That was a really long way of saying they aren't as prone to impaction because they are not a inbred animal lol.
Would it hurt them to keep them on shelf liner like I am doing with my Leo? Its easier to clean if nothing else.
How big do they get? I keep reading different care sheets and getting different information and the one at the top its not even listed. I need to know if I am going to buy supplies
Would it be wrong to keep them like a leopard gecko? Diet, supplements and hides wise? They seem similar but Of course there is SO much more info on leopard gecko's.
We try to have people use their brain here rather than throwing facts without explaining why you should do this and not do that. And also avoid copying and pasting care sheets contents without a critical eye on them. Let's start from here.
-size: way smaller than leopard geckos for most Coleonyx species. Way less body bulk, and about 5-7" with tail depending on species. You would have known this quickly through a Google search.
-So, some of the enclosure elements must be reduced in size accordingly compared to leos, shelters in the first place as well as water dishes. You wouldn't want them to drown in a too big water dish. All geckos also feel safer inside a tight space when they are inside shelters.
-Climatic differences: there are some differences between Afghanistan/Pakistan drylands where leos originally dwell and deserts in TX or NM. A tad more humidity than for leos is beneficial for Coleonyx species. Keep this in mind to ensure you have one or several "wet hides" or shedding places. Don't use stuff to retain humidity which would be likely to create impaction -vermiculite, sphagnum moss and whatever can be swallowed and enlarges when wet. Cheap version: hides with moist tissues inside them. Luxury ones: same but with natural sponge. That said, the most clever thing to do for any question about temperatures and seasonal cycles is to browse weather data websites for areas where the Coleonyx are from. Extremes are to be avoided. It may be 30°F or even lower in deserts, but your geckos won't survive such extremes. When it happens in the wild, they are under cover and the precise places where they stay have less variations than air temps. If you have ranges of, say, 30 to 120°F on weather databases, reduce it to 65-85 and you are very likely to be quite close to the actual conditions in the wild. From a bit lower than the middle value (75 for 30-120) to a bit higher. No matter what this and that care sheets say. It's just common sense and a tad bit of knowledge on how geckos behave.
-Substrate: you have to choose between easy to clean or naturalistic. I'd personally go for a floor half covered with natural slate tiles on the warmer side and something smoother and conducting heat less well on the cooler half/end, very fine sand could do. That said, i don't know if they are used to swallow sand like leos do. In any case, a plastic cup with some powdered calcium certainly won't hurt. Calcium and nothing else, no phosphorous, no D3. Dusting properly gutloaded insects will be enough for other minerals and vitamins needs. I'd recommend Miner-All I on every feeding. It just works with all the gecko species I have kept. Vitamins - I tend to recommend more and more only using fresh veg and greens to feed roaches, crickets or whatever you're feeding your geckos, unless there is a proven issue of vitamin deficiency. Most vitamin supplements on the market are overdosed, and that's a problem on the long run.
Now, maybe something you won't find in care sheets, Coleonyx species are way more secretive and eager to stay under cover than leos. Depends also on your setup, but I'd really expect not to see them that much. They are also more "nervous" than leos and faster. Have you ever seen some Coleonyx live? That would help, if you can see some near you in a pet store, definitely watch them at different times of the day/evening. Some of my buddies have lots of them, different species, and if you like to see your geckos very often, you wouldn't be so happy. Depends also on what you expect and what your personal tastes are. Oh, and smaller bodies also imply they are a bit more fragile than leos. Smaller bodies dehydrate, overheat or get too cold more quickly, you know what I mean.
See, with some observations and a good dose of common sense, you'll manage better than with several care sheets not necessarily saying the same or giving the same values and advice.
