Perth Pygopodids

[Nephrurus]

G'day all,

Here are a few photos of some of the geckos we get around Perth.
Delma fraseri, found under a brick in some Perth bushland. Apparently these guys are pretty common but I've only seen two. These ones get rather large, about 45-50cms long.

A much smaller burrowing species thats also apparently common around Perth is Aprasia repens. Again, I've only seen one of these as well. It was raked from the sand when I was searching for burrowing snakes. They are painful to photograph.

And the final gecko is my favourite from the east coast (they have a pan-continental distribution), The Common Scaly Foot Pygopus lepidopodus. I used to have some captives, and they were awesome pets. The current carer (they're on breeding loan) managed to breed them this season as well. Great news for a species that is rarely bred in captivity.

They clean themselves with their tongue, just like regular diplodactyline geckos.

I've caught a heap of other stuff in recent months around Perth, but most of it doesn't apply here i.e not many geckos.


All the best,
Henry

 

[PassPort]

Nice effin geckos! Wish we could get some of these state side :/ (besides Lialis, of course)

What did your lepidopodus eat when you kept them?

-Kevin

 

[qiksilver]

Thanks for the pics. Don't see of these often enough. By far one of my favorites groups.

 

[Palor]

Those are really neat

 

[Lordoftheswarms]

Thanks for the pics. Don't see of these often enough. By far one of my favorites groups.

I agree! Awesome pics as well.

 

[Hannibal]

Great photos, they are amazing! I've never heard of them before and find them very interesting. Thanks for educating me on a new gecko species.

 

[MicahO]

G, day Henry,
I think i know you from BirdingOZ? :biggrin:
Some really nice photos there, that would be a very interesting species to keep.
Cheers Micah.

 

[Nephrurus]

My Pygopus just ate crickets and wood roaches (Nophoeta cinerea). I had three species, and the lepidopodus were by far the most aggressive. Nigriceps and schraderi were relatively benign and could be housed together.

Micah, I'm herper before a birder. I'm not that interested in keeping animals that much anymore but I am interested in some of the interesting observations keepers make.

Here's a Delma borea from up around darwin.

And a Delma australis from near Albany in WA.

and another from the eastern end of the Nullarbor Plain.

 

[PassPort]

Really nice pictures! I'd keep Lialis myself, but they're avid lizard munchers :/