Geckos, anyone?

joseofsa

Arachnosquire
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Apr 6, 2006
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Ok so im getting a few leopard geckos and a gravid gargoyle gecko from a friend tommorow. I have read tons of caresheets and feel i have a good feel for what to expect but no amount of reading can compair with hands on so i would like to know if there is anything more a gecko keeper could add to better prepair me for them. and setup pics would be welcome.
thanks
-jose
 

AneesasMuse

Arachnoangel
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Jul 31, 2006
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838
I don't know anything about Leopards, but Gargoyles are just like Cresteds in their husbandry and I have a FEW of those. {D

Set up is pretty straight forward... adults can have planted tanks with COIR substrate, juvies should be kept on paper towel to prevent impaction or ingestion of foreign objects (ie. substrate); temps should not exceed 85 EVER! and they can stand a drop to 60-65, with a normal range in the mid 70s; feed them dusted bugs of choice (the Garg will let you know what she prefers) and supplemented fruits or the GGD from Repashy; mist daily to keep humidity up, 2x if needed; and give them a light cycle, if you can. (this is debatable... highly... but I do it for preventative measure; if it helps, fine... it certainly won't hurt them). I'm sure I've forgotten some details, but if you've read several caresheets you are good to go.

There are a couple really good forums that I frequent for my geckos:
http://www.geckosunlimited.com/
http://www.pangeareptile.com/forums/

...there are others, but I like these two. ;)

Oh, and provide your Gargoyle with a lay box or deep enough substrate (but you'll be hunting for eggs this way) for her to dig in, and check it often. Once her hatchlings are here, separate them unless you like tailless geckos... they will snack on each other. (Gargoyles' tails regenerate, though... sloooowly)

If you have any other questions, just ask away. Like I said, I probably left out a lot of stuff. I have 16 Cresteds right now, though... all healthy and various ages... I must be doing something right.

(I wish my camera worked! I could show you vivs...)
 

joseofsa

Arachnosquire
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104
sounds good. WOW i had no idea geckos costed so much! im getting them for free... and you have 16! im guessing most of them were bred and raised by you.
 

AneesasMuse

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Yes... expensive! and yes, I raised most of them myself. I've purchased three of my 16 and the rest were free or I'm babysitting until their original parents are settled in across country ;)

Quick, sort of long, story... I purchased my first little hatchling locally and then her breeder was moving and couldn't handle the eggs she had in the incubator at the time (being housed temporarily in a hotel 'til their home was ready); so she asked me to take the 8 eggs and hatch them. Ummm... okay. (I had no experience with geckos prior to this, but she helped me out along the way.) When I went to pick up the eggs, she asked me if I wanted to buy another hatchling that was originally meant to be my first, actually... very long story there... and I said sure and so I came home with 8 eggs and an additional hatchling. That brought me to ten... well 2 and 8 hopefuls. A couple weeks later, I found my "dream gecko" elsewhere... a dalmation that I've named L'il Abner (his mom's name is Abner)... and he came with a "freebie" (cuz he had the beginnings of FTS... the free one), Flip. This brought me to 4 and 8 hopefuls.

Shortly after I got the 4 settled in and doing well with me, the eggs started hatching... babies everywhere!! Every couple weeks or four, I would have a new set of "twins" to look after... 'til all 8 hatched... bringing the count to 12.

A friend decided to give me one of her "freaks"... the "ugly" clutchmate to her conjoined twins... and that would be #13, Yabissa. She's no longer called "freak" or "ugly" (I never did, anyway) and she's quite the looker, she is. Just the other night, apparently after a shed... she was fire engine red with so many spots, she looked like someone splashed her with india ink. I think it's safe to say that she's gonna be a "super dalmation" when she grows up.

Then.... the breeder and egg giver person called me with more moving news. She and her family were relocating to the opposite coast and she didn't want to take the adults she had... not all of them, anyway. Sooo.... I ended up with 2 adult females and 3 adult males... Lucille and Val, Grand Baba, Lucky and JabberWocky. Lucy and Lucky being parents to 4 of my eggos and the second hatchling that I purchased, Val and Lucky are offspring from Grand Baba (as well as, my first hatchling, Crunch and the other 4 eggos). Jabb is just a guy the lady bought at a show... green tiger dalmation with amazing head structure and crests... but tailless.

So there ya go... my gang! Grand Baba left quite an impression on his original owners and her husband wants me to ship him when the weather permits. The rest stay here with me for as long as they need a good home. Two of the eggos went to L'il Abner and Flip's old house... going into a "lavender" project and a "tiger" maybe, when they are old enough.

Btw, Flip no longer has FTS. He needed some TLC and a proper diet, which he got here, of course. He'll be a future breeder... he's just a year old now and needs a little more weight on him before I intro him to any pretty girls.



Beware! the geckos are addictive... just like Ts and fish and everything else. :D
 

Bedlam

Arachnobaron
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Mar 2, 2006
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Post up those pics!!

I recently got a Crested and am really fighting the urge to get a Gargoyle.
Their eyes are simply stunning. And I'd also maybe like another Crested. hehe
 

rYe

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Dec 30, 2006
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I have 2 Leo's, a full grown adult male named Gex and a 6 month old baby female named Squee. Your going to need an undertank heater with some form of system to regulate it's temps to around 85-90 I think it is. Two hides one on the cool, one on the warm. A water dish on the cool side, for substrate use paper towels. I know that sounds weird but it's the best there is for Leo's. 1 ten gal for a single or 1 20 gal. for 2. They can (most the time) be housed together and supply a dish of calcium powder along with dusting their crickets or meal worms with calcium powder. Leo's are extremely easy to take care of, keep them at a good temp with water and some calcium filled crickets and your good to go.
 

joseofsa

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Apr 6, 2006
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well i was busy setting them up in their temporary tanks. i have 5 leos 2 are het for tangerine 1 is double het for albino and tangerine and 2 are het for albino. and my little gargoyle is realy big and expected to lay in a few days.
will have pics tommorow as i want to give them a few days to adapt.

LOL can i steal ur sig idea rye {D
 

joseofsa

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oh anees maybe we can trade cresteds for gargoyles one day!
 

AneesasMuse

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Jose, that sounds like a great idea! :D

I'm prepping my girls for the upcoming breeding season right now and I think they know it's almost time. I find them in the tops of their tree, peeking into boys' vivs every evening :p
 

joseofsa

Arachnosquire
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Apr 6, 2006
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better late than never on the pics here they are:
#1 (no names yet)




#2




#3




#4




#5






those are my leopards. here is my gargoyle.

















those are them the beginings of my new gecko projects. hope you all like. :D
oh and i have already been yelled at to clean my nails:mad:
 

rYe

Arachnosquire
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Dec 30, 2006
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those are them the beginings of my new gecko projects. hope you all like.
Nice looking Leo's you got there, one's almost a dead ringer for my little Squee. Though from what I'm seeing so far she (mine) looks like she's a Carrot Tail, rare find at a petstore but she's still young so she could surprise. Mind if I ask what this "Gecko Project" is really? Most people who say that mean breeding, but there's always the bad apples. Like a guy I saw on a really crappy forum trying to feed his lizards a steady diet of GOLDFISH in hopes of "further'n leo science..." or some crap like that!
 

joseofsa

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
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Apr 6, 2006
Messages
104
LoL yes i mean im starting to raise a new type of animal. these are my first geckos.

i believe it is Rhacodactylus auriculatus.

oh yes very tempting but at $180-$250 a pop the only reason i have on is because it was free!

i love my little gargoyle gecko even thouh she is not little.
 
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