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sahoyaref

Day Geckos

sahoyaref
19 years ago

Well, I went to a different pet store today, one I haven't been to, and they had some decent vivs set up! Live plants and everything! Mostly paludariums, but the animals looks very healthy and happy. They seemed to actually care about the animal's well-being at this store! Interestingly, it is owned by the same person(s) as that pet store that I was ranting about several weeks ago. Must be the manager that doesn't care at that other store. Anyways, I saw the most beautiful gecko at that store! It was a Lined Day Gecko, and in researching it online this arvo, I found out that it is not very hard to keep, stays small, and would, in fact, be perfect for my 85 gal. terr! Most of what I found online said to feed them crickets and baby fruit (pureed), but I think it's a little small for crickets, in which case i would give it fruit flies, which would be great practice for PDFs! So, what do you amphibian and reptile experts think? I am also interested in the Gold Dust Day Gecko, which looks very similar, and is apparently even easier to keep. I love them! They're so cute! I want one! And yes, they are arboreal, but I am renovating my terr. anyways, so I could make it more suited to their needs. That includes a heat lamp with a basking area (as per info. I found on the 'net). Anyone have any experience with either?

Comments (13)

  • dragonthoughts
    19 years ago

    I think that if the owner did care about the animals he wouldn't let the manager of his store not care for them properly. Probably the manager in the second store does care but the owner doesn't. Still wouldn't give them my business. If I have a problem with one of his stores, I have a problem with them all, the ownership!
    Here's a day gecko link I ran across, kind of interesting.

    Here is a link that might be useful: PHELSUMANIA

  • sahoyaref
    Original Author
    19 years ago

    Good link! Thanks!

    And you're probably right about the owner not caring but the manager of that one store location caring. I didn't really think of it that way. I wasn't going to buy the gecko from them anyways though. Probably cheaper and healthier at a reptile expo. There should be one next April near me.

  • homer_zn5
    19 years ago

    Good luck! I hope you have success in finding some CB Phelsuma at the Reptile expo! It is sometimes hit or miss at the reptile show here, but there have been some beautiful CB babies that I have seen. They sure get snapped up in a hurry.

    I can't say that I know anything about their care, other than the very basics that you can get from any site, so I'll just sit back and enjoy the responses from others. By the way, it was nice to see you posting on KS, SA!

  • mrbreeze
    19 years ago

    Most of my reptile experience comes from herpetology class in college. Sadly there's not much in the way of geckos in Oklahoma. Funny thing is there's a tropical gecko, the mediteranean gecko, that has a breeding population on the campus of OU in and on the zoology building. Seems a grad student's project escaped and now they live off the bugs around the lights and overwinter in the walls and ceiling of the old building. Very cool little guys and not easy to catch!

    My only other experience was with a Tokay gecko. DO NOT...i repeat...DO NOT...make the mistake of getting one of these. I'm sure they're cute when babies but when the grow up they are vicious! They are really strong and have a bite like a snapping turtle. I'll spare you the details of when we fed a 'pinky' to the classroom tokay. yikes!

    What about skinks? We have lots of them in Oklahoma and they can therefore take extremes of temps and conditons plus they're really cool.

  • mrbreeze
    19 years ago

    I forgot to mention...i was bitten by a skink during a test in herp class. Tried to pick it up to identify it and the lil' sucker bit me!!! I just took a guess (wrong) and moved on to the next animal. It didn't hurt very bad and didn't break the skin...but scared me!!

  • sahoyaref
    Original Author
    19 years ago

    LOL, Mr. B! I've heard about Tokay geckos, so don't worry, I won't be getting one!

    Homer: are they really that hard to find? What are the prices you have seen them for? And what does CB mean? I'm new to all of the lizard terminology. =) Apparently there are a million different colour patterns for leopard geckos, and some people seem to know them all! While I have no idea what they are talking about. . . =) And forgive my density here, but what do you mean 'KS'? I have tried to figure out what this could stand for, to no avail! Give me a break, it's almost midnight, and past my bedtime! =)

  • dragonthoughts
    19 years ago

    CB = captive bred. Second best way to go when acquiring animals. First is adoption from a rescue league of someone else's unwanted impulse buy.
    KS = Kansas. OK, probably not what he meant, but it DOES stand for that. For you poor Canadians, Kansas is one of the fifty states.

  • mrbreeze
    19 years ago

    I'm sure he meant kingsnake (forum)...at least that was my guess.

  • jamer
    19 years ago

    day gecko's are awesome i've always wanted to get some, i think i remember hearing that they like snake plants (sanseviera), and although they might be too small for large crickets, i'm sure you could feed them smaller crickets as adults, other than that i dont know much about them.

  • sahoyaref
    Original Author
    19 years ago

    Yeah, I figured out the acronyms last night before I fell asleep. I'm also thinking KS means Kingsnake forums. And yes, I know that it is also the short form for Kansas, and yes, I know that Kansas is a state. =P Well, once again I am up late. This time it is insomnia. I had a mocha dessert, and the coffee in it was not decaf. I never drink coffee, so it is probably affecting me more than it would others of you. The werid thing is, I'm actually tired, especially my eyes, but not my mind. Sucks. . .

  • homer_zn5
    19 years ago

    Yup, CB=Captive Bred, KS=Kingsnake forums. I won't say that the day geckos are hard to find, but they tend to go rather quickly at shows . . . especially when they are CB (the only way I would personally purchase one).

  • sahoyaref
    Original Author
    19 years ago

    Oh totally, I always do my very best to buy captive bred animals! It's not really neccessary to catch them in the wild anymore, since we know how to breed them. I just hope the marine fish industry can hurry up and learn how to breed all the popular marine fish. . .

  • mdahms1979
    19 years ago

    Another really good pet Gecko is the crested gecko (Rhacodactylus ciliatus), they come in many colour forms and are very docile. They are an aboreal species but are much calmer than Day geckos, they might be worth a try and are available at reprtile shows and many petstores and breeders in Canada. They eat the same basic diet as Day geckos as well.