Ingo Kober wrote:
still have some Qs:
How exactly did your smithii call (mating and territory call, not defense call)?
I had them in the basement, as I mentioned in the other reply, so I didn't see them for extended
periods of time, but I did observe them for a while every day, and an hour or more if I saw
something interesting going on. For the most part, they were undisturbed, so I have no idea what
they were doing a lot of the time when they vocalized. I do know that I heard calling to sound
an alarm such as when I approached (danger). There was also some calling to attract a mate or to
warn someone to back off. I don't recall whether or not there was a response from the one being
told to back off, it was sometimes hard to tell who said what unless I could see them both
clearly.
Did they sound like a a a a a a a a a a ECK ECK ECK ECK ECK
ECK OOOooooooooooooo or did they either omit the initial cackling or the final
moaning or both?
I think it was a little of each option. Most of the time it was the "a a a a a a a a a a ECK
ECK ECK ECK ECK ECK ", fairly common also was the "OOOooooooooooooo" ending. The "a a a
a " sounding call on it's own happened also. It seemed to me like someone starting to say
something and changed his/her mind, somewhat like we start a conversation with "um... " and then
stop. It seems like there should have been more after the "a a a a " but nothing happened. When
they were signalling danger to warn the babies to head for the cave, it was a very short "ECK",
louder than the average volume, and repeated by several of the adults until all babies were back
in the cave. The subadults, babies and juvies that were still in the group didn't seem to say
anything, or it was drowned out by the adults.
How often did they call?
Only at night or even at daytime?
Year round or only during certain months?
For hours and hours, but only during the 'summer' (artificial temperatures, I cooled the room a
bit during winter). In winter they'd say something but not those extended periods like in
summer. They were tolerable in winter, just saying enough to remind me they were still around.
At night, definitely. Sometimes I'd hear it during the day, but it seems something set them off
- like hammering while the roof was being reshingled. That was an experience. Hammering up on
the roof and the geckos in the basement ... I felt like moving out that day. :) Most of the time
they were pretty quiet during the day. If they did say anything while the sun was up, it was
usually short clucks, nothing like a 'conversation'.
Did all males call or just the alpha male?
I can't recall exactly. It's been too long since I had them, and which individual called is
pretty vague now. I do know the alpha male was quite vocal. I'm also pretty sure the 2nd in
command had a few chances to speak his mind, but the situations around that are just too fuzzy a
memory. Mostly I recall the vocalizations as a group, not who said what.
How long took the incubation of eggs in your tank on average?
They took around 90 days to hatch if they were near the heat light, the prime laying spot. Some
took even longer, closer to 110-120 days for the ones lower down from that prime spot. There was
a clutch of eggs I didn't know about when I sold the group. I only found the eggs about a week
after the geckos were gone. For some reason, they were glued to the outside back of the cave
which put them almost at floor level, so I couldn't see them until I removed it. I put those
eggs in the incubator, cave and all, but didn't expect much. The eggs were pretty developed, I
could see the embryos inside when I candled them, so I gave them a chance. They hatched almost 3
months later. Since I thought they were probably halfway through when I found them, it would
suggest around 130 days. I've got no way of being more accurate on that estimate, since I had no
idea when the eggs were laid. The heat had been off in that enclosure for a week before I found
the eggs, so they were sitting at about 70-72°F during that time, but it didn't harm them any.
These babies went to a friend who (surprisingly?) found them to be quiet. He rarely heard
anything from them, and couldn't believe they were from the same parents that he heard when I
had them. This friend has moved now, and we don't keep in touch, so I can't find out if they
ever found their voices or not.
When there were 6 or so juveniles in the group, it seemed the adults were trying to get the
subadults to move on and leave the nest. The adults and any younger ones were in the main cave
during the day, but the subadults were quite often left out, maybe it was too crowded for them.
When I noticed this, I removed them from the group. At one time there were 10 babies, all under
4 months old. I stupidly thought I'd thin them out, since it seemed crowded to me. The adults
didn't think the same. I got the first baby out, amid a lot of barking and threats from the
parents. The 2nd one was removed, but only because I was faster than the guarding adult. The 3rd
one was the last one I tried to remove that time. I caught him in a plastic jar as usual for
removing babies, but an adult male jammed himself in there as well before I could put the lid
on. In the meantime, one of the females latched on to my finger and wouldn't let go. I ended up
leaving the jar in the tank so they could get out, and concentrated on removing the female. She
dangled from my index finger and wouldn't let go, just thrashed around like a shark. She only
let go was when I rested my hand on a table, as soon as she felt a solid surface under her, she
ran off. Catching her was another adventure, but she did get returned to the group, safe and
sound. I still have a scar from where she took a chunk out of my finger. The best way to thin
out a group is to remove some of the adults first, so there's fewer of them to attach themselves
to your body while defending the babies.
I'm still hoping to find copies of the notes I took back then, but no luck yet.
Hilde
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