My Little Guys' Home(s?)

[rtbaum]

I thought that it would be nice if I were to show the vivaria were my P.
lineatus were being housed.


This is the current setup where both are housed. I will likely that they will need to be split as I am noting some increasing aggression.


This will become the home for the first to be captured.

Both terraria have cycled over and plants are well established. Hopefully, by next Spring I will reintroduce the two into a 36x36x18 exoterra as a part of a Madagascar biotype.

Question about their dietary needs....The geckos and I are in a house with its share of flies which are daily being sacrificed to the little green terrors, in addition to the standard dusted cricket diet every other day. They are also offered pangea diet every other day, plus slices of fresh fruit to lick every day. Am I overdoing the feeding?

 

[acpart]

Nice setups. If it's too much food, they probably won't eat it.

Aliza

 

[rtbaum]

I almost think that banana is the source of the discord, the male does like his banana. She is the expert fly catcher......I've seen her leap 6", snatch flies mid-air, and make a perfect landing.

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

i almost think that banana is the source of the discord, the male does like his banana. she is the expert fly catcher......i've seen her leap 6", snatch flies mid-air, and make a perfect landing.

Wow!

 

[rtbaum]

Still a lot of chasing going on. There seems to be no real damage done. They both are eating their share of bugs. Over the course of time, they will eat small crickets, fruit flies,.....and a lot of house flies. She remains the ace with house flies, he stirs them up by chasing them around, she nails them as they buzz past her post on the fan....he gets pissed and chases her around the tank :yahoo:.
I'm beginning to think that the chasing may have more to do with amorous intentions. The male is much brighter green as if he is displaying, she varies her color depending on mood. She must be getting more comfortable, she actually greened up a bit tonight.....after filling her belly with flies as he thrashed about scattering flies.

The eggs remain nestled in their bed of peat moss.

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

Still a lot of chasing going on. There seems to be no real damage done. They both are eating their share of bugs. Over the course of time, they will eat small crickets, fruit flies,.....and a lot of house flies. She remains the ace with house flies, he stirs them up by chasing them around, she nails them as they buzz past her post on the fan....he gets pissed and chases her around the tank :yahoo:.
I'm beginning to think that the chasing may have more to do with amorous intentions. The male is much brighter green as if he is displaying, she varies her color depending on mood. She must be getting more comfortable, she actually greened up a bit tonight.....after filling her belly with flies as he thrashed about scattering flies.

The eggs remain nestled in their bed of peat moss.

Now that's TEAMWORK! :biggrin:

 

[fenway]

What are those starfish/octopus looking plants floating in the center? Would love to get some for my grandis pair.

Great looking setup!

 

[rtbaum]

I believe that you are referring to the tillandsia. They are tough little plants, but are epiphytic and are not secured well enough to bear much weight. I fear that a larger gecko would dislodge them. I doubt that there would be much damage to either gecko nor tillandsia, but it would be a PITA to have to keep re-securing them. I would check into Neoregalia, a much more robust epiphytic bromeliad. You should be able to hot glue them where you want them. Assuming that you have a larger enclosure, you could tie a grocery store Phaleanopsis orchid to the background or a piece of wood. They actually do pretty well in a high humidity environment and are rigid enough for a good size gecko....flowers are pretty cool, too.

 

[rtbaum]

Update

There has been some sad news since my last post. The male continued his wooing of his mate. He was active, had great color, was slurping Pangea like crazy......and then was found dead.

The eggs never did hatch, my fault...I left them in the tank too long and they had rolled, I believe .
The good news is that the female now has the entire tank to herself and has unmolested access to all foodstuffs. She is fattening up, has a tail like a sausage, and has size-able calcium sacs. Her color is great.

I have been looking for a replacement for the male over the past month without much success. For a couple reasons, I have not been in a hurry. I feel that she needs some time to mature, it is too warm to order a replacement at present .......and



it seems that the male did his job..........it seems that there are some hidden surprises

 

[Nika]

Hi rtbaum,

I am very sorry for the death of your Phelsuma. I lost my Phelsuma 2 weeks ago and I understand how you feel. It is always sad.

You have a very beautiful terrarium. Well done, amazing! I see how much imagination and work you have invested in your terrarium. Really WOW! :king:

I would like to create a natural terrarium with natural plants - a real jungle, like yours. But it is impossible in my conditions. I often change the soil/substrate. In my area where we live there are a lot of very small insects. They can't be stopped by a grid at the windows or a grid of the terrarium. Moist soil and humid atmosphere in the terrarium is a real paradise for these insects after dry, hot and long summer in Israel. I don't know much about all these insects, so I'm against such a neighborhood with my Phelsuma. Therefore, I have only a couple plants in flowerpots, which allows to rebuild the terrarium very quickly.

How your Phelsuma behaves now alone? Something has changed in her behavior?