Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Im looking to expand my small collection and Leaf Tails are one of the reptiles that interest me. Browsing the posts on this forum, I see many different varieties. Mossy, satanics....

Are there different types of them or is it just my imagination? How big do they get? What kind of enviroment are they from? Do they take to be handled occasionally well or are they jumpers/runners? What is the best type for someone not wanting a high end but also not a low end leaf tail?

What size enclosure would be best suited for one or a pair?

Thanks for your time. I know I could look up a guide but I feel safer reading the info from people who take care of these reptiles day in and day out, not an article somewhere .
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0.0.1 Green Anole
0.0.1 Leopord Gecko

here a answers to just a few of your questions.
first, every leaftail that i know if needs very high humidity. this is one of most important things that you will need to know about them. humidity problems is the only reason i have ever had for my leaftails to die. they are all from madagascar. the larger ones to name a few would be mossy leaftail, henkeli, fimbriatus, and lined leaftail.
second most important thing for you to know is the temperature requirements. the temperature should NEVER go above 80 degrees of they will most likely die. i keep the temp in my cages around 74 and down to around 66 at night.
mossy and lined are ones that i keep and of the two i feel that mossys are the most hearty. i have never had problems with mossys, however satanics and lineds have been a bit of trouble. satanics i've had the worst luck and i believe that to be because they are the smallest ( along with ebenaui) and any change to their environment ( humidity, food etc.) has a larger effect on them.
i keep trios of mossys and lined leaftails in 30 gallon tall aquariums. they don't need a ton of space.

Unless you are absolutly set on getting some uroplatus I would suggest getting another type of gecko. They are an advanced species of reptile nowhere near the care level of a leopard of anole. There is not a whole lot of concrete information on the care for some species which makes keeping them difficult. Also uroplatus are currently undergoing investigation by C.I.T.E.S for inclusision in Appendices 2 with some species in Appendices 1 which means they might be a little above your price limit. If you still are set on getting a leaf tail I would recommend reading some of the many internet articles available on their care and getting your base knowledge up then coming to the forum with any futher questions you have. Uroplatus.com has some caresheets as does the Global Gecko Association website. Also there is really no such thing as a low end or high end leaf tail.
-Matt

The website was uroplatus.net not uroplatus.com.
Matt

Thanks for the info.

I understand very much they are not a care free gecko and do require a lot of care to raise healthily. While price is really not too much of an issue (as long as its not in the 4 digits.. ) I was asking just so I could get an idea.

Thanks for the info, very helpful. I will look into more options, as i always do, before jumping into something.
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0.0.1 Green Anole
0.0.1 Leopord Gecko

price would range from 35-175 dollars wild caught... ( satanic up to a corkbark leaftail)
captive born i'm sure people will pay just about anything to get a good specimen because they aren't very easy to come by. avg. cb price i would expect to be around 125-150 dollars on up.

USe your location in the country to your advantage. I'll give you an example. I lived in San Francisco for a while when I first got into Uroplatus geckos (Uroplatus ebenaui). Since the temps hardly ever get above the 80's (near my apartment), I knew it wouldn't be too rough keeping them because I had a general max temp. Since my house never dropped below 60 degrees during the winter months, I had my min. Humidity was easily dealt with when I purchased a humidity gauge with a probe sensor. I only sprayed them when the humidity dropped below 70%. Since I didn't need supplemental heat and I covered humidity, I only needed to focus on the animals. That was majority of the battle.

Don't expect it to be this easy. I have 15 years experience with reptiles in which 8 of that is with more advanced animals. Do some general research first, then secondary research, and then make your decision. general research being on the animals, secondary research on YOUR environment.

Anyone can keep difficult animals, just be willing to put in the work to be successful. If they bred and all the environmental factors are met, you've been successful.

Good luck.
Boy