Hi Folks,
sorry I had to delay this mail for so long - I was quite busy and just didn´t
find
the time ... and now I will use the chance to deal with several Topics at
once ;-)
* Gonatodes *
> Has anyone worked with Gonatodes or Sphaerodactylus? The colors of some
> of these rival that of the Phelsumas -- very striking. Could those
> experienced with these share any tips for proper husbandry techniques
> (size of tank, feeding, sex ratios, vivarium layout, temperatures and
> humidity etc.).
Well, I keep and breed G. albogularis fuscus and G. caudiscutatus - and hope
to get some G. ocellatus and maybe another species very soon. In general
these are quite secretive geckos and will not show themselves a lot, even if
they have a cage for their own. I keep them like (and together with tolerant)
Phelsuma species, and so far had few problems with them. They need small
food and seem to dislike fresh fruit - but they were having a great time with
the
fruit-flies that were put in the cage for the Dendobatids ... ;-) They don´t
get
along well with other Gonatodes, and I have had the best results when kept in
pairs - but someone told me that large groups would work in VERY large
cages ... I never tried that, though. The females lay a single egg every 3-4
weeks, and mine prefered to lay them into the hollows of bamboo-sticks. The
young hatch very late (as I incubate them quite cool), but they are very
strong
then and I can´t call the hatchlings difficult. As they lack the typical
gecko-
ability to walk on glass or very smooth surfaces, they prefer rough bark or
wooden sticks - climbing into the bamboo to lay eggs is already a real task
for them. I never had hatchlings running free, as I collect the eggs, so I
can´t
tell if they would tolerate their young. I raise the babys together with small
Phelsuma and Lygodactylus, and they get along quite well. Don´t keep them
too humid, that will lead to shedding problems. Thickly planted is well, but
there should be open areas to sunbathe as well. I succesfully bred them in
cages 50cm/50cm/50cm - but now they live in larger ones.
* Uroplatus and Bamboo *
I dont have Uros myself, but friends do - as I just do the housekeeping for
them,
I get to see them a lot, and they prefer to sit on the thick bamboo-sticks
they
have put into the cage - even though they have the choice for large and thick
leaves or nice wooden trunks and bark to sit on. They stand out from afar, but
they seem to love the smooth surface more than fear beeing badly camouflaged.
They keep lineatus and henkeli in that way. Their fantasticus are different,
they
like to sit in the branches a lot more that sit on bamboo ... in fact I have
never
seen them on bamboo at any time ... no wonder, considering their shape ;-)
* Phelsuma-Age *
I´m not long enough into herpetology to have such old animals as some of you,
but don´t believe that the smaller species will not last more than 5-7 years.
I
have heard from friends who have animals from small species that lived much
longer. I think Magnus gave the right clue - it will probably depend very much
on your keeping how old they will get. Don´t keep them warm all the time,
don´t
let them breed 12 months a year, don´t let them mate too early, and give them
a healthy diet ... that should do the job. My oldest animal was an ornata
female
that I got as an adult and which lived 4 years at me - but it´s papers dated
it
to have lived 10 years ... and from her looks at the end I believe that. A
real
granny, and she gave me lots of nice babys - except in that last final year.
* Lygodactylus and related topics *
> Hartmut sent me these pictures, and they are really interesting. Could
> they be put on the GGA web site?
Sorry for not having sent them in yet - but I promise to ... ;-)
> I'm no expert, but I don't know of any other gecko species that has such
> brilliant color on the underside. These little guys (L.kimhowelli) look
> in the pictures as if they have been pressed against a stamp pad with
> orange ink! The black throat on the male is remarkable too. Have you
> observed behaviours that display the belly color? Since both sexes have
> the bright colored bellies, I wonder if it is used for species recognition.
Maybe, but I don´t think so - the animals are very active and run around a
lot, but I don´t see them showing off their underbellies at any time. Perhaps
they might use it to confuse a predator when playing dead and lying on the
back, showing off these colors - but lacking predators, I don´t know if they
really would do that ... ;-)
> Does the male display his throat in courtship, or territorial disputes with
> other males?
I have not put two males togehter so far, as they can be quite aggressive
among themselves - but yes, when courting the female, the black throat can
be seen as the male "inflates" the throat a little - but it does not rotate
the
head or something like that. So, overall, I really can´t give an answer why
their underbelly and throat show these intensive colors - but I´m happy that
they have them :-)
> How big (inches) is that little guy?
A hatchling Lygodactylus kimhowelli will have not much more than 1cm
total lenght at birth ... try to hand-feed those littler buggers ;-) Luckily
they are good eaters and take small fruit-flies to start off with.
> [Studies concerning the relationship between african geckos)
> I would like to have these references..
OK, these are taken from the book "Faszinierende Taggeckos" from Hallmann,
Krüger, Trautmann, published in 1997 in german (best Phelsuma-book, i.m.h.o.):
Russell, A.P. (1972): The foot of the gekkonid lizards ... Thesis Univ. London
Kluge, A.G. (1983): Cladistic relationships among gekkonid ... Copeia (2)
Joger, U. (1985): The african gekkonine radiation ... Proc. Intern. Symp.
African
Vertebr. Bonn (museum Alexander König)
Kluge, A.G. (1987): Cladistic relationships in the gekkonidea ... Misc. Publ.
Mus.
Zool. Univ. Michigan
Bauer, A.M. (1990): Phylogeny and biogeography of the geckos ... Proc. Intern.
Symp. Vertebr. Biogeogr. Systematics Bonn (museum Alexander König)
Kluge / Nussbaum (1995): A review of african-madagascan gekkonid ... Misc.
Publ. Mus. Zool. Univ. Michigan
> Btw, I'm still astounded that a gecko could survive the voyage to the
Andaman
> Islands and found a species there, and wonder how Phelsuma made it to
> Namibia, but nowhere in between!
Concerning the latter ... P. ocellata has recently been moved out of the
Phelsuma-group again, and is currently Rhoptropella, I think ... ? In general
- given
the toughness of Phelsuma-eggs, I think it is not very difficult to imaginge
how
some clutches of eggs could have reached some far-away-island on driftwood,
making for a new population there - and if the new ecosystem was isolated
(island, surrounded by a desert or the likes), then it would not spread
further ... .
OK, so much for now again - cheers, Hartmut
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