Finding exact details on U. guentheri habitat is about as rare as
finding the geckos themselves! Look up info on dry deciduous forests
in North Western Madagascar, two such being Ankarafantsika (Ampijoroa
Forestry Station) and Kirindy (more southern). I've seen the understory
of the first locale described as "sparse" and photos of Kirindy that were more dense.
Both locations have sandy soil. These areas have a dry hot summer,
so seasonal variations are important, as much as to stop breeding as to trigger it.
It's hard to say exactly what microhabitat these geckos prefer. Anything
I've found published says bushes or lower part of the understory up to approx.
9 ft. In a 10 gallon, any amount of planting and branches would be somewhat dense.
I try to avoid making it too complicated, as cleaning and checking for eggs then
becomes a pain. U. guentheri usually hide during the day, so provide cork bark tubes,
or even papertowel tubes as refuge. A basking area is also required, with the rest
of the enclosure being 75-78 F during the day and 8-10 F cooler at night (a bit cooler
won't hurt, especially during winter. Humidity should be 75% during the day
and 90 or so after misting at night.
Generally, think forest instead of rainforest. The geckos are fairly hardy as Uroplatus go,
they'll likely do well no matter how you decorate. Temperature and humidity are more
important than which species of plants you use. I use cork and branches with just one or
two hardy house plants (pothos or philodendron).
If anyone on the list has been to Northwestern Madagascar, maybe they can add some insight?
Neil
Hello, I am new to the list and just wanted to introduce myself.
My tame is Tarquin (TQ), and I have kept many different ssp of geckos, and finally settling on uroplatus as my main breeding project. I have kept most ssp of urplatus in the past, but never have had them breed. They were more for my collection, than a breeding project. Now, I have; 1.1 F1 henkeli, ready to breed by the end of this month, and a male geuntheri 9waiting for its mate to come in March). I also, have a chahoua baby. I am working on building all natural vivariums for the uroplatus. My question is, I know geuntheri like it drier, but what is ther natural habbitat? I am working on a 10 gallon vertical, planted tank, and had to stop, because I did not know what fauna to plant.
Thank you for your time,
TQ
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-- Neil Meister Semaphor Design Company Inc. 6450 Young Street, Suite 4 Halifax, NS B3L 2A3 Canada 902.455.0133 ext 4 _______________________________________________ Global Gecko Association http://www.gekkota.com Classifieds http://www.gekkota.com/cgi-gekkota/classifieds.cgi gecko mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.gekkota.com/mailman/listinfo/gecko
