Of all the Uroplatus I have keep thus far (fimbriatus, henkeli, phantasticus
and sikorae), I have had the best luck breeding U. phantasticus. I can't
guarantee this will work for everyone but it has for me. I currently have 9
hatchlings and 1 clutch incubating. I picked up two adult pairs at the last
NRBE show in Daytona and within weeks they started producing clutches of
eggs.
I keep both pairs in the same 10 gallon tank with a screen mesh cover. The
bottom is covered with paper towels and contains two potted plants (ivy and
elk-horn fern), some slender bamboo stakes and a piece of cork bark. The
room temperature ranges between 70-75°F. During the day the tank is
illuminated by a ZooMed Reptisun fluorescent bulb and at night by a 25 watt
red incandescent bulb. I mist the tank once in the morning and again at
night. I feed them mainly adult crickets dusted with Minerall several times
a week.
The females normally lay pairs of viable eggs on the soil surface beneath
the ivy. I once found a single dud that was laid in the open. When I find
eggs I remove them and incubate them at room temperature on slightly
moistened vermiculite or more recently on aquatic plant soil (Seachem
Flourite). At this temperature the eggs have taken 96-99 days to hatch. I've
had one or two eggs go bad, but the majority have gone full term. I start
feeding the hatchlings on flightless D. hydei and 1/8-1/4 crickets, but
other wise use the same setup as the adults for raising them. They grow very
quickly and the first clutch to hatch 4 months ago are already half the size
of the adults.
--
John Friel
Ithaca, NY
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