So I bought a striped/skunk gekko for my office earlier in the summer.
A few weeks after I got her all set up, she laid a pair of eggs. Since I couldn't find any information about whether or not this type of gekko could store fertilized eggs for laying later, I watched her for a few weeks to see what she did. She had no interest in the eggs whatsoever, didn't care if I went near them, didn't sit near them, and eventually one cracked and then another "disappeared" one night (honestly, I think she ate it).
About a month and a half, maybe two months after I got her, she laid another pair of eggs. Same thing, no interest, no caring for them, just let them sit. So I assumed these couldn't be viable since there hasn't been any males with her, and I left them alone. I was kinda assuming she's have a snack some night. About a month after that she laid another egg (just one).
So... today, one of the two from the 1.5-2 month batch just became a lizard. He's adorable (picture attached), but I'm worried because I had no preparation for this, and I've never had an unplanned baby animal. I've tried reading as much as I could find, but this species is obviously a lot less popular than many other species. I can't find a ton of information, just a few older posts here and some videos.
What I'd really like to know is:
(1) Does anyone know what I can feed him that could be gotten in a few hours or a day? I've gone around local pet stores today and gotten -- some flightless fruit flies and weighed them down with calcium powder (I saw this in a video for a different species breeder), some XS mealworms and picked out the smallest, and gotten the smallest crickets I could at a petco (the guy was very nice and hand picked out the tiniest ones he could find in the giant bucket). All these food options seem either too small (flies) or too big (worms and crickets).
(2) Does anyone know if there is anything I need to immediately change about the setup for new hatchlings of this species? My setup is attached as an image.
(3) Does anyone know if this species is a risk for eating their young? The mother doesn't seem to be interested in the hatchling and didn't have any interest in the eggs, which seems different from what I've read for other species. She's eyed him a few times, but doesn't seem interested generally, and I think he's too big for her to eat, but I don't want her to try (she'd either choke on him, or hurt him, or both).
A few weeks after I got her all set up, she laid a pair of eggs. Since I couldn't find any information about whether or not this type of gekko could store fertilized eggs for laying later, I watched her for a few weeks to see what she did. She had no interest in the eggs whatsoever, didn't care if I went near them, didn't sit near them, and eventually one cracked and then another "disappeared" one night (honestly, I think she ate it).
About a month and a half, maybe two months after I got her, she laid another pair of eggs. Same thing, no interest, no caring for them, just let them sit. So I assumed these couldn't be viable since there hasn't been any males with her, and I left them alone. I was kinda assuming she's have a snack some night. About a month after that she laid another egg (just one).
So... today, one of the two from the 1.5-2 month batch just became a lizard. He's adorable (picture attached), but I'm worried because I had no preparation for this, and I've never had an unplanned baby animal. I've tried reading as much as I could find, but this species is obviously a lot less popular than many other species. I can't find a ton of information, just a few older posts here and some videos.
What I'd really like to know is:
(1) Does anyone know what I can feed him that could be gotten in a few hours or a day? I've gone around local pet stores today and gotten -- some flightless fruit flies and weighed them down with calcium powder (I saw this in a video for a different species breeder), some XS mealworms and picked out the smallest, and gotten the smallest crickets I could at a petco (the guy was very nice and hand picked out the tiniest ones he could find in the giant bucket). All these food options seem either too small (flies) or too big (worms and crickets).
(2) Does anyone know if there is anything I need to immediately change about the setup for new hatchlings of this species? My setup is attached as an image.
(3) Does anyone know if this species is a risk for eating their young? The mother doesn't seem to be interested in the hatchling and didn't have any interest in the eggs, which seems different from what I've read for other species. She's eyed him a few times, but doesn't seem interested generally, and I think he's too big for her to eat, but I don't want her to try (she'd either choke on him, or hurt him, or both).
