Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Im am interested in these pretty looking geckos but can only find pics of them. The only info i've read so far is that they get about 9cm when grown. I have no clue to their set up. I can't even tell if they are arboreal or not from the pics.

Does anyone know anything about these geckos?

Thanks

Claire
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I currently keep:
1.2 leopard geckos
1.1 gold dust day geckos
6 dwarf ground geckos
0.1 chinese cave gecko
0.1 tokay gecko

Other species: crested gecko, giant day gecko

Hi Claire,

most Pachydactylus ssp. live in arid or semi arid (dry) habitats in southern Africa. They have toe pads and like to climb. I keep my 1.3 tigrinus in a tank about 30 gallon size (could be smaller). There is screen on top and on one side for plenty of ventilation. They can climb glass, so the top must be secure. I use ground walnut shell as a substrate. For heat, I use a "full spectrum" incandescent spot light aimed at the floor of one end of the cage, this is set on a timer. I also have a 3" heat tape running the length of the back wall (outside) just above groung level, this is allways on and connected to a rheostat set medium-low. I provide them with a seasonal temp drop by turning off the spot light for about three months (they still have the heat tape, and still eat). Most Pachys seem to like ambient temps in the upper 70s - low 80s with a hot spot in the low 90s. 60s during seasonal drop. I mist them lighlty twice a week (could be more), but with lots of ventilation, humidity stays in the low to mid range. Eggs are incubated under similar conditions (humidity in the 40-60% range, temps in the low 80s). For hide spots/nesting sites, I use a row of three wooden bird boxes containing 2 inches of dry vermiculite along the cool end (obviosly more for function than form). I have used some variation of this overall design with Pachys for 14 years with great success. In general they are very hardy geckos. In fact you could treat many Pachys like leopard geckos - in 3 dimensions. As long as adult males are not kept together, they are very social geckos.

I have kept a lot of reptiles, including dozens of gecko species, and I definately think Pachydactylus bibroni is one of the most underrated reptiles in the hobby!

The Global Gecko Association has a pretty good care sheet for Pachys, heres the link:

http://www.gekkota.com/Caresheets/Pachydactylus_sp.html

I hope this helps.

Obie

np