[gecko]Thecadactylus husbandry and paper

[Yuri Huta]

Jon's reply stirred some memories regarding husbandry.

The single egg and fruit in their diet specifically. I did have a  
pair of crested geckos at the time and vaguely recall mixing the T- 
Rex/Sandfire Crested Gecko powder diet up for both species. I suspect  
that I also offered them other baby food jar type foods in addition  
to the T-Rex/Sandfire mix, but can't be certain. I know I did it for  
the Crested Geckos, so suspect I would have offered it to the  
Thecadactylus pair. I picked up my pair in person while in Miami at  
Strictly Reptiles (if my memory still works), which agreed to sell to  
me as a non store owner. They had a several dozen and most looked  
quite robust, despite the cramped conditions. While I can't remember  
the exact country they were from, these were from Central America -  
although Honduras keeps coming to mind.

Last I read, Thecadactylus has been split up into more than one  
species by Bergmann (2006 or 2007?). I had the paper electronically  
at my former job, but neglected to take a copy with me.

I think it is a nicely patterned species that seemed to do quite well  
as adults. Not just brown in color, but I noticed green and yellows  
in my animals. As Jon noted, the incubation temperatures were likely  
on the low end with the eggs I was working with.

Yuri

On Oct 14, 2009, at 12:49 PM, Jon & Stacy Boone wrote:

> My experiences mirror Yuri's experiences.  And I think he is dead  
> on with
> low incubation temps resulting in weaker hatchlings.  I've got eggs
> incubating from this species at this very moment.  Interestingly,  
> for such a
> large species, they only lay single eggs.  However, some other  
> large New
> World species also lay single eggs, like all Aristelliger species.   
> Most
> Thecadactylus will readily consume fruit and especially those  
> populations in
> the Caribbean, where specimens have been witnessed gorging on  
> suspended
> fruit at night.
>
> Jon
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: gecko-admin@lists.gekkota.com [mailto:gecko- 
> admin@lists.gekkota.com]
> On Behalf Of Yuri Huta
> Sent: Wednesday, October 14, 2009 10:41 AM
> To: gecko@lists.gekkota.com
> Subject: Re: [gecko]Thecadactylus husbandry and paper
>
> Hi Gekkotan,
>
> I have kept these in the past and got them to breed, lay eggs and
> eventually got a couple of hatchlings. I kept them in a 12" x 12" x
> 18" tall (30cm x 30cm x 45cm tall) Exoterra with a potted Sansevieria
> and a long cork tube. I fed them dusted crickets and waxmoth larvae.
> The female would lay eggs in the potting soil of the Sansevieria. She
> would cover them up quite well and I would have to rot around to find
> them. The Exoterra had a compact fluorescent on top of the screen and
> the temperature would be in the mid to high 70 degrees F, with the
> low dropping to the mid 60 degrees F. If it helps, this was the same
> room I kept poison arrow frogs and a few species of Sphaerodactylus
> and Gonatodes - and all of these did quite well in this setting. The
> Sphaerodactylus, Gonatodes and Dendrobatid frogs had slightly higher
> daytime temperatures though (enclosed aqauriums with glass lids
> helped retain heat better than the screen topped Exoterra).
>
> I did not notice any problems with keeping the male with the female
> full time. I did notice that the hatchlings were rather weak and it
> took work to get them to feed. Perhaps my incubation temperatures
> were too low?
>
> Yuri
>
> On Oct 13, 2009, at 3:51 PM, Gekkotan Gekkotan wrote:
>
>> Hi, I am looking for the article
>> Bianchi, J. 1991. Notes on Captive Breeding of of the Turnip-Tailed
>> Gecko Thecadactylus rapicauda Jour. Int. Gecko Soc. 1 (1): 17-19
>> Does anyone have this and/or any info about husbandry and breeding
>> this species?
>>
>> Thanks for any help.
>>
>> Gekkotan
>
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