Pictus (Paroedura Picta) Gecko
-Introduction-
The Pictus gecko is a small terrestrial gecko native to Madagascar. This is a humid jungle area full of predators for the Pictus gecko. These geckos are small and easily preyed upon meaning that they must be able to reproduce easily and quickly. This explains their prolific-ness in captivity.
-Housing-
Housing these geckos in captivity is not hard at all. They only need basic accessories and care requirements. A 10-gallon aquarium is sufficient for an adult breeding group as large as1.2. Their cage should include a deli dish of appropriate size for the geckos that will be using it. This deli dish should have a hole cut in the side large enough for the geckos to easily enter and exit whenever necessary. This box should also be filled with about 2” of moistened vermiculite for moisture and egg deposition. The cage should have at least one hide for the male, and at least one hide per every two females, one per animal is even better, but seeing how females rarely fight, usually one per two females works fine. NEVER EVER house more than one male together for any circumstance whatsoever. This will almost always end in a bitter battle between the two males with one or both dieing. A water dish for hydration purposes should always be present in the cage for the geckos to use at their leisure. I have witnessed Pictus geckos lapping from a water dish, so they aren’t just in there to take up space. As far as substrates go, many are readily available and useable for Pictus geckos. These include sand, chipped bark, paper towels, and mats. Many people are against using sand for the gecko because of impaction reasons. I have used sand for juveniles (3 months) throughout their adulthood with not one problem thus far. I like sand because it holds heat well and is very easy to clean with a sifter.
-Breeding-
Breeding these geckos is not a task at all! As long as there is a male and female together, breeding is almost un-stoppable. But with this species, the females store sperm from previous breedings. Meaning they can lay many clutches with a single breeding. So once you have witnesses breeding, be sure to check the deli dish for eggs! Young females almost always start out laying only one egg per clutch. But doing so they can lay far more often than a female producing two eggs at a time. Usually females will lay a clutch every 6 (1 egg)-14 (2 eggs) days. A single male can handle breeding with as many as 4-5 females at a time. Keeping him with 2-3 females at a time will insure fertile eggs though. The males are very prolific, so if you are planning on keeping him with the females, then it would be a good idea to have more than one female in the cage. This prevents him from pestering one female too much at any given time. Some people like to keep the males and females separate except for breeding purposes. In this case you would introduce the male to the female’s cage for a week or so and then take him out and put him back into his original enclosure. That’s about it for breeding.
-Egg Care and incubation-
So now that you’ve un-dug your first clutch of eggs you think, “How should I go about taking them out and transferring them into an incubation cup.” Well…There are two methods, both proving successful for many people. 1.) VERY CAREFULLY Pick the eggs up one at a time with your hands and transport them to a cup, dish, etc. for incubation. 2.) Take a spoon and scoop the eggs up one at a time and then put them into the incubation cup, dish, etc. Now a lot of people prefer the latter method for fear of cracking or breaking the egg in their hands when using method one. I prefer to use the first method for one reason. I feel I can control the egg from rolling over while I transport it. With a spoon it is very easy for the egg/s to roll and then you never know what position to put them into for incubation. This is a big problem. Once the egg is over twenty four hours old, rolling it can cause the egg to go bad because the developing embryo inside gets drowned when the egg is rolled.
Now…You have finally managed to successfully get the egg into the incubation cup, dish, etc. Now you must put the egg in the exact position you un-covered it in. So once you have it in the position it was in when you un-covered it, take a black Sharpie marker and put a small black dot on the top of the egg in the position it is supposed to be in. Be careful not to crack the egg while doing this. The reason for the is because when the babies hatch out, sometimes they are a bit crazy and they roll over some of the other eggs. By placing a dot on the egg, you can accurately place it back into its original position.
Incubation temperatures vary with opinion as well. I have hatched Pictus in temperatures ranging from 82-88 degrees F, with my average incubation temperature being around 84 degrees F.
-Hatchling Care-
Hatchling Pictus are very hardy for their size. They are usually around 1.5-2” when they hatch. I have found that they usually won’t eat for the first week or so after hatching. So I put them into their own individual shoebox with the same essentials as the adults. Starting about the fifth night after hatching I begin putting in 2-3 3/16” crickets. If I notice they’ve eaten the crickets, begin feeding them appropriate sized crickets every night until they are several months old, at which point I begin giving appropriate sized mealworms/wax worms. The worms help fatten up the geckos which speeds up growth as well. That’s it for keeping and breeding Pictus geckos.
-Note-
I have been keeping and breeding Pictus for several years now and I have found them to be hardy, fun, and exciting captives. I highly recommend them to anyone willing to give them a try, especially beginners who want to start captive producing geckos. The fun part is breeding for some of the different phases such as xanthic, albino, hypo, red, marbled, striped, banded, and three-striped. This information is personal information that I have witnessed/experienced from keeping this gecko. It has worked for me well, but I cannot guarantee it will work for you.This care sheet was written by Leland (Doc) Ward-D.W.Geckos. Please do not reproduce or use this for your site or own without contacting me at dwgeckos@yahoo.com first. Thanks a lot and good luck!
