Sphaerodactylus elegans

[AsydaBass]

Hello everyone,

I just obtained my first gecko. It's a neonate (so small!) S. elegans. I took possession one Dec. 25th. For the moment, I'm keeping it in a sweater box for QT and observations. Looks good so far, lol.I'll be moving it to an Exo-Terra on Jan. 13th.
I have it on a diet of termites, wingless melanogaster FF, and soil/leaf litter samples. I screen the samples for anything too large, or spiders. I think I'm going to cut down on the termites a bit though, it's starting to like them a little too much. I think I'll save them for a weekly treat. I do have a dietary question for the experienced out there...

Do they take any fruit in their diet? If so what kind and how? I read something about puree.
Also do they require UVB? I don't think so, given their nature, but I thought I should ask. I'll try to get some pictures up a little later today. It hides a lot, and I don't want to stress it out by chasing it with my camera. I am trying to photo document it's weekly growth though.
Thanks for reading,
~Donald

ps~> I'll be taking a trip to my friend's place in Key West, in Feb. and I plan on bringing back a pair of Sphaeroes. So in the mean time, I brought home 9 Hemidactylus eggs to practice incubating I'll release them, once they hatch.

 

[AsydaBass]

Hello,

Here is the vivarium I set up for the S. elegans. It's an 12x12x18 exo-terra. I wanted to keep it as simple as possible. The only thing I'm missing is a small bromeliad to attach on the upper wood. I have one juvi. right now. But I think I might keep it in it's sweater box for now, as I just found out I have an adult waiting for me. I just need to go pick it up. Before the adult became available, I was a little hestitant about putting the neonate in such a relatively large enclosure.

And bad shot of the specimen. I don't want to stress it out, so I didn't bother harassing it for decent pics. The coloration is due to stress from the intial transfer.

~Donald

 

[Isis]

These are nice, I wanted to buy one some time ago, but I was discouraged by the fact that they are hard to see in the viv... good luck!

 

[AsydaBass]

Thanks Isis. I've pretty much prepared myself for never seeing them. I'm hoping with the adults being bigger (2"-2 1/2"), I'll be able to see them more than the juvi. Either way, this species really appeals to me!

~Donald

 

[GekkoGalaksen]

Congrats to that beautiful little gecko
I love Sphaerodactylus, they are for sure small gems.
I am happy to have 2 speices.....torrei and negropunctatus .

 

[AsydaBass]

Those are very nice species you have. I especially like the S. torrei. Hopefully, I'll be aquiring both S. notatus and S. argus in Febuary, to complete my Florida trio

I wanted to get some practice incubating gecko eggs, so while I was out looking for snakes the other day, I brought home 9 Hemidactylus ssp. eggs. One of them hatched last night, so I must be doing something right.

~Donald