Hi Becky,
Since you are just starting out, I can make some recommendations on
Phelsuma for you. P.m. grandis are very easy, inexpensive and make
excellent display gex. They are really hard to find CB this last year,
no-one I know had much luck with this otherwise prolific gecko. I think
it has something to do with the weather patterns affecting their
breeding cycles.
P. standingi is another excellent choice for beginners. They are a
little more pricey than the P.m. grandis, but easy to care for and also
easy to catch if they escape, as the P.m. grandis are, due to their
large size. This brings up the "rock butt factor," which is a scale I
made up some years ago to tell you how fast they are. For example:
Rocket butt scale:
1 - P.m grandis, P standingi
2 - P. mad mad, P. kochi
3 - there really are no threes
4 - there really are no fours
5 - P. dubia
6 - P. quadriocellata species, P. lineata species
7 - P. laticuada species
8 - P. ornata
9 - P. klemmeri, if they get excited!
10 - P. cepediana, P. guimbeaui, Bruce Lee would have trouble catching
these geckos! ;-)
P. klemmeri are the jewels of the gecko world in my eyes. They are easy
to keep, easy to breed, and there are few geckos that have better
antics. Their colors are also hard to beat! A must have for any Phelsuma
nut! I had a WC female I bought as an old adult just pass away this last
year after being with me for 10 years!
Getting back to beginner type species, the P. lineata, P. laticuada and
P. quadriocellata groups are medium sized Phelsuma that are easy to keep
too.
Ones that most people should stay away from due to extremely difficult
husbandry/set-up - P. cepediana, P. guimbeaui, P.flavigularis and P.
serraticuada. Their numbers are low in captivity anyway, leave these to
the experienced. If you know of a single specimen languishing away in a
pet shop or some such situation than please e-mail me or any other
experienced Phelsuma breeder.
Finally, a note about life expectation: This is getting longer as our
husbandry gets better. The larger types tend to live longer, P.m.
grandis and P. standingi have been well documented to live up to 30 +
years. I have an older pair of P.m. grandis given to me that are
probably in that range and they amaze me. Hearty appetites and very
active!
Julie Bergman
http://www.geckoranch.com
GGA lifetime member
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