Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello
I have searched the web but can not find much as far as actual care of Oedura castelnaui.
Interersted in day and night temps for Oedura castelnaui and can they be bred without a winter cooling period?

Thank you

I just came here to find out if there were any Oedura keepers! I am looking for a companion species in my Egernia striolata tank and I read about Oedura castelnaui in the Bartletts' "Lizard Care from A to Z". Both species hail from the same ecosystem, Australian dry sclerophyll forest.

There is a short description of the species in his book. Dick says regarding temps, "A temperature of 80 to 90 degrees F is perfectly acceptable for these geckos." No indication of nighttime temps but I would assume 10 degrees cooler. Also, if it's any help since they come from the same habitat, the Egernia striolata do slow down as the daylight gets shorter and will go through a brief dormancy period during the shortest days of the year. It is my general belief that any species that live in a non-tropical environment (savannah, temperate, dry forest) will go through some form of dormancy in the wild and so have bodies that respond hormonally to the temperature and light changes in order to be primed and ready once the weather becomes favorable for breeding. Some species *are* able to breed just fine without a dormancy period even though they would have gone through one in the wild. Others require a dormancy period for successful breeding. With at least 9,000 species of reptiles the requirements for breeding of each species have to be learned through trial and error. The t.f.h. Atlas of Reptiles says that Oedura has been bred frequently, so perhaps they are one of the easier species to breed?

Incidentally, where did you get yours? I am just interested in just one, not interested in breeding so I don't care if it's a male or a female.
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Lisa Rakestraw
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My skinks:
1.1.1 Corucia zebrata (Berman and Joni, baby Charlemagne)
1.2.2 Eumeces schneideri (Kaa, Cochisa and their babies; Mabel)
0.0.4 Egernia striolata

Thanks for the info.

I got my young female from a local pet store which got her from a breeder who sells to them but nothing more expected as the guy isn't breeding them this year.

Pet store knew nothing on their care as far as specifics.

I am looking for an albino male as I do want to breed them .

I heard Geckoranch dot com has them in the incubator so that might be of help to you.

I recall last year when I was starting to look at them that during late winter/ early spring months I would see them for sale in kingsnake classifieds in fairly good numbers.

Hope same thing this year .

The Australian tree skink is unusual and neat. I suspect your not interested in breeding but certainly a skink worth breeding.

I *did* breed them! But I sold off the breeding trio with their seven babies. These ones that I have left (2 adults, 2 juveniles) are presumably all females.

Thanks for the info! If you see any for sale online shoot me a message if you get a chance. My other idea is for a crested gecko, which is easier to find for sale, but a little bigger than what I'd like, or even just some Mediterranean house geckos.
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Lisa Rakestraw
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My skinks:
1.1.1 Corucia zebrata (Berman and Joni, baby Charlemagne)
1.2.2 Eumeces schneideri (Kaa, Cochisa and their babies; Mabel)
0.0.4 Egernia striolata