Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I had three geckos given to me today, I am told that they are Wahlberg's Velvet Geckos. Two of them look like the pictures that I've been able to find of the Wahlberg geckos, but the other one is very light in coloration, yellow with darker brownish strips, though the body looks the same as the Wahlberg's geckos. I'm not sure if it's just a different color Wahlberg's gecko, or not. Anyway, I'm having a problem finding care info about them, can anyone help me out? I know that they have been kept at room or warmer temp for the past few months, and they seem to be doing ok, but what is recommended for heat, substrate, enclosure size and setup, how do I need to water them, etc... thanks in advance for any help.

Marcy

Hi Marcy,

They come in several color forms, including pale and/or patternless. In the wild they coexist with several Pachydactylus species in Africa. I provide mine with the same habitat and care as for my Pachydactylus (see my Sept 1 reply to the P. tigrinus questio) and they have bred well for years. I don't think I mentioned a water bowl in my Pachy reply, but they definately need one. This link may be helpful:

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

Obie

I've had my Wahlberg's for two years (see post above about the baby) and had a water bowl for them for a while but never saw them use it. Now I occassionally mist them but this only seems to annoy them. They always turn away from the water when I mist them and go in the opposite direction. I've almost never seen them drink water! Just my observation. I'm sure it can't hurt anything, but water bowls seem to drown a lot of crickets and get dirty and yucky a lot. -Lucy

I couldn't find anything at gekkota.com. Is there a new version of the URL? -Lucy

Hi Lacy,

I spelled it wrong, its gekkota (not gekotta). Or you could search for Global Gecko Association on Google. As for the cricket-in-water problem, try taking a two inch wide strip of window screen (stainless steel is best) and bending it into a right angle. When cut to the right length, one end can be placed at the bottom of the water bowl and the other on dry ground. This A-shaped ramp will allow crickets to crawl out instead of drowning. I've never had a drowned insect using this method. Also, I've had a few geckos that seemed more comfortable drinking from a cage wall, insead of horizontally on the ground. For this reason, I often place a water bowl against a wall of the cage. Its probably true that many African geckos don't really NEED a water bowl, given their arid natural environment. But since they seem to enjoy using it sometimes, and it can't hurt 'em -- why have one?

Obie

That was supposed to read: Why NOT have one?

I even called you Lacy! I give up...

Good Luck,

Obie

Took me a minute to picture the cage wall and bowl idea. It's the LIZARD on the cage wall, not the bowl, duh! I was trying to figure out how the bowl would hold water!!! It's been a long week!

Thanks for the information. I've actually been to that web site before, I knew it sounded familiar. -Lucy