Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey guys. Got this pair of Giant Leaftails in from LLL on April 15th. When they arrived they were calm, walking around and tasting their new environment, drinking water misted on them and both caught crickets on their own and ate. But the male seems to be starting to deteriorate.

I had read they didn't need UVB, but decided it couldn't hurt and they've had it on during day light hours starting three days ago, its a ReptiGlo 5.0 tropical UVB light. There is a 75 watt night glow heat light on one side of the cage 24/7 for heating. They are currently in a 20 gallon tank (a 24"long x 18"deep x 36"tall is on the way but could be several weeks until its here because it got back ordered, very untimely...) and the humidity we've been trying to keep as close to 75% as possible but it definitely dips down in between our two to three times daily mistings... The males eyes looked a bit sunken in afew days a go which is what first made me look closer. He seems to be a bit weaker than when he arrived, and doesn't seem to eat on his own. If we hold him with his arms down, he opens his mouth in a display and we're able to drop some crickets and wax worms (which he doesn't seem to like as much?) into his mouth as well as some water. Today he doesnt seem to be even trying to drink the water misted on him. But at least he still swallows what we put in his mouth.

The female seems to be doing a lot better but I can't help but worry for her too. Her tail was a bit curled today, and his has been too the last several days. When he first came in it was held perfectly flat. What does this mean? Dehydration?

I work at a pet store, and we've started getting in a new kind of cricket called "super" crickets. They are larger, softer shelled, and higher protein. Since they seem to not care much for the wax worms, this should be great I think. I also heard they do best on roaches but no one in the area uses them, and I think these new kind of crickets will be practically the same as them, which is good news.

Any other tips? I just snapped a couple new pictures of them. How do they look to you as far as weight, tails, etc? Their spines seem to show a bit, as if the flesh over the vertebrae were rubbed a bit in shipping. I really want them to make it, not just because they were my big birthday present, but because they are one of the coolest and most tame sweet reptiles I've ever gotten to see in person. I absolutely adore them... Thank you for your time.

Madisynn

Male first:



Now the female:

Hi Madisynn,

I am by no means an expert on fimbriatus but I do have a female that is LTC for 1.5 years of which I have owned now for 3 months and her weight has increased in my care and she has shed several times. I also have a lone male coming in from LLL tomorrow that I believe accompanied your pair. I am setting up a cage for him currently to quarantine.

The biggest thing I would do different is to get rid of any night light and heat source. I use a single UVB 2.0/ 13 watt bulb sitting on top of my screen cage. Prior to the warm weather, I was using a 26 watt version of the same bulb. Unless you live in a cold area, I don't think a heat source is needed. My temps run from 72 at night to 79 during the day. My light turns on at 9am and goes off at 4pm but I do have other tanks, cages with lights in the room that illuminate the area a few hours longer. My aim was to keep these guys cooler than my other reps. I have many reps and don’t keep a constant heat source in the cages of an any of them at this time of the year. I only add heat during mid morn and early afternoon.

I think separation of the animals can help if stressed, especially for eating. Your male is looking a bit sunken with spine showing more than I think should so it looks like he is not eating as you stated.

I have also read that you should not try to deworm a WC Uroplatus immediately if they seem to be doing well. There are several reasons for this but mainly not to stress the animal. I guess these guys are super sensitive to acclimation. I also have WC henkels leaftails and liniatus and have been following this advice. If the poop is solid, I don’t worry.

I researched around and most folks are using tall screen cages, 36 or 48" in height and cover with plastic and have a few vent holes in front and back. Most use pothos as well which is another reason to have a mild light source. I also invested in a mist system which seemed to be what everyone else is using. My Mistking turns on every 3 hours and sprays thru two nozzles for 20 seconds and keeps cage between 60-75% humidity.

Most folks use Dubia roaches for fimbriatus. I invested in a colony kit from doodlebugscritters that I found on the internet. I got ripped off from other roach sources but this was by far my best investment for a food source and the colony kit was awesome. I was desparate and had roaches overnighted because I worried my fimbriatus wouldn’t eat. Fimbriatus are huge geckos and I have been told that they really need a large food source like roaches (big wings attract their attention) and crickets alone will not suffice or the animal will be hunting constantly and you will run out of crix quickly. I hope this helps. I really think the heat source is the problem! Keep them cool at night, even down into the upper 60s if you can.
All the best!
Mojoreptile

Mojo's advice is good: lose the heat lamp immediately and although it may not be a huge problem, a 2.0 UVB would be more appropriate than a 5.0. Uroplatus are cool temperature geckos that can be very prone to stress. So, fix your temps and stop handling your gecko as much as possible. Uroplatus do not like being handled, (there are some who will tolerate it) but for the most part they need to be left alone in order to thrive.

Unflavored pedialyte can be used to rehydrate Uroplatus. Use a small eye dropper and place one drop at a time on the lips of the gecko and allow him to drink it on own. Do this while he is resting in the cage not while handling if at all possible. Take the back legs of some crickets and put them in a shallow, open topped container at the bottom of the enclosure over night to make it easier for him to catch them. If he gets worse or doesn't improve after a little while take him to a vet.

good luck,
zach