Uroplatus sikorae - Mossy Leaf-tailed Gecko Information Request

[Crestiebabe23]

Uroplatus sikorae - Mossy Leaf-tailed Gecko

Looking for some information/care sheets on these geckos, as i'm planning on getting one or two in Aug for my birthday! :)

If anyone has these in their collection, can you please help me out? looking for cage pictures, ideas... and of course care sheets.

So if anyone could lend me a helping hand.. and point me in the direction of some good information, that would be awesome!

Thanks

Want to move up in the gecko world, and give these guys a try... i've been reading whatever i can for serveral months online... So here i'am asking people who have actually kept them or are keeping them for information.


:)

[chockablock]

Thanks for bringing this up Crestiebabe, I just got my first one on Saturday at the super show! Decided to make the leap to something more advanced. I'm in the same place, I've read most of what the net offers and everything here on this site. Is there anything I should be watching for? Any anecdotal info would be greatly appreciated.

[Crestiebabe23]

Thanks for bringing this up Crestiebabe, I just got my first one on Saturday at the super show! Decided to make the leap to something more advanced. I'm in the same place, I've read most of what the net offers and everything here on this site. Is there anything I should be watching for? Any anecdotal info would be greatly appreciated.


Congrats on getting your first one! their so amazing looking! and i can't wait to make the jump! and get my first pair.

Please post pictures of your set up and your new mossy! :)

But yes... More Information would be great from people / breeders who already own these guys! :)

[SarahW]

Awesome care sheet on U. Phant here, best information all around for uroplatus in general.

http://www.forums.repashy.com/uroplatus-discussion/2602-uroplatus-phantasticus.html

[that_girl]

We've been keeping 1.2 U. sikorae semeiti and 1.0 U sikorae sikorae successfully for a while now. We feed dusted (ICB of course) roaches and mist the geckos more often than our cresteds. All are very healthy and gain or maintain their weight. They are a fun species. Whenever I do reptile education, I take the lone male. It's great for kids to learn about wild caught animals and how important it is to protect their precious habitat that they are losing.

[Crackity Jones]

We've been keeping 1.2 U. sikorae semeiti and 1.0 U sikorae sikorae successfully for a while now. We feed dusted (ICB of course) roaches and mist the geckos more often than our cresteds. All are very healthy and gain or maintain their weight. They are a fun species. Whenever I do reptile education, I take the lone male. It's great for kids to learn about wild caught animals and how important it is to protect their precious habitat that they are losing.


Your guys' Sikoraes are gorgeous.

When you feed roaches, do you allow them to roam free within the enclosure, or do you place them in an escape-proof dish inside their enclosure?
I use a dish for my other geckos, but am not sure if that would work these geckos.
I'd love to get my first sikorae in October.

[that_girl]

When you feed roaches, do you allow them to roam free within the enclosure, or do you place them in an escape-proof dish inside their enclosure?

They eat from a dish. Here is a picture of one of the enclosures. You can see it suspended up to the right. They all eat from it very well.

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc101/that_girl83/Uroplatus/IMG_5950.jpg

[Salzy]

Definitely take a look at the care sheet that Sarah posted. If you haven't already seen it and read it, you should. There is a lot of information there that can be helpful for all Uroplatus.

The biggest thing to pay attention to is hydration. It's a very common problem for Uroplatus to be dehydrated, especially with fresh imports. Regularly misting is important, and should be done at least once a day, twice is even better. The sikorae will readily lick up the water droplets that form during misting. I haven't ever seen mine use a water bowl before, but it doesn't hurt to have one just in case. Just make sure that it stays clean and has fresh water available for them. Periodic shower treatments are sometimes also advised.

Housing sikorae is fairly simple. Just be sure to provide plenty of vertically oriented sticks with an equal mix of smooth surfaces and rougher surfaces. Very rarely will they use horizontal branches, except at night when they are hunting. Sleeping is always with the head pointed downwards, and I don't recall ever seeing one facing upwards. They will choose their favorite spots, and you can normally find them resting every day in the same location.

A couple of things I've learned with sikorae is that they don't seem to utilize any areas close to plants. I've removed all but a couple of small plants from my enclosures, and the geckos seem to use more of the space as compared to when their were more plants. Their camoflauge doesn't blend in well with plants, and they aren't able to lay flat against them as well as they are with about 1.5 inch diameter sticks. Keep that in mind when setting things up.

Also, everyone uses corkbark chunks in their enclosures for every type of gecko imaginable. I have not once seen our sikorae using corbark for any reason, except for moving around in the terrarium at night while they hunt. They never rest on it from what I've seen, quite possibly because of it's much rougher texture. I'm not sure what the reason may be, but I've started to leave it out as much as possible.

Krystal just posted a photo of our converted gun cabinet enclosure. I made a suspended food bowl for roaches, but sometimes I also allow some to wander free in the cage. It takes Uroplatus some "training" to get used to eating from a bowl, so during those times it's a good idea to have free-roaming food like crickets or roaches.

Hopefully that helps you out some. :)

[Crackity Jones]

That enclosure is awesome.

I have the cage here now for one, but I'd want a natural set up. I'm thinking about starting it ahead of time (real soon) so that the plants have time to grow.

[siz]

They eat from a dish. Here is a picture of one of the enclosures. You can see it suspended up to the right. They all eat from it very well.

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc101/that_girl83/Uroplatus/IMG_5950.jpg

How do you prevent mold on the bottom of the sticks where they meet the soil?

[ominously]

You can either sealthe wood at the bottom, or just make sure it is really bioactive - fresh wood is the best to use since it is already full of moisture - somewhere in the forums here there is a discussion about sealing wood - the thread I recall has Andrew or Sarah explaining the process of sealing the bottom bit of the wood to prevent molding, and may even have been in reference to the gun cabinet enclosure (not sure though). Sorry, I did a fast scan but couldn't come up with it, it's here somewhere though.

[siz]

Thanks :)I'll see if I can find it.

[ominously]

PS>

Reptiles Canada Forums (http://www.reptilescanada.com/forums/showthread.php?t=28735)

Credit to the author.