me without a female P. rangei. The Australian geckos seemed to come through all right, but I am watching them very closely and hoping they all successfully make the transition to warmer temperatures without any further losses.
As disappointed as I am in this experience, I hope to learn from it so that I can do better in the future. Would simply taking them off heat and keeping them in the gecko room at temperatures in the mid - upper 60's have been preferable? Should I have fed them once every couple of weeks? Is a water dish a must when brumating? Did I keep them cooled for too long or start too late? I would very much appreciate some input from those with successful experiences in brumating geckos. Do all feel that brumation is absolutely necessary to stimulate breeding in some of the species involved here?
Thanks in advance for your input.
Gary Hamann
Ridge and Valley Reptiles
I stopped feeding them in early / mid December and kept them on heat for a couple of weeks to make sure they had time to eliminate food from their digestive tracts. I then took them off heat, but kept them in the gecko room for a couple of weeks (temps around 68 - 70º F). In early / mid January, I transferred all the containers to an unheated storage room in the house that held in the 50's most of the time, possibly getting up into the low 60's on mild, sunny days. I lightly misted the tanks every week or two. I tried to keep one patch of sand slightly moistened, but did not keep a water dish in the tanks (I wonder now if this was a mistake). They seemed pretty inactive when I would check them, but the rangei seemed to be out and about even at these cool temperatures. I did not feed them at all during this time.
A few days ago when I went to mist them, I found 1 of my female helmeted geckos dead (appeared to have been dead for several days), and a male of the same species (in a separate tank) not doing well at all. I took him to the reptile room to try to warm him up a bit, but he died within 24 hours. That was Wednesday, and I decided that I would bring all of them out of brumation this weekend when I had some extra time. They had been in these cool conditions for approximately 2 months. Today when I went to bring them out of brumation, I found another of my female helmeted geckos was in very poor condition (basically limp and unresponsive... I don't hold out much hope), and my female P. rangei was also dead. I am really quite shocked and disappointed in the outcome. This really decimates my G. chazalia breeding groups and leaves me without a female P. rangei. The Australian geckos seemed to come through all right, but I am watching them very closely and hoping they all successfully make the transition to warmer temperatures without any further losses.
As disappointed as I am in this experience, I hope to learn from it so that I can do better in the future. Would simply taking them off heat and keeping them in the gecko room at temperatures in the mid - upper 60's have been preferable? Should I have fed them once every couple of weeks? Is a water dish a must when brumating? Did I keep them cooled for too long or start too late? I would very much appreciate some input from those with successful experiences in brumating geckos. Do all feel that brumation is absolutely necessary to stimulate breeding in some of the species involved here?
Thanks in advance for your input.
Gary Hamann
Ridge and Valley Reptiles
