Halmahera Gecko Care?

[Revasius]

I was reading an article on Halmahera care, and I wanted to see if there are any keepers on here who could answer some questions for me.

1. Diet: I read from one source that Halmaheras can eat Repashy CGD and nothing else, but another source said that 80% of their diet should be insects. Which is correct?

2. Handling: one source said that they can be handled, just carefully. Another said that under no circumstances should they be handled, and I think that's a bit dramatic...

3. One article said that a 30g tall is plenty of room for a pair, so would a 10-15g be suitable for one? (I'm going with the math, but I'm not sure if that's too small).

4. Aggression: One source said that they almost never bite, another said that they're highly aggressive.

 

[Tamara]

1: They are frugivorous so their diet should consist mostly of fruits, however they also should be fed crickets and other life prey on a regular basis, the more varied their diet is, the better.
No gecko species should be kept on just one single food item, and certainly not on MRP's alone.

2: Handling is possible but they can be very skittish and drop their skin or tails if you are not carefull, first make it get used to your hand before trying to handle it, and NEVER just grab at it, you will end up with a handfull of skin and a naked gecko in your living room.

3: NO! Please don't think like that... If you keep them single or in pairs, they are properly sized gecko's and they need to be kept in a good sized vertical terrarium.
Sorry for the metric but think abouth something like 50-50-100 cm (w-d-h) as a minimum size for one of these animals.

4: It will depend on the animal itself, if it is cool with you and you are not handling it too rough after a while they will tollerate you and crawl over your hands and arms.
But some , if not most of them can indeed be very agressive before you get to the point where they are trusting you, and than they can bite, and while they will let go much sooner their bite can be compared to a Tokay bite..,
Very painfull and not fun. ( Believe me, we have worked with both species for several years, i know. )
But as i said, if you have the patience for it then they can be made to trust you and carefull handling is possible.

Good luck.

 

[Hilde]

I have kept them in pairs before, but wouldn't do it again.
One female didn't want the male bugging her to mate, so she disemboweled him, left his body hanging on the screen. After walking in on that, I separated my pairs, and only introduced them carefully for mating purposes, and even moved them to the living room so I could keep tabs on any fighting.

Mine were in 3 x 3 x 4ft tall enclosures, which is what I'd consider the minimum for a pair, but perfect for a single gecko. They're relatively big, and active when awake, more space will keep them happier.

As mentioned, they do loose their skin easily, it's self-defense. The skin grows back over time, but it's much longer than just one shed cycle, could be months if it's a large patch. For this reason alone, I'd suggest not handling them.

Mine got mostly insects, and a bit of fruit based diet once a week. Probably 2/3 insects, 1/3 fruit, generally speaking. Once in a while I'd give more fruit, particularly in winter when the stores didn't get cricket shipments because of the weather. Or sometimes "just because".

They definitely are interesting enough to justify keeping them, even without handling or "bonding". Just watching them do the thing is awesome.

 

[Revasius]

Thank you for your responses! I wanted to check in with actual keepers as opposed to some stranger on a website... and I'm glad I did. The sites I checked said that Halmaheras can be fine with Repashy every 3 days and the occasional insect as a treat, which I am now reading is not true.

 

[Hilde]

Using the diets will work, they will eat it, and will get the nutrition they need. The problem is that they benefit from a varied diet, just like other species. It just seems more beneficial to let them hunt, do more than just walk to a dish and lick. It's got to be good for them to be able to do normal gecko things, mental stimulation is worth it.

 

[Revasius]

I agree. If we are going to get an animal, they deserve the best care that we as keepers can replicate of their natural environment.