Posted by:
keats
at Mon Jul 19 20:11:25 2010 [ Report Abuse ] [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by keats ]
Hi,
I have 1.9 stenodactylus geckos and have kept them successfully in a 20 long for 9 years (they range in age from 9 to one who hatched out in the tank in April). I keep them on play sand (about 1" depth) I have heat tape along the back of the tank and lots of cork bark hides. I keep two small water bowls as well as two damp hides--basically large water bowls filled with damp sand and covered with cork bark and position over the warm section of sand. Since these guys are so small, I'm careful that anything heavy is firmly seated. These guys are big time diggers!
I feed out pinhead crickets and dust with calcium (critical if you have juveniles and good also if you have females).
These guys are wonderful. They are communal, entertaining and if their basic needs are maintained, remarkably hardy.
Also if you spray the glass tank with water they like to lick the water off. However, they drink just as well out of a shallow water bowl.
If and when you get eggs, best bet is not to touch them, they are hard shelled and incredibly delicate. I do watch out for hatching out time and put a clear glass loaf pan in the tank for the babies, as the adults can eat the hatchlings. The clear loaf pan in the 20 long helped this year as I had just the one hatchling--these guys are incredibly social and do not seem to thrive alone. Babies will do fine in a separate tank as long as there are at least 2 of them. Babies need tiny foodstuff--tiny mealworms work well if you can't get small enough pinhead crickets. Mealworms are easy to breed--give yourself about 3-4 weeks and your beetles should have given you tiny mealworms you can feed out. Tiny crickets or tiny mealworms should be dusted every feeding for at least the first 6 months.
Finally, best bet is not to handle these guys, though over time as they settle you can scoop them. They are incredibly small though, so I only handle them to scoop them and move them as needed.
Hope this helps and enjoy these charming geckos.
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