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Hi Chad... Welcome to the wonderful world of klemmeri!!! I'm assuming, based on the size of food items you are providing, that the gex are juvies? Keep in mind that these guys (as with most Phelsuma) will eat anything the size of their head! Don't be afraid to move them up to larger prey once they're showing growth. Keep up the varied food, too! If you're successful with lauticauda, keep the klemmeri the same and you'll do fine there. What you're doing sounds great. Make sure they have some tubes (I use bamboo) leaned up into the corners so it's pretty much vertical. They will hide in it and probably lay their eggs there too when they're ready to breed. If you can rig a horizontal tube across the tank within a few inches of the top, they will spend a lot of time on that. My tanks have several inches of potting soil/peat with plants directly in it. I use sensevaria, pothos, corn plants... anything vertical really. I then spread a layer of medium or fine orchid bark on the soil. Not sure where you can get the T-Rex locally, but I got mine from Julie. The only thing about your setup that bothers me is the running water. It is great for RH, but they will likely not drink from it and it's a source of bacteria if not kept scrupulously clean. I tried them for a while and gave up. I mist twice a day, applying enough water to thoroughly wet all the plants and tank surfaces. My goal is to supply enough water to keep the soil and plants properly watered. If I do that, the RH is fine and the plants stay healthy. If you've gotten advice from Leann about the 12 vdc halogen spots for basking spots, you've probably also heard about the need for bright, white light? She and Greg have always recommended the Philips TL series fluorescents, and use no additional UVB. While I can't argue with their success, I still add a Reptisun 5.0, at least for me! When possible, I use a two tube fixture with one Reptisun and one Philips. When I can only get a single tube on the tank, I use a Reptisun. I think that's the only area we don't agree absolutely. I'm sure they think I'm going overboard, but my results have always been great, too. Let me alter that last statement slightly... a couple years ago I had reduced my supplementation on my geckos along with my chameleons. While that was great for the chams, it was a disaster for the Phelsuma. My animals were getting lethargic and not breeding, and I lost several of my female breeders prematurely. After thinking it through and chatting with Julie and Leann, I went back to my old supplementation regimen... dust food with RepCal/D3 and Herptivite (2:1) at every feeding. I got breeding activity a few months after I'd made the change, and the gex are much more active! I'm now rebuilding some of my breeding groups that I lost animals from. I only feed my Phelsuma twice a week, and only about once a week in the winter. Babies get food more often, of course. Never feed lots of insects... that can stress them and put them off food. In winter, their photo period is decreased because the lights are driven by a Helix system with a sensor in the window. Also, the ambient temps in my house are lower (I allow my house to drop to 55F at night and during the day when I'm not there). They have their basking lights during the day, of course, but I supply no heat at night. This results in them eating less and breeding activity stops, giving the girls a needed rest for several months. Oh well... I've rambled on long enough!!! Have fun with them. I'm sure they'll do great! Chad Mayer wrote:
-- Doug Johnston http://pages.sbcglobal.net/scubadug |
- [gecko]Intro (again?) and an appeal for tips on p. klemmeri Chad Mayer
- Doug Johnston
