The question of all questions to you phelsuma fiends?????

[oli]

I have an escaped p. guimbeaui, and for some reason I am just writing him off. If I find him, I'd still have to catch him :roll: I've caught klemmeri and that wasn't all that bad, but these guys are a different story! If anyone has any suggestions on what worked for them I would appreciate it. I have been scheming up some ideas but would like to hear from any of you please! Oli

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

"Catching" runaway Phelsuma

Oli ~

This has worked for me in the past to "catch" a runaway Phelsuma barbouri: Left her cage on the carpet right near where it usually was with the incandescent light on 24/7, a fresh water dish, some crickets in her cage, and probably a lid of peach baby food. Within a couple days I found her very near her cage between some electrical cords ! Delicup with cardboard to slide underneath the deli or other plastic container, or net, should be on hand. (In the meantime I totally emptied a stuffed closet in trying to find her with NO luck.)

A variant of this "trap" has worked for a Pachydactylus tigrinus who escaped under my kitchen cabinets! Needed a second chance on the tiger, but got it.

 

[oli]

mhhmmmm, just as I suspected....I was thinking of doing something similar with a heat lamp, a few crickets+roaches, some nice fruit puree(the loaded buffet), and maybe even a nice perch to sun on. I will try this and let you know if I succeed. I need a nice fish net now! With a pole on it even! Any more suggestions??? I already did a thorough sweep of the room, and even tried to 'flush' him out with scare tactics but I didn't even see him! I was thinking of smoking him out, or possibly even dropping the temps in the room and supply a heat source, but came to the conclusion that this is too risky

 

[Sgvreptiles]

If you have alot of lights, he will come out and probly find him on top of a light or under one. Usually I leave them until they jump on the wall. The scaring and constant being in the room will make him keep hiding. Hell pop up, as they usually do. I had a standingi living on the outside of my house for around 9 months. Thought he was forsure dead...

 

[rhachic]

My standings recently got out in a room with an ambient temp of 68. I easily caught him trying to warm himself under my waxy monkey tree frog's heat light. He did burn himself a little because he was nearly touching the light, but i did manage to catch him quickly and easily only a few hours after his escape.
I also had a gold dust get out last year in the summer. I left fruit food out for him and misted the tops of my other animals cages so water was sitting on them in case he came out to drink. After 2 months of no sign of him I gave up. Then randomly when I was chasing a frisky chahoua across the floor i saw something bright green dart around a large display case. I pursued it and ended up finding a MUCH fatter gold dust day gecko! There are a number of small cellar spiders that live under the display cases and I have an open top tank with around 1000 crickets in it, so I can only assume he lived on these while he was running rampant. I ended up doing the fish net trick to catch him as everything else was too large and menacing (my hands, and a cup) and he wouldn't keep still. I actually kind of used the net to herd him toward me. He jumped onto my shirt and I grabbed him.
Hope you find yours in just as good of health!

 

[colinmelsom]

I have used these methods and they work,it just depends on how wary your gecko is.I am not sure if others have mentioned it but if you turn off all your lights in the room except one you will usually find your gecko basking under this light.

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

32" long nets

I have two PYTHON brand nets that are on plastic "sticks". They measure 32 inches long and could be strapped to a longer dowel. The net itself is 7.5 inches x 6 inches. (One upstairs and one down...gotta be ready wherever ;-).)

Think I got them from Doctors' Foster and Smith.

 

[rhachic]

dive!

haha! I can already imagine you leaping across the room with a 3 foot net to catch a tiny gecko! hehehe :rofl:

 

[PassPort]

I use fish tank nets, which work pretty well. He'll turn up getting his warm on by some lights, they always do. Good luck by the way.

p.s. if you are just going to write him off, let me know b/c I need a male. I can be on the next flight, net in hand! lol

 

[oli]

I got my net ready over here! lol He hasn't even shown his face in close to a week, pussy. Yea it seems like everyone is looking for a male these days. You should fly your ass (with net in hand) over to Honolulu and snag some up for us lol

 

[j_izzle8930]

I had an escaped laticauda for months that I had pretty much forgotten about. I was cleaning up one day, picked up a tank off the floor and she was inside it. You may have some success setting up a tank with the screen top half on and some food inside like you were saying.

DONT LET THE CILIARIS OUT!

 

[bugman426]

I had a male guimbeaui loose in my basement for 4 months....didnt even see him once till the third month...he was just hiding on top of the shoplights. So I eventually took a long stick and prodded it to jump on a wall and finally got it with a deli cup....quite the feat with no net.

 

[PassPort]

You should fly your ass (with net in hand) over to Honolulu and snag some up for us lol

Word.

 

[Phelsuma-Lygodactylus]

Funny...

I just recently purchased a Phelsuma nigristriata female, and when I was doing something in the tank, it bolted.

I caught it by moving slowly towards where it was hiding and carefully chased it into a plastic pot and covering it up.

Lizards don't seem to detect very slow movements very well.