First time posting so bear with me if anything is messed up.
I have kept Chondrodactylus for the past year or so. I have a single pair that has been thriving in their desert setup. I have them set up very similar to my web footed geckos (Palmatogecko rangei) in that I provide a very arid, hot tank for them with cool nights. I use a tank that's about a 30 gallon long with the only heat source being a 100 watt bulb over one end. I use a desert mix substrate (got the recipe from living vivarium in Reptiles Magazine) and made sure that I put plenty of large rocks under the heat light. During the day the geckos spend their time hiding in a buried plastic container that also has substrate in it...(about the size of a cool whip container). As soon as the lights go off both geckos come out and lay on the rocks for a couple hours absorbing the heat. Personally I think it's pretty important to have this since it simulates what they would have in
nature.
I have caught both the male and the female burrowing but they always stay in their hide box I created for them during the day. When the female is getting ready to lay eggs she completely rearranges the cage. It's amazing that an animal that small can move so much substrate in one night. The biggest problem I have had is finding the eggs. She is very good at buring them 5 or 6 inches down (I do provide another hide box that I keep moist hoping she would lay in there....no luck however). I have destroyed an egg or two digging for them since their shells are so incredibly fragile.
I will do my best to take some pictures and send them to you. Feel free to write with any other questions I may not have answered.
Chris
>From: "Ray Curtis" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>To: "Gekkota Listerve" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Date: Fri, 6 Jun 2003 12:49:34 +0100
>Organization: GeckoWorld
>Subject: [gecko]Chondrodactylus
>Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>Hello,
>Is anyone currently keeping any Chondrodactylus species?
>I am trying to get some information from experienced keepers and
>breeders. I
>am also looking for anyone if they have photos of their setups etc as I
>have
>heard they like burrowing but they dont dig themselves, they >merely .use
>abandoned burrows etc in the wild. I was going to do this by building
>some
>sort of a cave from rocks under the sand and place a tube going into
>it,
>covering the cave and the tubes with the sand. Is anyone else using
>this
>method?
>Also adding rock caves on top of the substrate also.
>Has nyone had any luck with this species?
>Kind Regards
>Ray Curtis
>To: "Gekkota Listerve" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Date: Fri, 6 Jun 2003 12:49:34 +0100
>Organization: GeckoWorld
>Subject: [gecko]Chondrodactylus
>Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>Hello,
>Is anyone currently keeping any Chondrodactylus species?
>I am trying to get some information from experienced keepers and
>breeders. I
>am also looking for anyone if they have photos of their setups etc as I
>have
>heard they like burrowing but they dont dig themselves, they >merely .use
>abandoned burrows etc in the wild. I was going to do this by building
>some
>sort of a cave from rocks under the sand and place a tube going into
>it,
>covering the cave and the tubes with the sand. Is anyone else using
>this
>method?
>Also adding rock caves on top of the substrate also.
>Has nyone had any luck with this species?
>Kind Regards
>Ray Curtis
Do you Yahoo!?
The New Yahoo! Search - Faster. Easier. Bingo.
