Hello all (including VERY cool pics of gecko breeding)

[gordon gecko]

Hi all, I am gordon gecko...can't believe nobody took this name already!!!

Anyway, I have about 10 years experience in keeping and maintaining (mostly) geckos, but I've also succesfully bred Jackson's chameleons, Mediterarrean Geckos, and even Iguanas in captivity. It's a life long passion for me. I have several large vivaria that I will be setting up soon, going to start keeping some Uroplatus (still not sure which one) but these are just awesome little creatures. I hope I can give them a nice home and make them happy.

I'll be starting a thread soon on the buildout of my lizard lounge and also on my new 5 foot lucite aquarium. I have designed my own custom ebb and flow system utilizing a clean water reservoir and automatic drain, ONLY live plants along with the right environment for the little ones that are in it.

My goal is always to create a healthy, natural environment to these animals. You will NEVER see me using lizard carpet or anything flourescent. I only promote breeding when they are healthy and happy and don't do it to make a buck, I do it to further the knowledge and understanding of these beautiful and delicate animals. If anyone has any questions for me, please let me know!

I lost most of my old iguana and jackson's photos in a computer theft. But here are some pictures of my successful efforts to breed Phelsuma Comorensis in captivity over a span of two years. During that time, I delivered over 40 captive bred Phelsuma to East Bay vivarium in Oakland. If anyone bought a Comorensis there in 2003-2005, it couldn't have been one of mine. Let me know if you got any of these!

 

[Stitchex]

Welcome to GF! Wow, those pictures are top dollar!!

 

[stano40]

Nice photos and welcome to GF.

I am interested in Vivaria set ups. I also believe in natural settings and would like to know what the substrate you are using and how it is set up.

 

[HillDog]

Welcome to the gecko forums Gordon!!

 

[gordon gecko]

Stichex, thanks for saying hello and for the kind words! Yes, the pics were hard to capture, the girls are quite sensitive to laying eggs in public places for obvious reasons! Still haven't been able to photograph the act of mating...AFAIK, the process only lasts seconds! I have loads of experience controlling environmental conditions (daylength, temps, humidity, etc) to encourage breeding behaviors. My thought is if we pay more attention to where the species come from you can make them very content.

Hilldog, thank you for the welcome and thanks for stopping by!

Stano, thanks for stopping by. The enclosure in question is a lizard loung that I inherited from a friend. I set them up like this:

Empty enclosure I lay down a network of hard plastic tubing with small holes drilled into it. Think french drain. I use a plastic Y to bridge it to flex tubing.

Over that I place a layer of pea gravel about an 1-2 inches deep, covering the tube. Over that a piece of standard landscaping fabric, keeps the dirt out of the gravel.

Once that's done set your plants in place and your driftwood, cork bark, etc. I like driftwood that has the slate feet, I rest these right on top of the landscaping cloth. A 2 inch (or so) layer of soil and then backfill and bury the plants (I prefer tropicals like ficus, shefflera, pothos, and bromeliad.)

Once the soil's in place, I lay over it with a layer of fir bark (repti bark, etc) I used to use manzanita and dead vines, but I found that flexible exo stuff at the shop I also like.

Below the tank, I use a 5 gal empty bucket and dump the line into it for the wastewater. The fresh water source is from a clean 5 gallon water bottle and is fed by a ProMist set to a timer. The water comes on for 5-10 minutes each time, 3-4 times a day and fills the soil medium in about a week. When the time comes to drain, no worries--if you set it up correctly gravity will start the water trickling down the waste hose, when enough water builds up it pretty much flushes the soil down to the gravel. The lizard lounge has a hole drilled in the glass already, so the line basically drops out just below the bark and at the top of the soil level, when it's full it drains itself. If you are using a solid glass aquarium, I suppose you'll have to drill this hole. Lucite is easy to drill, but I am not a big fan as it's a pain scraping off the mineral deposits. Glass is perfect for this, that's why I LOVE the lizard lounge--flexibility.

I've ran setups like this for several years. Over time the drfitwood will rot and you'll see the occasional gnat fly or nematode or two. You need to change out the soil and bark about every other year. Only maintenance for this is that occassionally the bark will decay down into the soil and the soil level will drop. Just throw another 1-2 inches of bark over the top and you're all set. Hope this makes sense, if not, let me know!

If you live in an area that gets ants, be sure you place the entire setup on metal feet resting cans of oil. Don't know why, but I've had a few attacks of grease ants when I lived in CA; maybe they thought I was running a big ant farm!

 

[Bling_my_leo]

Welcome to GF. Very nice photos! I have to introduce myself to you, I do to every new member... My name is Emma, very nice to meet you.

 

[gordon gecko]

I have to introduce myself to you, I do to every new member... My name is Emma, very nice to meet you.

I guess I have to introduce myself to you too. ;-)

Emma, the pleasure is all mine. Thanks for having me here, can't wait to start building some cool vivaria, learning and teaching as I go! These pics were taken a few years ago, the pictures of the Jackson's were really my fave. :-( I wish I still had them. Now, those were some cute little lizards!

Now I prefer geckos...who need eyelids, when you have a tonque that can lick the top of your head?

 

[Kwyk]

Hi.
And very very nice pics.

 

[Halley]

Welcome!