lygodactylus conraui babies help!

[shawneye]

I have a four lygodactylus conraui that are laying eggs on a regular basis. I have had at least 20 hatch but as of today I only have 4 alive. They seem to do well then die for no known reason. I have to remove them from the vivarium because they can easily escape (I found 4 on the walls of my office in one week). The adults are in a 12x12x18 exoterra tank. I have a dimmed basking light so that area is 80-90 degrees. I have removed all babies except one "teenager" I apparently never saw and he never escaped. I am keeping them in a sterilite container a little smaller than a 10 gallon tank. I have screen glued over a hole in the lid for ventilation. They are being fed small fruit flies and Repashy gecko food. I am using a small lid for water and have just started adding a small cricket gel blob in the water and a stick in the food because I lost one that got stuck in the food. I have a large undertank heater to provide heat. It is 83 degrees about 4 inches from the bottom. The 4 left today are climbing and active. They like to climb to the top and hang out as high as possible. I do not have a UV light (the adults light is not UV so not sure if they need it).

If someone has successfully raised these little guys any help would be appreciated!

 

[Herpin Man]

I've never kept this species, but have kept other small species of geckos. I agree, getting them started can be a challenge. First, be sure they are eating. Are you finding droppings? If so, they are eating.
One thing that is easy to overlook is proper humidity. Did any of the specimens have shedding issues when they died? Too little humidity can cause problems, but so can too much. I keep my hatchling Mourning geckos in a Sterilite nursery tank, probably similar to what you have. I solved the humidity problem by giving them more ventilation. Using a keyhole saw, I drilled six large holes in the container; one on each end, two on each side. I then covered the holes with window screen, using hot glue. They have lots more ventilation, and I still mist them daily. Since doing that, the mortality rate of my baby geckos has dropped to nearly zero.
You might also benefit from using a larger sterilite container. I like the ones with the latching lid, although I found that weather stripping along the top is needed to make them escape-proof.

 

[shawneye]

Thank you so much for the reply. They are definitely eating. There are droppings on all sides of the tank. I have never seen them eating the Repashy, but they hunt fruit flies as soon as I feed them. It's very funny to watch them eat fruit flies because they flies are so large compared to the size of their head. They grab them and shake their heads like a dog shaking a toy. I do not have any side ventilation so I'll add that to see if it helps. The container has a built in gasket so escaping shouldn't be an issue. I also have a larger container so I may try moving them to the larger one if more ventilation helps. I will need more space anyway because there are 17 eggs in the tank now. Does your nursery tank have a substrate on the bottom? Mine is bare and I'm wondering if some moist ABG with white isopods and springtails would be of any benefit.

 

[Herpin Man]

The bottom is bare, for ease of maintenance. I find that I have to scrub it frequently. However I do have branches, and potted pothos for them to climb on. There is also a dish of damp sphagnum, positioned over the heat tape, for added humidity.

 

[shawneye]

I have added more ventilation and a dimmable UV heat lamp so my temp on one end of the box is around 85. I added a live plant and some sphagnum like your setup. I hope they do better now. I thought I had 4, but I actually have 5 and all are doing well right now. Thanks again for your help!

 

[Varalidaine]

I have no experience in raising baby geckos but I really hope yours do better with the improved set up! I imagine stagnant air from lack of air flow could have definitely been a factor.