E. Hardwickii

[jsn_hrtn]

Hello!

I am receiving my first group of Hardwickii soon! I would love to hear any tips and tricks as far as keeping them. I've read a few things here and there, but there isn't a lot of info as there is with other species. I have heard they tend to like more humidity, similar to that of the African Fat Tails. Any other information about them as far as breeding, husbandry, feeding, egg incubation, etc would be much appreciated!

Thanks!

 

[acpart]

Welcome to GU! I suspect I know who you're getting this group from. I got a female from him last year and will get a male soon. I've had her for nearly a year now. I have her on a bioactive setup which doesn't have plants at the moment but probably will soon. I mist the cage every morning (same schedule as my AFT's). I feed her crickets. I thought she was eating the mealworms I provided, but I found that actually the crickets were eating the mealworms. She is pretty reclusive; I rarely see her out and she barely tolerates being held. I hope to find out about breeding her next season.

Aliza

 

[jsn_hrtn]

Welcome to GU! I suspect I know who you're getting this group from. I got a female from him last year and will get a male soon. I've had her for nearly a year now. I have her on a bioactive setup which doesn't have plants at the moment but probably will soon. I mist the cage every morning (same schedule as my AFT's). I feed her crickets. I thought she was eating the mealworms I provided, but I found that actually the crickets were eating the mealworms. She is pretty reclusive; I rarely see her out and she barely tolerates being held. I hope to find out about breeding her next season.

Aliza

I've actually browsed this site numerous times just reading and gathering information but for some reason (which is beyond me) I never actually signed up/made an account. Better late than never I suppose! Haha

Thanks for sharing your experience so far with your female. It's tough to find a generous amount of information on them. I have bred the common leopard gecko in the past (I still have a few that are just my pets) and I'm currently working with Rhacodactylus auriculatus. Not a difficult species at all to work with of course, but I enjoy them very much. I've been wanting to get back into Eublepharis again and thought if I did, I'd go with a wild type species that isn't commonly seen in the hobby and take on a new challenge, so I chose hardwickii.

As soon as I get them and start working with them, I'm sure I'll add more to this thread.

 

[acpart]

You can also check out John Scarborough at geckoboa.com who keeps and breeds a number of Eublepharis species including E. hardwickii.

Aliza

 

[jsn_hrtn]

You can also check out John Scarborough at geckoboa.com who keeps and breeds a number of Eublepharis species including E. hardwickii.

Aliza

Oh I have! I actually have purchased leopard geckos from him in the past. I consider him to be the best when it comes to quality and integrity concerning the eublepharis species. I have heard his interviews on the Gecko Nation radio podcast also. Great information from him, always.

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

Welcome aboard! Glad that you finally signed up.

 

[Merianna]

Hello! The advice here is all going to be similar to what I'll be able to tell you as well. E. hardwickii require a bit more moisture than the dominant leopard gecko species E. macularius. So, you're going to want to mist the cage a bit, but not to the extent of it being beyond moderate humidity. You may want to entertain the moist hide, and two dry hide scenario, or try spraying certain areas of the cage rather than all to simulate what it would be like to live in a habitat where some rocks provide dryness and some are exposed to the rainfall. Other than that, they are still in the same genus of Eublepharis which will mean they evolved more similarly to the common leopard gecko macularius than for example an African Fat tail in genus Hemitheconyx. So, since there is not a lot of data or available care sheets, try your best with the knowledge you've collected from here, and just observe your gecko's habits. I have seen hardwickii under my care eat worms, so you can try that as well, (They live in a slightly moister habitat than Afghanistan's macularius, so therefore it's safe to assume they would come into contact with detritovores like worms and centipedes, which tend to surface due to rainfall inherently) all geckos have their personal preferences. Substrate is as you choose, as with macularius paper towels and or tile are probably the highest recommendations. Try to stay away from the fatty foods like waxworms, pinkies, etc, unless you have a gecko to help that needs to gain weight. I'm so very glad you decided to join the community and if you ever feel like writing observations or care that you can, please do.