Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey all,
Well...I went to a reptile show today...and I possibly may have come back with a pair of geckos. Impulse buy I KNOW...bad bad bad. However, its not like I'm totally useless, because I already had a tropical cage setup, and a basic knowledge of reptiels under my belt.

I also asked the breeder most of the essentials to their care. However, I actually have no idea what species they are. Looking them up on the internet turns out to be useless, because they'res million types of gonatodes!

So, I don't have pictures yet, but I'll try to get some as soon as possibles(Once the darn things stay still, lol).

The male looks; Brown, with a yellow head, and very yellow/ orangish colour on the underside of his mouth. Sorry for being so basic... When he is "happy", or non stressed his head is a bright yellow, and when he's stressed his head seems to be a drab yellowy-brown.

-And the female is plain brown, with polk a dotted brown spots. Any ideas to what they could be?

ALSO... can the gonatode family eat pureed fruits?

Thanks a million, and if anyone has a good care sheet on these little fellas that would be awseome. I'll try to get a good picture.

Thanks again!
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Steven ,

and flock;
-1.1 Cockatiels(Buddy and Jake)
-1.1 Budgies(Chipy and Peaches)
-1.0 Orange cheeked waxbill

And slime/scales;
-1.0 Firebellied toad
-1.0 Japanese firebellied newt
-1.0 Leopard gecko
-4 leopard frog tadpoles

Fish, feeders and other wriggly things!

Sounds like G. albogularis.

As far as care goes, there's some info in Coborn's Breeding and Keeping Geckos. He recommends an 18x12x12 inch terrarium for a pair, 82 degrees daytime and room temp. at night, 50% humidity. No info on substrate but I would suppose coco fiber to be suitable, or sand/soil mixture.

I suspect these guys are diurnal so I would suggest moderate UV lighting as well.

Don't know about the fruit but it couldn't hurt to try. You might try Crested Gecko diet as well
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Chris

2.0.0 Coleonyx variegatus
1.0.0 Gekko vittatus
0.0.1 Tarentola mauritanica
0.0.2 Rhacodactylus ciliatus

Terrestrial? Who you calling terrestrial?!!

I would be interested as I have been looking for various Gonatodes species. Also, if you don't mind me asking what did you pay for them? If you can post a picture or email me one I can probably ID it for you. It sounds like G. albogularis notatus from Haiti. They are diurnal and mostly bug eaters.

Regards,
John
lireptiles@yahoo.com

Thank-you very much Chris and John for your helpful information. My setup, temperature and humidity is exact to what you have just described, and my little guys are thriving.

John, I bought my gonatodes at a Canadian Herp Show, however,I was reading the website, and they do apparently sell worldwide. Also, the list of animals that you can view for sale isn't all that accurate. They sell many more reptiles and amphibians than what is on their list.

Their website is;http://www.globalexoticpets.com/
,and I bought my pair of gonatodes for $65.00 Canadian

I'll try to get some pictures ASAP, once again...thanks so much =)
-----
Steven ,

and flock;
-1.1 Cockatiels(Buddy and Jake)
-1.1 Budgies(Chipy and Peaches)
-1.0 Orange cheeked waxbill

And slime/scales;
-1.0 Firebellied toad
-1.0 Japanese firebellied newt(on the loose)
-0.1 Leopard gecko
-1.1 Yellow headed geckos

Fish, feeders and other wriggly things!

I've got pictures! Sorry they're not great quality...If you could identify the species from the pictures that would be awseome!

I also have a few more questions;
- My males head. I have seen his entire head a VERY attractive yellow before(I saw this at the reptile show, and on the drive home), however now his head is really drab(brownish-tingy yellowish), except for the under part of his head(where's its bright yellow and orange). Why is his head so drab now? Stress?
-John you said that Gonotodes are mostly carnivorous. Does this mean that they consume a small amount of vegetation, or pureed fruit?
- The small crickets I'm feeding them seem to be a little to big for the Gonotodes. Would you recommend flightless fruit flies?

Thanks again.

-----
Steven ,

and flock;
-1.1 Cockatiels(Buddy and Jake)
-1.1 Budgies(Chipy and Peaches)
-1.0 Orange cheeked waxbill

And slime/scales;
-1.0 Firebellied toad
-1.0 Japanese firebellied newt(on the loose)
-0.1 Leopard gecko
-1.1 Yellow headed geckos

Fish, feeders and other wriggly things!

Hi,

I know a fellow who just bought a few G.a. from a canadian importer adn while they were not specified as G.A. notatus they were said to be from Haiti and almost certainly would be notatus. Also, they are the right color for notatus. The pictue I referenced is one of his and sem to look like yours. Your pictures are a bit hard to ID but I'm pretty certain they are notatus.

I have heard that G.a. species eat a bit of fruit mash but I've not seen it. It may be a locality specific diet. You shoudl be able to feed them 1/4 crickets as G.a. are about 3 to 4 inches as adults. Babies would be feed fruit flies and pinheads. Your female looked a tad smaller than the male and perhaps she needs smaller (1/8?) crix. I feed my mourning geckos 1/4 and they have no problem and they are smaller than gonatodes. From what I saw in Costa Rica G.a. are pretty much bug eaters. I saw none going after flower nectars nor jams and jellies left on tables near by.

As to the color, most geckos change color intensity with light, temperature and/or temperment/mood. I'm not at all surprised they are more colorful at times.

Thanks for the rest of the info.

Regards,
John

Thanks again John!
That picture looks very like my male. So I think my species must be G.a(whatchama callems). Today I noticed the kind of half ring around my little guys neck, like that picture displays in the male =)

One last question. How often should I feed my gonatodes, and how much?

Thanks!
-----
Steven ,

and flock;
-1.1 Cockatiels(Buddy and Jake)
-1.1 Budgies(Chipy and Peaches)
-1.0 Orange cheeked waxbill

And slime/scales;
-1.0 Firebellied toad
-1.0 Japanese firebellied newt(on the loose)
-0.1 Leopard gecko
-1.1 Yellow headed geckos

Fish, feeders and other wriggly things!

Similar to all geckos, feed them every other day 4 to 6 1/4 crix. If there are left over crix cut back a bit.

Regards,
John

np
-----
Steven ,

and flock;
-1.1 Cockatiels(Buddy and Jake)
-1.1 Budgies(Chipy and Peaches)
-1.0 Orange cheeked waxbill

And slime/scales;
-1.0 Firebellied toad
-1.0 Japanese firebellied newt(on the loose)
-0.1 Leopard gecko
-1.1 Yellow headed geckos

Fish, feeders and other wriggly things!

Nice pics!

According to Seufer in Keeping and Breeding Geckos, "In most cases, only territorial males attain full color, females and non-breeding males being much duller" (Seufer, p. 183). There are some excellent photos in this book, I highly recommend it.
If he was brighter before, I suspect that the change in location and environment have stressed him a bit, and that once he accepts his new home as "home" he could brighten up again. Also, of course, lighting plays a big part as well.
I would recommend fruit flies as an addition to the diet, probably D. hydei would be appropriate size, with 1/8" crix as the staple. If you can get them, small pesticide-free sow bugs and roaches are great too. Variety is a good thing.
-----
Chris

2.0.0 Coleonyx variegatus
1.0.0 Gekko vittatus
0.0.1 Tarentola mauritanica
0.0.2 Rhacodactylus ciliatus

Terrestrial? Who you calling terrestrial?!!

Thanks Chris. Last night I saw my male at his most colourful. It was night time and when I turned on his lamp to get a peak at my little guy(once my bedroom lights were off), his head was once again bright yellow, and his body was a greenish brown.
-----
Steven ,

and flock;
-1.1 Cockatiels(Buddy and Jake)
-1.1 Budgies(Chipy and Peaches)
-1.0 Orange cheeked waxbill

And slime/scales;
-1.0 Firebellied toad
-1.0 Japanese firebellied newt(on the loose)
-0.1 Leopard gecko
-1.1 Yellow headed geckos

Fish, feeders and other wriggly things!