Questions on: Breeding Phelsuma standingi

[AlienReptiles]

Hi There,

I have a pair of the Phelsuma standingi day geckos and they were sold to me as a proven pair but I have not seen any signs of mating occuring. Is there anything I could do to get them more interested in each other? They don't fight with each and get along well. They eat superworms and crickets and I always leave out a little dish of calcium.

Housing Info:
I have a tropical UVB on them and a 100 watt basking bulb.
They are in a big screen cage with snake plants sphagnum and some other plants. Also some bamboo sticks. I mist twice a day.

Thanks so much for your time.

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

Welcome to Geckos Unlimited! I have never kept Phelsuma standingi, but I have kept Phelsuma barbouri for years.

Please share a photo of your enclosure. What are your enclosure's dimensions? A totally screen cage may not retain enough humidity.

It will also help if you tell us the brand and strength of your UVB lighting. Some brands are far superior to other brands.

 

[AlienReptiles]

Welcome to Geckos Unlimited! I have never kept Phelsuma standingi, but I have kept Phelsuma barbouri for years.

Please share a photo of your enclosure. What are your enclosure's dimensions? A totally screen cage may not retain enough humidity.

It will also help if you tell us the brand and strength of your UVB lighting. Some brands are far superior to other brands.

Hi Elizabeth,

Thank you for responding and for the warm welcome. I added a picture of the enclosure. I have a double dome with zoo med basking 100 watt bulb and the uvb is the tropical 5.0 zoo med compact fluorescent bulb.

The cage is 16" L X 16" W X 30" H. It is the medium size reptibreeze.

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

Hi Elizabeth,

Thank you for responding and for the warm welcome. I added a picture of the enclosure. I have a double dome with zoo med basking 100 watt bulb and the uvb is the tropical 5.0 zoo med compact fluorescent bulb.

The cage is 16" L X 16" W X 30" H. It is the medium size reptibreeze.

View attachment 47005

You're welcome.

I recommend a glass enclosure to retain adequate humidity. Even if you mist 2x daily, relative humidity drops exceedingly quickly when all sides are screen. Can you get an Exo Terra 18 x 18 x 24 minimum? Perhaps the next size up? Standingi are large Phelsuma.

Mesh tops reduce UVB penetration up to 50%. Zoo Med's ReptiSun bulbs are excellent! Exchange your 5.0 bulb for the tropical 10.0 zoo med compact fluorescent bulb.

Click: https://zoomed.com/wp-content/uploads/Choosing-Correct-UVB-Lamp-2018-07.pdf​

 

[AlienReptiles]

You're welcome.

I recommend a glass enclosure to retain adequate humidity. Even if you mist 2x daily, relative humidity drops exceedingly quickly when all sides are screen. Can you get an Exo Terra 18 x 18 x 24 minimum? Perhaps the next size up? Standingi are large Phelsuma.

Mesh tops reduce UVB penetration up to 50%. Zoo Med's ReptiSun bulbs are excellent! Exchange your 5.0 bulb for the tropical 10.0 zoo med compact fluorescent bulb.

Click: https://zoomed.com/wp-content/uploads/Choosing-Correct-UVB-Lamp-2018-07.pdf​

Thanks again for the response. That is an interesting point about the UVB with mesh. I will look into getting the 10.0 UVB.

I thought the standings were the drier of the Phelsuma? I might look into adding plastic panels to the sides to keep the humidity higher.

Are there any things you noticed in particular when breeding your Phelsuma barbouri that helped move things along? More light, more misting, shorter "days", etc.?

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

Thanks again for the response. That is an interesting point about the UVB with mesh. I will look into getting the 10.0 UVB.

I thought the standings were the drier of the Phelsuma? I might look into adding plastic panels to the sides to keep the humidity higher.

Are there any things you noticed in particular when breeding your Phelsuma barbouri that helped move things along? More light, more misting, shorter "days", etc.?

With inadequate UVB Phelsuma standingi will be prone to metabolic bone disease.

Unfortunately I've only bred my Phelsuma barbouri once. The fertile egg came to term, but the neonate did not make it out of the egg. When I opened the egg he looked well-formed, but he had passed away.

Definitely experiment with plastic panels to see how much they increase humidity. Nowhere I looked tonight mentioned keeping them really dry. Perhaps you could contact Wally Kern on Facebook. Wally's care sheet links two other care sheets. He may be breeding Phelsuma standingi currently.

Here's Wally's care sheet.

Phelsuma standingi - Supreme Gecko​