Phelsuma inexpectata

[mkschaefer]

Hello,

I received this fantastic pair this morning from Leann and Greg Christenson (Leaping Lizards Home Page). I am incredibly excited to be working with this species and with the co-op. A big thanks to Leann, Russ, and others who have kept this species going in captivity in the US. These are probably the best pictures I will get for some time due to their speed and shyness.

Female

Male

 

[KingOfTheNorth]

Those are some amazing looking geckos. Congrats

 

[daggekko]

Did you get so excited you forgot some dancing bananas?!?!

:banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana:

Hope you are able to keep getting photos for all of us that don't have these!

 

[adamkwas]

Congratulations! They're stunning!

 

[Ivan M]

WOW, amazing looking geckos I LOVE THEM. I would love to get a pair myself, need to find out when they will have more, congrats they are GORGEOUS.

 

[Sgvreptiles]

Good luck with them Matt. Beautiful species forsure.

 

[mkschaefer]

The female laid a dud yesterday. I am waiting for a few more months before I place the pair together. They are skittish and shy, but I see them when I sit patiently, quietly, and don't stare, haha. I have them in Exo Terras and the enclosures are densely planted. I think having densely planted enclosures permits them to be more bold as they feel more secure.

 

[Sticky Toes :)]

Congratulations:banana:

 

[colinmelsom]

The female laid a dud yesterday. I am waiting for a few more months before I place the pair together. They are skittish and shy, but I see them when I sit patiently, quietly, and don't stare, haha. I have them in Exo Terras and the enclosures are densely planted. I think having densely planted enclosures permits them to be more bold as they feel more secure.

I am not so sure.They are a very shy species for certain, but some individuals are bolder than others.One of my males and two of my females are very shy and I can go weeks without seeing them

I have been experimenting with densely planted vivaria and fairly stark ones.I believe if you give them more places to hide,they will,especially in hollow bamboo.The ones that I have in a cage with just a large Sansevera seem more bold.They can always hide on the reverse of the leaf.

 

[daggekko]

I believe if you give them more places to hide,they will,especially in hollow bamboo

Colin I second that opinion. Granted I don't have this species, but my P laticauda babies that are given a bamboo hollow hide almost non stop. And they've done this for as long as I keep them. The ones that do not have a hollow hide tend to sit out and not be as shy.

edit: But in my opinion for rare species such as these, I would rather allow them to hide than make them sit out!

 

[mkschaefer]

I strategically cut all the bamboo, except for two piece sto be too shallow to permit hiding. It is only probably 1-2", so not enough to provide security. The other two pieces have deep recesses and she uses these occasionally. I admit this is probably forcing them to be out in the open more, but they can dart into the plants. I hope that it works like my cepediana and borbonic where they hole up into bamboo and are easier to relocate, especially when I introduce her to the male in a few months.

Perhaps I should clarify, I have found with some species that live in a more densely planted tank vs. a normal setup are usually more bold as I believe they feel more comfortable and know they have escape routes. I commonly see the inexpectata just peering at me from a leaf, but do see them out in the open when I am still and silent. I am noticed this in other genera, mainly Ctenosaura and Varanus. I don't think we can call an animal bold when it only has one hide in the enclosure or one leaf as it has no options.

I do appreciate your input and realize I have had my animals a short time and they are still getting established in their enclosures/ small territories. On a side note, I started seeing one of my cepediana pairs much more often when I placed them together. The male is always out now.

 

[mkschaefer]

The female is much more shy than the male. How common are inexpectata in Europe? It is my understanding that the number of people working with this species right now in the United States can be counted on one hand. My male hatched in 2008 and the female hatched in 2011.

 

[colinmelsom]

I dont know how common they are in Europe,I guess that you can only guage by price really.Females are in the region of 60-80 Euros and males somewhere in the region of 200 Euros.This is roughly equivalent to guimbeaui and ornata and cepediana are a little bit cheaper.To give you an indication klemmeri are about 50 Euros apiece.Barbouri are about 150 to 200 Euros each.

There certainly are more than a handful of keepers in Europe but only a few in the U.K.Thats why I have given you a price in Euros.At the shows you will see females quite easily but males have to be prebooked.In Germany and Holland (mainly) there is a big interest in Phelsuma so there are quite a few breeders,although I suspect most animals are from a very small gene pool.

One last thing,if your female was mine I wouldn`t try to breed from her until next year.I like to get my females to two years before letting them breed.

 

[mkschaefer]

A female inexpectata sighting, haha!

 

[mkschaefer]

I introduced my pair recently and they are presently getting along, though I am watching them closely. I would have preferred to wait another year, but the male hatched in 2008. Here are some shots of the female.

 

[LLDG]

Great pictures! Sneaky things aren't they?

All co-op members are reporting that newly introduced pairs are getting along. No mauling which is a good sign.

My youngest pair are getting along but no eggs yet. The older pair's female is gravid and hopefully laying soon.

 

[colinmelsom]

A quick question for the Americans

I assume that you have more female inexpectata than males?If you do ,do you let one male service multiple females?

I do with mine and it certainly gives me more eggs to incubate,plus it lets the females have a bit of time off.

 

[mkschaefer]

I only have a pair, but Leann will have more insight. I believe my female may be gravid! These pictures are rather dim because I used my phone without its flash. It is hard to snap pictures of them with my camera and the associated flash.

Male ventral side

On the front of the glass, a rare sight.

They will readily come out of hiding for Repashy. I put two plastic caps in the enclosure to reduce squabbling over it.

Male on right (feeding), female basking

Male

 

[LLDG]

Michael: You've figured out the secret to P inexpectata: fruit puree and a hot basking light. They both look great!

I didn't notice a gravid sign...usually there is a white blot on the tummy and a big belly.

As for sex ratio, this is my prediction: keepers who can control the eggs will have the best offspring ratio.

I've gotten nearly a 50% ratio of Male to female because I've been able to control egg laying and temperture/humdity. Since the female glues, a keeper can't do much once an egg is laid in a in-moveable spot inside an enclosure.

I remove an obviously gravid female (which is easy to see in inexpectata) and put her in a medium sized Kritter Keeper. Once egg is glued to Kritter Keeper, she is returned to the male or given a break as suggested by Colin.

Eggs in Kritter Keeper are placed in an area pre-determined for temperatures I need to produce either female of male offspring. With this method I've been 99% accurate with results.

One year I did 100% males. The next year I needed females so I set up an area to produce females. All offspring that year were female.

 

[mkschaefer]

These pictures were taken a few weeks ago with the exception of pictures of the male with his head buried in Repashy. It is beginning to take me some time to move my pictures from DSLR or cell phone to computer, upload to external server, categorize, and make a post on geckos unlimited. She is definitely heftier than normal but I have not get a clear look at her belly since that picture. We'll see...