New to Teratos, a few questions

[mybeardisorganik]

Hi all! Somewhat new to the forums, slowly gaining a population of geckos and one chameleon around the house. Recently acquired 2 frog eyed geckos... and the story goes like this... The male had dropped his tail in the past but it had grown back fully. The female dropped hers at the show where I bought them. When I got them home the male had dropped his as well.

Anyway, on to the current setup and my questions...

They are both adults, and currently in a 10 gallon long. Calcium based orange sand with slate rock and wood hides. Have yet to check the temperature on the slate, but once I placed mealworms and crickets in, they went nuts.. ate them real quick. They seem to enjoy the enclosure.

So.. my questions are what temperature is required at what time of day. Ive seen different answers to this issue. Should they have a warm/hot rock 24 hrs a day? Blue day/red night?

They do seems easy to care for.. I just need the basics clarified... what temperature, when, where etc. As well as water... spray every few days? Or leave an available water source at all times..

Thank you in advance for the info!

love you all

love my critters

love my beard

 

[mybeardisorganik]

Anyone with frog eyed gecko experience to answer my questions pleeeease!? A few photos of the enclosure. The slate rock is at 90 degrees fyi.

Thanks!

Ben

 

[mybeardisorganik]

Was also just informed that calcium based sand should not be used for this species and in fact silica based should.. again I read the contrary.

Really hoping to get some validation..

 

[rhachic]

I kept przeswalski's, so what i'm going to say is based 1 on how i kept them and 2 on that species only. There are several species of frog eyed gecko and i do not know what you have but as far as i have read they are not kept too different from this. non-silica sand is preferable over silica, calcium based shouldn't be an issue. 10 gallons is okay, i gave my pair 20 to give them running room. 80-85 day, drop to 75 at night (you can provide a red hot spot for basking 24/7 if you want), basking day spot 12 hrs a day should be around 95-100. You don't want to get these guys real humid or they'll have shedding problems, they are a desert species so they should be able to access a mildly humid area if they need to. I used to lift a fake rock and mist underneath it once every two days and lightly mist the whole vivarium 2x a week. Mine did not like to be sprayed directly and would squeak and run to hide so avoid that if you can so you don't stress them. They're great eaters in general and a lot of fun to watch. If yours are eating well for you already you're probably pretty good with heat and should hopefully have regenerating tails soon. And other than being on the small size your setup looks good to me.

 

[mikew1234]

I kept both common species in the early 2000s. They were the first geckos not called a leopard gecko that I bred. I was a little confused with the hot rock statement. If your using a heat rock, get rid of it. If you have the lamp on a rock, that'll be fine. I agree with the above stated for the przeswalski's. Tibetans seemed to have the same likings, with a little more heat, but nothing significant. The only tank suggestions I have would be bulb to one side, hide under the hotspot, hide on the cold side so they can pick. I'm not sure how often they'll use the wood but it looks nice. If you post pics, we can definately ID your species. I'm surprised about the tail situation, mine were pretty good with handling, but it happens so don't be too worried, just be sure to feed them well as any fat reserve in the tail is unfortunately not there anymore.

 

[mikew1234]

I kept both common species in the early 2000s. They were the first geckos not called a leopard gecko that I bred. I was a little confused with the hot rock statement. If your using a heat rock, get rid of it. If you have the lamp on a rock, that'll be fine. I agree with the above stated for the przeswalski's. Tibetans seemed to have the same likings, with a little more heat, but nothing significant. The only tank suggestions I have would be bulb to one side, hide under the hotspot, hide on the cold side so they can pick. I'm not sure how often they'll use the wood but it looks nice. If you post pics, we can definately ID your species. I'm surprised about the tail situation, mine were pretty good with handling, but it happens so don't be too worried, just be sure to feed them well as any fat reserve in the tail is unfortunately not there anymore.

 

[mybeardisorganik]

The species is definitely Taratoscincus scincus. And I did change from the Cal sand to basic play sand... sifted it finely before putting it into the enclosure.

My plan is to get a 20 gal and use the excavator clay to make burrows etc. While still have the sand for them to dig.

As for the rock issue, the is a 5" x 5" square of slate, 1/4" thick that rests on a piece of wood... with a heat lamp directly above the slate... keeping its temp around 90 degrees. The wood is just for them to dig under and have a cooler place to be.

Beyond this.. any more suggestions with the updated info?

Thanks again!!

Ben

 

[rhachic]

All i can say is a friend of mine used excavator with his roborowski and both ended up with shedding issues. I don't know if it was just something he did differently after he changed to the excavator or if it was the excavator itself that caused problems, so just a warning to keep a close eye on them if you do use it. They really love to kick sand around so i'd say at least give them the loose sand on top of the excavator as they're too small to really work the excavator themselves like a bigger lizard would. I used fine play sand mixed with a natural calcium sand for the substrate and did it almost 4" deep and they burrowed like crazy all the time. I never had any shed issues doing it that way so they may even need the loose sand to help them get skin off, i'm not sure.

 

[mybeardisorganik]

And you know, I seem to remember someone telling me that their scales are very, whats the word, touchy? Sensitive? If you hold them and they want to be let go they can shed scales to the exposed skin.... So, perhaps the excavator isn't the best idea due to its callousness, and possibly very rough and hard.

 

[rhachic]

Yeah, their skin is super delicate and the scales will rub off if you grip them at all. I almost never touched mine to prevent that. But I would think abrasive surfaces would make shedding easier, in which case the excavator SHOULD be fine, but maybe they need to rub it off in a different way with loose sand instead? i'm honestly not sure, just warning you from a friend's experience to be cautious if you do ever try it. And I kept real rocks and mortared fake backgrounds in my tank for them that they ran all over, burrowed under, and rubbed against so i don't think it's just that it's too hard for them. I'm wondering now if the issue was that he didn't give them loose sand as well...i'll ask him when i get a chance.
Their scales are meant to do that just like the fish-scaled geckos do. It's similar to breaking a tail off to escape. It doesn't really hurt them, just makes them "slippery" to escape a predator and they'll grow back in time. But obviously if you can avoid it that's preferable.