Geckeleon
05-12-2009, 08:15 PM
Hi everyone,
Reptitus ask me to post a care sheet so here it is. Below is a copy of what I give my customers when they purchase. Listed are my opinions from my experience. Reptile breeding 23 yrs., Goni's 5 yrs. Any questions please write back.
Chinese Leopard Gecko (Goniurosaurus luii)
These geckos can attain lengths of 9-10 inches in total length, but 7-8 inches is usually the average. They have striking orange eyes with vertical pupils. Their color can range from light lavender or purple, to shades of brown. Black spotting, which will come with age is prevalent in adults. Juveniles are banded white, yellow, peach, or orange in color. The tail is black and banded white at all ages. Seeking captive-bred animals is recommended, as with most reptiles. Imported specimens are not readily available anymore and require more specialized care since they will probably be carrying a large parasite load, are usually dehydrated, or could be suffering from other ailments. Imports at times are also reluctant to feed for several weeks when they’re first acquired. If you try to force feed them they’ll probably shut down on you. These problems are usually not prevalent with captive bred reptiles.
Temperature and Humidity: Temperatures need to be kept relatively low. Daytime 75º - 80° F. If temperature gets above 80° F for long periods, the animals tend to stress, and at times will stop eating. Evening 65º - 70° F with humidity at 60 – 80%. These geckos are nocturnal so they are misted in the evening when they’re most active.
Housing: Our geckos are kept separately in racks that hold 12 qt. plastic shoeboxes that are heated from behind during the day and left at room temperature during the evening. We also have a lot a success keeping G. luii in full-screened cages with a low wattage heat lamp during the day and keeping the tank at room temperature during the evening. In our experience this has been the best way to keep a natural terrarium and the geckos love to climb on the screens of the cage. Our screen cages our pretty spacious 52”H x 36”W x 36”D. You’ll also have great access to taking pictures with this type of set up. Our plastic shoeboxes have been machine drilled on all sides for airflow. Please do not care for Goni’s as you would Leo’s as many people do, if you do they’ll probably die. Remember Goni’s come from mountainous areas so you need to house them that way.
Cypress mulch, Coconut fiber, and moss substrates or a combination of all three have been the best to work with because of their retention of moisture, which provide the proper humidity needed. These substrates also allow geckos to burrow into with ease. A hiding area must be included in all cages.
A large water bowl and daily misting will help to raise humidity levels.
Diet: Our G. luii diet consists of crickets three times per week, four or five times a week during breeding season and after cooling, and twice per week during their cooling period. All feed is dusted with Herpivite; Calcium is given twice per week as well. We also offer our geckos mealworms twice per week. All of our feed is bred at our shop and is gut loaded with our own feed mix. Do not leave excess feed in cage with geckos. Introducing too many food items at one time, or excess crickets crawling around will stress the geckos out.
Breeding: Breeding these geckos is generally easy. Some breeders feel that the cooling period is very important, but I disagree. Most of our reptiles go through a cooling period, and for many the cooling period is a very important step for breeding. But in our experience we have kept 1.5 in screened enclosures at the temperatures given above and with proper feeding copulation was very receptive with all females and would have continued unless we removed the male. The season didn’t seem to matter much. Our cooling period starts the first week of September. We first start by feeding our stock five times per week to fatten them up. October feeding is less and daytime temperature is dropped gradually. November geckos are feed once or twice per week and temperature is around 10° F less then normal. In the first week of March temperatures are gradually turned back to 78º - 80° F, and feeding is increased back to normal. We give are geckos about a month to bulk back up before we attempt to breed them. Geckos are all bred depending on their weight. If the proper weight isn’t where it should be the gecko is not bred until it reaches the proper weight and is in proper health. Our stock is bred every other year. Once females are ready to breed a male is introduced and left with here for a week or two. After females are breed we wait for a couple of weeks before males are re-introduced. Our colonies of 1.5 are kept together all year long with out any problems. Within a couple weeks, you’ll begin to notice two small pinkish circles in the abdomen of the female. These are the eggs starting to form. They will become whitish as the calcium layer is added. Within 4-6 weeks, start to inspect cages for eggs. Up to six clutches can be laid by each female per season. Eggs need to be removed and placed into a container with moist vermiculite or the medium of choice and placed in a incubator with the temperature set at 75°-80°F. Incubation has ranged from 60-75 days. The babies shed within 24 - 36 hours of hatching. Babies are kept the same as adults but in smaller shoeboxes, and are feed ⅛”- ¼” crickets four times per week and mini mealworms once per week, supplemented the same as adults.
Personality: I have found G. luii’s to be very personable. No reptile in my opinion should be held excessively. Contrary to popular belief G. luii’s can be handled and are similar to Leo’s in this aspect. Although a bit more skittish then Leo’s some of our oldest which are imports will accept food right from our hands.
Reptitus ask me to post a care sheet so here it is. Below is a copy of what I give my customers when they purchase. Listed are my opinions from my experience. Reptile breeding 23 yrs., Goni's 5 yrs. Any questions please write back.
Chinese Leopard Gecko (Goniurosaurus luii)
These geckos can attain lengths of 9-10 inches in total length, but 7-8 inches is usually the average. They have striking orange eyes with vertical pupils. Their color can range from light lavender or purple, to shades of brown. Black spotting, which will come with age is prevalent in adults. Juveniles are banded white, yellow, peach, or orange in color. The tail is black and banded white at all ages. Seeking captive-bred animals is recommended, as with most reptiles. Imported specimens are not readily available anymore and require more specialized care since they will probably be carrying a large parasite load, are usually dehydrated, or could be suffering from other ailments. Imports at times are also reluctant to feed for several weeks when they’re first acquired. If you try to force feed them they’ll probably shut down on you. These problems are usually not prevalent with captive bred reptiles.
Temperature and Humidity: Temperatures need to be kept relatively low. Daytime 75º - 80° F. If temperature gets above 80° F for long periods, the animals tend to stress, and at times will stop eating. Evening 65º - 70° F with humidity at 60 – 80%. These geckos are nocturnal so they are misted in the evening when they’re most active.
Housing: Our geckos are kept separately in racks that hold 12 qt. plastic shoeboxes that are heated from behind during the day and left at room temperature during the evening. We also have a lot a success keeping G. luii in full-screened cages with a low wattage heat lamp during the day and keeping the tank at room temperature during the evening. In our experience this has been the best way to keep a natural terrarium and the geckos love to climb on the screens of the cage. Our screen cages our pretty spacious 52”H x 36”W x 36”D. You’ll also have great access to taking pictures with this type of set up. Our plastic shoeboxes have been machine drilled on all sides for airflow. Please do not care for Goni’s as you would Leo’s as many people do, if you do they’ll probably die. Remember Goni’s come from mountainous areas so you need to house them that way.
Cypress mulch, Coconut fiber, and moss substrates or a combination of all three have been the best to work with because of their retention of moisture, which provide the proper humidity needed. These substrates also allow geckos to burrow into with ease. A hiding area must be included in all cages.
A large water bowl and daily misting will help to raise humidity levels.
Diet: Our G. luii diet consists of crickets three times per week, four or five times a week during breeding season and after cooling, and twice per week during their cooling period. All feed is dusted with Herpivite; Calcium is given twice per week as well. We also offer our geckos mealworms twice per week. All of our feed is bred at our shop and is gut loaded with our own feed mix. Do not leave excess feed in cage with geckos. Introducing too many food items at one time, or excess crickets crawling around will stress the geckos out.
Breeding: Breeding these geckos is generally easy. Some breeders feel that the cooling period is very important, but I disagree. Most of our reptiles go through a cooling period, and for many the cooling period is a very important step for breeding. But in our experience we have kept 1.5 in screened enclosures at the temperatures given above and with proper feeding copulation was very receptive with all females and would have continued unless we removed the male. The season didn’t seem to matter much. Our cooling period starts the first week of September. We first start by feeding our stock five times per week to fatten them up. October feeding is less and daytime temperature is dropped gradually. November geckos are feed once or twice per week and temperature is around 10° F less then normal. In the first week of March temperatures are gradually turned back to 78º - 80° F, and feeding is increased back to normal. We give are geckos about a month to bulk back up before we attempt to breed them. Geckos are all bred depending on their weight. If the proper weight isn’t where it should be the gecko is not bred until it reaches the proper weight and is in proper health. Our stock is bred every other year. Once females are ready to breed a male is introduced and left with here for a week or two. After females are breed we wait for a couple of weeks before males are re-introduced. Our colonies of 1.5 are kept together all year long with out any problems. Within a couple weeks, you’ll begin to notice two small pinkish circles in the abdomen of the female. These are the eggs starting to form. They will become whitish as the calcium layer is added. Within 4-6 weeks, start to inspect cages for eggs. Up to six clutches can be laid by each female per season. Eggs need to be removed and placed into a container with moist vermiculite or the medium of choice and placed in a incubator with the temperature set at 75°-80°F. Incubation has ranged from 60-75 days. The babies shed within 24 - 36 hours of hatching. Babies are kept the same as adults but in smaller shoeboxes, and are feed ⅛”- ¼” crickets four times per week and mini mealworms once per week, supplemented the same as adults.
Personality: I have found G. luii’s to be very personable. No reptile in my opinion should be held excessively. Contrary to popular belief G. luii’s can be handled and are similar to Leo’s in this aspect. Although a bit more skittish then Leo’s some of our oldest which are imports will accept food right from our hands.