Gecko Newbie

[AdamDimond]

Hi- I am new to reptiles and am preparing to create a naturalistic vivarium for a pair of Giant Day Geckos. I really don't know what I'm doing, so I am releying on my father, who kept many lizards- when he was a kid. 50 years ago. I basically need all the help I can get.

 

[Josh2]

Welcome aboard @Adamd I have one Phelsuma grandis. He's still a baby but he's a lot of fun. He's super active and eats like a horse.
Did you have any specific questions for us? Have you gotten your pair yet?

 

[AdamDimond]

I am still setting up the enclosure. I am going for a naturalistic vivarium, but I have had to get supplies piecemeal. This weekend I will get a fern or two, and perhaps a philodendron. My plan is to have a well-planted background leading to a clearer foreground, which has a big branch to climb on. Next month it should be ready for inhabitants.
One question I have is about Vitamin D3. Both the books I have read and the breeder I am in contact with do not use UVB lights, instead they use a constant supply of supliment mixed with the Repashy diet and dusted on crickets. They say to use calcium with D3 and a multivitamin with vitamin A, in a 2-to-1 ratio. However, the exact amounts are something I can't seem to find.
I know a lot about dosages for birds- I spent a decade in a family aviary buisness- but I highly doubt that applies here.
My father actually kept lizards as a teenager in the 1950s and 60s. He was good enough at it that the Buffalo Zoo contacted him and took some pointers for their recently opened reptile house. Of course this was the dark ages of herpetoculture, so he has been doing a lot of catch-up. So far, his words of wisdom have been (1) 'If you have two species in one tank, wait a week and there will be one' (2) 'I learned all my obscenities when my mother had to get a gecko that was hiding in the Christmas tree' and (3) 'venemous snakes are for zoos and people who really want that Darwin award'
Finally I think I need a heat bulb with a bigger wattage- it keeps things at 82 degrees when I need 95 for the basking spot.
sorry for the long post. I'll post pics of the cage when I get all the plants in.

 

[Amanda1]

So far, his words of wisdom have been (1) 'If you have two species in one tank, wait a week and there will be one' (2) 'I learned all my obscenities when my mother had to get a gecko that was hiding in the Christmas tree' and (3) 'venemous snakes are for zoos and people who really want that Darwin award'

That is both hilarious and really good advice!

 

[LeopardGeckoMom]

Bahaha very good advice!

 

[AdamDimond]

He has come up with three more: (4) ' If it can kill the cat, it's not a good pet' (5) 'When in a pet store, quiz the employee to root out the idiots' (6) 'Saying reptiles and amphibians are dangerous because of Burmese Pythons is like trying to ban goldfish because of great white sharks'.
Actually, he doesn't like snakes because of the need to feed them mice-but that doesn't stop him from expounding, at length, about how bans harm animals far more than help.