Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I picked up an adult pair about 2 weeks ago. The enclosure kind of makes it hard to keep track of prey items but i do see poop. Tank specs are 2ft X 2ft X 4ft high, 72-78F, and 85-95% humidity. I think they have taken a couple roaches and some crickets but they look thin still. You can see the male's ribs, especially when hes all stretched out asleep during the day. I saw them breeding too! I am currently offering meal/wax worms, crickets daily, and lobster roaches. Red light at night, UVB/UV during the day. Are they just naturally thin??? No such thing as a fat fimbriatus? Thanks for any help, you guys have been great so far,

Jack

and then judge whether they're thin or not. i dunno about fimbriatus, but my lineatus you can just about always see their ribs and they eat very well.

I agree with grnbasilisk. Monitor their weights and only worry if they start to decrease.

well, henkeli are pretty similar to fimbriatus and i would say that my pair of henkeli eat well but dont seem to put on weight. ribs are not a good indicator of thinness in this genus, just about every uroplatus i have except the fat gravid females have pretty obvious ribs. my henkeli eat a lot. it just doesnt stick. they're a lot bigger than others, so of course they eat a lot more. so i would say just make sure you keep plenty of crix, roaches, whatever you feed them in there so they have it. when they are really thin and malnourished youll notice more of the skeleton than just the ribs, hips will stick out and the bumps of the spine become more noticeable. unfortunately i saw a henkeli that was no doubt very beautiful, however she was obviously malnourished and dehydrated. i didnt even understand how she could be alive with how bad she looked. members of the genus tend to be slim to begin with, so keep that in mind.

Uros aren't an especially rotund genus, even the best eaters look rather thin, my male's ribs are always showing. Did you check for parasites?

Thanks for all the input guys. Unfornately i don't have a digital scale, i should probably invest in one. They are captive bred adults and have 0 parasites. I've only seen the male eat one cricket in 2 weeks but i think that is just because they are secretive. The rest of their bodies look good its just when they are stretched out during the day that i notice them, more so in the male. Thanks again,

Jack

I wouldn't be so quick to say they have 0 parasites... I can garantee that they have some degree of coccidiosis (probably Eimeria or Isospora spp) as well as some degree of pinworm infection... I run routine fecals on my henks, and even when I had ONLY the CB, they still had coccidia... It's natural, however, if there is a slight inbalance in their immune system for whatever reason, these things can QUICKLY explode... It can't hurt to have fecals ran on them... I certainly wouldn't jump to the conclusion that parasites are not the problem... If there is an infection, beyond that of the normal internal fauna, then an experienced vet should be able to recongnize that... Thinness may be an early manifestation of a larger problem... And besides, how can you be sure that even though they were CB the previous owner, or breeder, took all neccesary precautions to limit their exposure to infected WC geckos... All geckos have parasites, you can only hope to keep them in check...
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Ben