Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi there,
I am not new to the reptile trade just may be new to owning this specific type of gecko. I haven't made a purchase yet, I wanted to know a few more things before I got started.
Fist off these guys came to mind after I setup a 45 gallon fully planted bowfront, with a false water holding bottom for a pair of poison dart frogs. The frogs ended up passing away from a very contageous fungus known as Cytrid fungus. It is very bad essentially suffocating the amphibian skin so they cannot intake water properly. You can also never get rid of it. I am fairly certain this fungus is not inffective to reptiles, only amphibians.
Heres my quandry. I have a beautiful fully planted tank with live moss all over the bottom, high humidity at all times, full spectrum UV bulb, all of the essentials. If I were to put any frogs back in there, I would have to burn the plants (This can be spread easilly in the wild if i just toss them out) and scrub and bleach tha cage. This is not me being lazy, this is me wanting to at least save the poor plants when I couldn't save the frogs.
Giant Day geckos seem to fit the needs of my aquarium perfectly, add a baskin area and I'd be set.
Can anyone give me alittle more info on these guys? I currently own 2 crested geckos, and those guys are really easy for me. Any good breeders? Should I get adults? Should I even bother and just leave the aquaria empty? Does anyone have any other suggestions for a REPTILE species that would be suitable for a aquaria with around 70-80% humidity, 75 degrees ambient temp. and whatever basking temp they would need? Thanks guys and gals!!

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4 Whites Treefrogs (Gleep, Gloop, Gazoo, and Mrs. Chubs)
1 Bearded Dragons (Butterfinger)
1 Mali Uromastyx (Groucho)
1 Nile Monitor (Starbuck)
1 Dendobates Azureus (BoBo)
1 Dendrobates Tinctorius (Stan, the man)
1 Argentine Horned Frogs (Mcfatfat)
1 Togo Starburst
1 Blue Cobalt
1 Rosehair
1 African Spitting Scorpion
1 Betta Splendins
1 Koi (mr. winkie)
1 Spectacled Amazon (Indiana Jones)
2 Button Quail (Bob, Bob)
3 WOW char (they are pets too.)
Even us girls can like slimey scaley and squishy things.

Hi,

your tank looks beautiful - but I would not keep grandis in it. IMHO one should not house grandis in setups which are less tall than 40" and also 45g are on the verry small side. Grandis tend to be agressive towards each other in relatively small tanks and do best in largter ones. Anyhow, your tank may be fine for smaller Phelsumas which tolerate high humidity. Looking at your tank, klemmeri comes into my mind.
In any case you would have to add a variety of smooth vertical and horizontal branches (or bamboo) for climbing if you want to keep Phlesuma in that.
Also you should add some shelters in the upper third of the tank which would allow the geckos to hide out of sight of their partners.
Best regards

Ingo

Very Nice Tank! It would be a shame to burn all the plants. That said, I would hesitate to put anything else into that tank. If you don't mind only keeping the plants alive, I would opt for that (unless you are 100% sure that the fungus that killed your amphibians would not effect your reptiles in any way - while it may not kill them, it may impair them or make them ill in some way). If you know for sure that it will not effect any reptiles you would keep there, then I'm sure a smaller phelsuma would work in there with the afore-mentioned modifications.
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1.1 Crested Gecko (Anton/Angelina & Harley)
1.1 Crazy dogs (Alex & Sadie)
0.2 Vacationing Kitties (Puddy, PeeWee)
0.1 Amazing Wife =o)
Charlie - RIP 9-8-05 (Veiled Cham)

Thank you guys so much for your input. I will be contacting the vet that did the necropsy on my frog (That was the only way to diagnose this) and the Balitimore Aquarium about what they think, I do not want to endanger anymore animals, but its so sad having an empty tank. If not possible, I like my plants enough
The real reason I liked the Giant Day gecko species is for the color. Bright green and bright red. Is there another smaller species with similar coloration?
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3 Whites Treefrogs (Gleep, Gloop, Gazoo)
1 Bearded Dragon (Butterfinger)
1 Mali Uromastyx (Groucho)
1 Argentine Horned Frog (Mcfatfat)
1 Togo Starburst Tarantula
1 Blue Cobalt Tarantula
1 Rosehair Tarantula
1 African Spitting Scorpion
1 Betta Splendins
1 Spectacled Amazon (Indiana Jones)
8 Button Quail (I promise they all have names)
1 Spaztic black kitty (Nikkita)
1 Baby Hairless rat (looking for a name)
3 WOW char (they are pets too.)
Even us girls can like slimey scaley and squishy things.

Chytridichiomycosis is not known for reptiles, hence the fungus should be harmless.
Check Pics of Phelsuma laticauda on the web. I would guess, that gecko would please you - and it should fit into the tank.

Ci@o

Ingo

imho you shouldnt keep the tank from your tag i see you have other frogs. the risk of them getting it by accident is too high to risk it(fungal spores are uncontrolable...)
but there is hope
you will need to take apart the tank and sterilize all that you can.

next depending where you live you may be able to get your hands on plant fungicides, if you can you want one that will clean out the soil too.( a good mix of foliage and soil fungicides are roveral, alliette ) these wont affect the plants,
if you leave them for a couple weeks it will be ok to put back in the terrarium. they are commonly used on plants in nurseries anyway.
if you cant get them i absolutely recomend burning everything with the heaviest precautions for it not to spread outside. if it gets out it will wipe out all amphibians in your area. and it is unstopable in the wild. we are watching an extinction in slow motion in the amazon from this fungus of all amphibians, it just isnt worth the risk to save some nice plants.
ps im a pesticide technician in canada, so your availability may be different. look up the products online and see if you can get them in your area
and it is easier to get the chems in the us, no license needeed in many states
read the safety precautions though.
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1:8:0 leopard geckoes
1:1:0 giant day geckoes
2:2:15 bearded dragons
0:0:9 cuban/green tree frogs
2:1:0 crested geckoes
1:2:1 corn snakes
2:4:0 ball pythons
0:0:1 blue tongue skink
0:0:1 florida ribbon snake
1:0:0 yellow rat snake
3:10:? furry composters (rats)
1:1:0 ferrets