Help with house geckos??

[Keeper of the Ropes]

Hey :)

This past spring, my bf caught me a small house gecko outside his mom's house. I kept him with toads - and he bored me then because I never really saw him eat. This September, I finally released my toads when they thought they should go into hibernation in their terrarium. About a week later, I bought some small crickets for the gecko and finally saw him eat, and realized how absolutely awesome he was. He told me "buy me a friend", so I picked up another one @ PetsMart - the new one is HUGE. They get along fine. Yesterday, my bf caught me another wild one - a tiny little infant. I'm keeping him separate, but I have no clue what to feed him. I have a few fruit flies around in my apartment, and I caught one and threw it in there, but it just ran up the side of the plastic cage and got out the holes in the top. What are my other alternatives? He's probably an inch and a half long, including his tail. Also, how can I sex them?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Jessie*
Keeper of the Ropes

[Abi88]

Common Name: House Gecko
Scientific Name: Hemidactylus Frenatus

House Geckos are hardy, inexpensive small lizards which are a fairly easy to
maintain in captivity. They are very fast moving which makes them almost
impossible to handle.

Distribution:
There are many different species of house geckos, The most common being
Hemidactylus Frenatus. They can be found in many different tropical countries
around the world, Coming Originally from South East Asia they have been
introduced to many other countries around the world, Eastern Africa, New
Guinea, Mexico, Madagascar Australia. You will commonly find them living
in houses.

Description:
House geckos have a granular scaly skin that appears at times, to be
transparent. It is mainly yellowish brown to beige with darker blotches,
some have stripes running along the upper flanks.


Size:
Average size 3" but Large adults can reach up to 5"


Temperament:
Males can be territorial. Give them lots of places to hide if you intend
to keep them in groups.

Food / Water:
Crickets, Wax Worms, Small Mealworms will all be readily taken. Always
use a good Calcium/Vitamin dusting Supplement. Best time to feed early
evening. Always Provide fresh drinking water daily.

Sexing:
Adult males have preanal and femoral pores. The Female lays two hard shelled
eggs. Incubation temperature 88f, Eggs hatch between 50-65 days. Hatchlings
measure about 2".

Housing:
A Vivarium 18" x 2' x 9' will house a small group. For substrate use bark
chippings and or Sand. For decor use branches, driftwood, artificial plants,
rocks, cork bark.

Lighting / Heating:
This species does not require full spectrum UV lighting. You can use a
incandescent light bulb with reflectors to heat the vivarium during the day
and a wall mounted heat mat for the night.
Temperature / Humidity:
Day time 75f - 88f, Night time 65f - 70f. Moderate to high humidity, this
can be achieved by regularly mistings of vivarium
thats from the web site: http://www.reptileallsorts.com/housegecko.htm

also try http://www.the-lizard-lounge.com/content/species/house-gecko.asp
and just google "house gecko" :)

ps. if u go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_Gecko there are some pics of small h.g. so check it out:)

[Keeper of the Ropes]

Thanks for the great info ... but all those food items are far too big for the hatchling. Even the smallest crickets from PetsMart are bigger than his head. Would wingless fruitflies be able to climb the walls like the one I tried earlier??

Jessie*

[Jessica Dring]

I'm thinking the ones in your pet shop (that you bought) could possibly now have parasites if you mixed it with a W/C one? :)

[Keeper of the Ropes]

no ones sick - the first and third are WC, the one i got last week is store bought. no problems mixing them, but i have the hatchling separate for his own safety. not sure i should put him with the big CB one - he's pushing 6''.

[Jessica Dring]

You can't tell if an animals sick by looking. And it doesnt mean they're "sick" if they have parasites, I'm just saying it would be good to check this all out at the vets. I wouldn't put the smallest one in. Feed 'im up first. Stress at that size/age (of any kind) will kill him quick.

[Keeper of the Ropes]

they...don't have parasites... lol I was posting to see what i should feed the baby since he's so small b/c he DOES need "feedin up" :) he's super skinny

[Jessica Dring]

Don't get all offensive Love. I am trying to help you. You ask advice of any kind and you WILL get some you don't want to hear. As soon as I heard about mixing w/c and (I dunno if the pet shops ones are cb) but it striked my mind, so I told you. How do you know they don't have parasites? Have YOU cut them open and looked inside? Have YOU took them ALL to the vets, taken a stool sample?

I'm telling you this incase one suddenly stops feeding or something, I have a feeling a CB one would take catching parasites ALOT worse than a WC one.

When people are trying to help you, Don't bite them for doing it. If you don't like getting advise you don't want to hear (and your not willing to take in 'cause its not what you want to hear)...Don't post.

[Jessica Dring]

I was posting to see what i should feed the baby since he's so small b/c he DOES need "feedin up" :) he's super skinny


Yes and I helped you out on that area, too.

[Jessica Dring]

plus, your gonna need to know if they do have internals if you want to increase your group even further.

[Keeper of the Ropes]

K, don't call me Love. I don't know you. Next, no, you didn't really tell me anything about WHAT to feed the baby, you just said "feed 'im up first". I realize they eat. Not rocket science, truly. Yes, I appreciate your concern, but why would you offer advice on something I didn't ask for help on if you didn't at first address the real reason I posted?

I'll find the information I need elsewhere. Thanks SO much for your LOVEly advice.

Keeper*

[Jessica Dring]

K, don't call me Love.

This was sarcasim. I don't want to call you love. Don't worry, goon. :screwy:

I don't know you.

Next, no, you didn't really tell me anything about WHAT to feed the baby, you just said "feed 'im up first".
I realize they eat. Not rocket science, truly.
Well AIN'T it funny you didn't know whether to put him in with the lot, straight away ;)

Yes, I appreciate your concern, but why would you offer advice on something I didn't ask for help on if you didn't at first address the real reason I posted?
In the same thread I posted advice on the subject. Parasites is more of a issue I think, seeing as you "already knew to feed him up" dont' you ;)

I'll find the information I need elsewhere. Thanks SO much for your LOVEly advice.

Why's that? Cause it's not what you want to hear? Then good luck. If you can't take in people advice 'cause its not what you want to hear (not to mention your so deffensive..that sparks doubt in you anyway) then your NOT a real herpkeeper. 'Cause your NOT willing to learn. Why ask advice if your going to throw it back in some ones face "LOVE" (no, you WON'T tell me what to do, seeing as YOU don't know me!).

Keeper*


I mean good grief, I even put a smiley face so you knew I weren't being funny. So this is your fault..cause you don't like somebody telling you that you MAY have done something wrong. I ain't gonna argue. I gave you advice (which YOU asked for whether YOU like the advice given or not). So if you wanna argue further. Pm me. I've had enough of having threads hi'jacked due to arguing.

[Jessica Dring]

Tbh, you shouldnt be catching/buying animals if you dont know what to feed them (even if it for size or whatever) first. Impluse buying is irresponsible.

[davo]

you'll have to check with your laws, but it may be illegal to release captives back into the wild (even if thats from where they came).
What Jessica is saying is that more often or not wild specimens have parasites (internal or external) and so maybe wasn't the best idea mixing it with your other bought one. Do you have a reptile shop anywhere near you? They should have lots of different sized and specie bugs that are more than adaquate (pinheads spring to mind) You should maybe feed with calcium supplements also.

[evilxyardxgnome]

And Davo to the rescue!

Have you tried pinhead crickets? They are pretty tiny. Otherwise you can buy wingless fruitflies. Probably feed the small gecko in a small tight enclosure. I would also be worried about the smaller one being picked on by the bigger ones.

[Vicious_Fish]

Like mentioned you can buy vials of wingless fruit flies for cheap online and they keep breeding so you can get a steady supply of them from one vial.

[guppy]

Try pinhead crickets, they work fine and most petstores that sell adult ones also cary the tiny ones.

[cichlid_starter]

girls! girls! your both pretty now stop fighting. It is true that generally you don't want to mix WC with CB because of foreign contaminants. I'm sure he ones you mixed already are fine but keep an eye open for suspicious behavior like runny stool and loss of appetite. It's always a concern. Those are the two most common symptoms of a parasite. As for feeding the little fella, if you can't find anything smaller than it's head and flightless fruit flies don't work out (try them immediately, the poor guy is hungry) then release him back into the wild. That will be his best chance of survival. Do this soon because while house geckos are hardy, a hatchling like that needs to be in good health or it will die soon. Also check up on local regulations on catching and keeping native species. It's illegal here in Indiana but I don't know about other states. Now play nice ladies. :)

[AttackFish]

girls! girls! your both pretty now stop fighting. It is true that generally you don't want to mix WC with CB because of foreign contaminants. I'm sure he ones you mixed already are fine but keep an eye open for suspicious behavior like runny stool and loss of appetite. It's always a concern. Those are the two most common symptoms of a parasite. As for feeding the little fella, if you can't find anything smaller than it's head and flightless fruit flies don't work out (try them immediately, the poor guy is hungry) then release him back into the wild. That will be his best chance of survival. Do this soon because while house geckos are hardy, a hatchling like that needs to be in good health or it will die soon. Also check up on local regulations on catching and keeping native species. It's illegal here in Indiana but I don't know about other states. Now play nice ladies. :)

Bumping threads from 2007...

[cichlid_starter]

well I try...ha

[coura]

http://eatourbrains.com/EoB/wp-content/uploads/2007/07/big_machine2.jpg
Looks like we have yet another hobbit here:D