Considering picking up a Phelsuma species

Hypancistrus

New member
I am attending Hamburg next weekend and was considering picking up a species of Phelsuma. I wanted a species that would stay fairly small, and was thinking about the Gold Dust Day gecko, P. laticauda. Would you consider this to be a good starter day gecko species? I have experience with other arboreal geckos such as cresteds and Bibron's geckos.

I was looking at a ZooMed repti breeze cage, 16"x16"x30". Would this be adequate for a pair?
 

Aimless

Super Moderator
Gold Dusts, IMO, are good first Phelsumas.

I'm not sure a reptibreeze is the best style, though. it's hard to keep the proper humidity up.
 

Ambubadger

New member
I have a ReptiBreeze enclosure, but I also live in Hawaii-- so humidity isn't an issue for me. Heck, if you visited, I'd gladly help you find two to take home, as they're everywhere! I have several pothos plants in my enclosure, the broad leaves not only give them something to hide behind and rest on, but keep the humidity up as well. I also have some moss in there, and orchid bark for my substrate. I think a glass enclosure would be great, you could simply turn some fruit flies or gnats loose in there to give them some exercise, and not worry about anything getting through a mesh screen like I do. For daily maintenance, I mist at least twice. I scrape off dropping and let them fall through the bark as fertilizer (my girl never goes down to the bark unless it's to lay eggs), and the upright orientation of the setup makes it easy for me to use one of those cheap post lamps with three housings on it to provide UV and heat to one side of the enclosure. I do have a plank of wood in there with a horizontal basking surface nailed to it-- it kinda looks like part of a fence is in my terrarium-- and I notice my girl likes to hide behind it when something spooks her or when she sleeps. It may be my imagination, but I felt it was important for her to have a spot to totally retreat to. She stays out most of the time though, and perks up when she hears a cricket getting tossed around the glass jar when I dust them--it's a dinner bell to her!
 

Ambubadger

New member
I've never been to Maryland, so I have no idea how arid or humid it gets there, but I'd say go with the glass since it would be much easier to keep the temps stable... The only pain would be having to use distilled water to prevent spotting on the glass and you'd also need to set up the UV lights in such a way as to prevent the glass from filtering anything, but it'd be nothing different from your experience with the other geckos. I hope you find a pair that get along!
 

Ambubadger

New member
I have no experience with leachies, but I'd say the tank setup should be the same. As for pairing, I wouldn't be able to tell you anything new other than the usual advice of either introducing them to the tank together or letting the female have it a day or two before the male as to prevent him from being too aggressive and thinking she's intruding. I always make sure I have the day off to monitor new roommates-- I just had two juvenile laticaudas fight it out and end up rolling on the bottom of the tank! I had to break them up and separate them no more than thirty seconds after introducing them!
 

acpart

Well-known member
I have a leachie and a gold dust day gecko and had a P. klemmeri until a few weeks ago when it died after more than 10 years. The main differences between a leachie enclosure (besides size) and a day gecko enclosure is that the day geckos will need a basking light (a halogen puck light works well) and more plant cover (pothos works well).
I find that an exo-terra 12x12x18 works well for the smaller day geckos. I've had my P. laticauda (gold dust) for 11 years and I have found her to be very reclusive. The P. klemmeri is smaller and bolder. I'm thinking of getting 2 female P. klemmeri (I don't want to breed them) this spring. The other species I was considering was the pea**** day gecko. If you're going to get a male and a female, consider the issues of dealing with eggs and fragile offspring and whether or not a male and female can be together full time --some people say that they should be separated so the male doesn't wear the female out and some feel otherwise.

Aliza
 

Hypancistrus

New member
I have a leachie and a gold dust day gecko and had a P. klemmeri until a few weeks ago when it died after more than 10 years. The main differences between a leachie enclosure (besides size) and a day gecko enclosure is that the day geckos will need a basking light (a halogen puck light works well) and more plant cover (pothos works well).
I find that an exo-terra 12x12x18 works well for the smaller day geckos. I've had my P. laticauda (gold dust) for 11 years and I have found her to be very reclusive. The P. klemmeri is smaller and bolder. I'm thinking of getting 2 female P. klemmeri (I don't want to breed them) this spring. The other species I was considering was the pea**** day gecko. If you're going to get a male and a female, consider the issues of dealing with eggs and fragile offspring and whether or not a male and female can be together full time --some people say that they should be separated so the male doesn't wear the female out and some feel otherwise.

Aliza

Thank you for the thoughts on breeding. I breed cresties (typically only one pair per year) and have some experience and advantage in finding homes for offspring. I'm not set on breeding right now, but I believe might in the future. I assume it would be okay to keep a single for a year or so, and potentially get a mate down the road? Or would that be more problematic with their territorial nature?

Would you consider P. klemmeri to be as good for beginners as P. laticauda is? From what I read, P. laticauda and the Giant Day Geckos were most recommended for beginners to Phelsuma, but I wanted to keep the size reasonable as space is a premium in my home.

These are all good ideas and thoughts, and I thank you all for offering them.
 

Hypancistrus

New member
Also... love the idea of doing an actual planted viv. I've been meaning to give bioactive vivs a try for some of my non-breeding cresties-- I assume a bioactive viv would be great for day geckos as well?
 

Hypancistrus

New member
Alright-- I picked up a Zilla 12" x 12" x 18" viv for my (hopefully) new day gecko. I'm not sure what stock they will have at Hamburg, but hopefully I will be able to find a laticauda.

I think I am going to do this one as a bioactive viv-- I put in a peace lily I had upstairs that was struggling for light. What other plants might be good for a bioactive day gecko viv??
 

Ambubadger

New member
Oh, for sure I would say a pothos and a bromeliad, if you have them there. I like the pothos becaus the broad leaves give day geckos the privacy they need, shield them from excess UV, holds droplets well for them to drink from, and seems to flourish with minimal effort. Bromeliads are a favorite of all my day geckos too-- they hold water at the bottom, the leaves are stout enough to support their weight, and my juveniles love to tuck themselves at the bottom when it's bedtime. The leaves are great for flightless fruit flies and tiny crickets to cruise on while awaiting their untimely demise :)
 

Hypancistrus

New member
I like the look of umbrella plants, too. This will be great for me-- I used to keep a lot of tropical houseplants in my college dorm room and apartment, and then I got cats and the plants had to go. Now I can keep some nice plants again too!!
 

Hypancistrus

New member
Here is the result of today's efforts. I have a small peace lily, a dwarf palm and a pothos.

Tomorrow I am going to be getting some wood and branches to put in. How should I arrange the wood to provide a basking spot? Also, how do you all do UV? Is it okay to use a UV tube instead of a spiral? I have them running across multiple vivs, and typically use ExoTerra 5.0's.

BioActiveViv4_DayGecko.jpg
 

JessJohnson87

New member
That palm is a parlor palm, they get big but it takes them years to reach their intended height. I would put a piece of wood horizontally near the top for basking, the rest can go vertically where ever you can put them.

Had to edit this because I realized I got the vertical and horizontal pieces of wood backwards :roll:
 
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Hypancistrus

New member
Okay, I will see what I can find so far as wood goes. My local pet stores are rather light on available pieces.

Now I just have to hope I find a nice gecko!
 
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