Thinking of getting a uroplatus...

[kathstew]

Hello everyone, I'm new to the forum.
I'm Kathryn and I'm 16 years old.
I own 5 leopard geckos (and will be breeding this coming season - two snowglows- very excited), a blue tongue skink, 3 crested geckos and 1 green tree frog.

A fellow reptile lover/breeder recently introduced me to the uroplatus species and I've fallen in love (again lol) with a reptile.
I've been researching them for about a week straight now, and I'm really interested in getting one. There isn't a lot of info that I can find about them online, but I think I've got a lot of the information I need, as well as my friend who can help me if I need it. She owns a uroplatus henklie by the way.

I'm mostly interested in the uroplatus sikorae. I've been reading through the threads on here, and find that the henklie and sikorae seem to be the recommended species for leaf tail beginners. I was looking at satanics, but read they are VERY difficult to care for, and are definitely not recommended for beginners, so I will avoid them for now (in the future maybe though I'll get some ;D ).

Do you think I'd be able to handle a leaf tail based on the reptiles I currently have? I consider myself to be very responsible, although I know most people consider themselves responsible (LOL).

Here is my plan for my set-up:
39 gallon glass tank (30x12x25) with screen lid. Ecoearth (coco fiber) substrate, at least an inch deep. Multiple daily misting (deep misting in early morning and evening). Lots of wood/branches to climb on. Lots of plants and leaves to hide in, although I know they prefer wood to leaves.
No lights or heat source, as I've read they don't need it if 1. I'm not breeding and 2. I give proper supplementation.
I would be providing crickets (dusted with reptivite twice a week) and waxworms, phoenix worms, hornworms etc as treats once or twice every two weeks. I would also have a digital thermometer and hygrometer.

I would like to include some live plants, but I'm not sure which plants would be suitable for them? Could anyone suggest some plants that would be good to house with uroplatus, please?

I would be getting a captive bred sikorae from a reptile speciality store near me. I trust them completely, they are well-known in my area and are VERY knowledgable.

Thoughts/suggestions? Thanks, I appreciate it!

 

[True_hye]

First off id like to say welcome. your off to a great start! that was my first leaf tail as well. and if at any point you decide you want a phant let me know cause ive started breeeding. as for the habitat depending on where you live i would get a heating lamp especially for the winter nights because if the temp drops below 65 it could get dangerous. also what iv done is i feed my Sikorae every day and switch between a multi-vit powder and the calcium with d3. and leaftails prefer a bit more humidity than cresteds more above 80% to 100%. live plants are always a plus cause they provide humidity.

 

[T-ReXx]

Sounds like you've got some experience. I've been keeping this genus for several years and have had a lot of success with them. A few points:

Heat lamps=bad idea. Uroplatus are extremely sensitive to overheating. Cold they tolerate very well. U. sikorae have been known to be active and feeding at 50F. Those same geckos will die quite quickly when exposed to anything above 82F. Lighting is required for these guys, in the sense that they need a day/night cycle, however flouresents are the way to go.

I'd recommend U. henkeli over U. sikorae actually, they are much hardier and sikorae can be rather tricky to keep correctly as they are slightly more sensitive than the larger species.

Avoid phants. COMPLETELY. Seriously, breeding them isn't hard, but keeping them alive for any real length of time is. I know plenty of very experienced Uroplatus keepers who have real problems with phantasticus, so I would highly recommend getting more experience with hardier species before getting into satanics.

Uroplatus like smooth branches. As much as some say mossies like cork bark, mine completely ignore it. All of my Uroplatus prefer smooth, natural wood.

Plants that work well with Uroplatus are Dracaena, Sanservia, pothos, and Bromeliads. For the larger species Dracaena and Yucca work well.

Stick to roaches and crickets as prey items, most Uroplatus ignore any type of worm.

Feed every other night for adults, if it's a juvie, nightly. These geckos can't store fat like leopards and other species and their high metabolism means they need to eat often.

If you're serious about this genus, I would highly recommend getting a pair. These geckos are in real danger in the wild, and captive breeding efforts are HIGHLY important. Anyone who keeps them owes it to the animals to do their part to keep captive bred animals available, as the flow of wildcaughts is going to dry up sooner rather than later.

 

[Northstar Herp]

Right on to what Ted said, especially the thing about getting a pair instead of a single animal. I think it's plain irresponsible to keep Uroplatus and not attempt to breed them.

Choose Henkeli over Sikorae, they're much hardier. Harder to find, but hardier.

Also, brace yourself for hardship and death. It might not happen to you, but these animals just die sometimes and you may never find out why. I've lost four in the last year, none of them to my knowledge because of anything I did or didn't do.

They're beautiful animals and I applaud you for even considering them. I'd suggest to keep perusing the leaftail section here, the Repashy forum and GU. Read every thread you can find time for and then make your decision.

Good luck!

 

[T-ReXx]

One more thing: I'd recommend getting a copy of the Uroplatus Bible. I believe Kevin(Northstarherp) has copies available. Anyone who owns Uroplatus should have a copy of this book.

 

[Northstar Herp]

First off id like to say welcome. your off to a great start! that was my first leaf tail as well. and if at any point you decide you want a phant let me know cause ive started breeeding. as for the habitat depending on where you live i would get a heating lamp especially for the winter nights because if the temp drops below 65 it could get dangerous. also what iv done is i feed my Sikorae every day and switch between a multi-vit powder and the calcium with d3. and leaftails prefer a bit more humidity than cresteds more above 80% to 100%. live plants are always a plus cause they provide humidity.

I have to echo T-Rexx on this one, just because it's so important. Herps in general tolerate their own low temp range better than their high temp range. If you put a heat lamp on phants, you will likely kill them. I've read personal experiences about sikorae dying after a few hours exposed to >82F, though I don't particularly buy it.

Remember that Madagascar is a land of highly specialized species, and that different Uroplatus species have different requirements- they're not all the same just because they're leaftails. Henkeli are fine with 84-86 localized temps during the day, but you will kill any of the ebenaui group at those temps.

As Ted mentioned, I do sell the Uro Bible and have one left. I wouldn't mention it if he hadn't already to avoid looking like I'm peddling wares here. It's one of the very few published sources of info on this genus, though internet info is out there now as well.