Reptile Forum, Reptile Classifieds - CaptiveBred

[johne.ev]

Hi all.
I recently purchased 2 house geckos (Hemidactylus frenatus). i was having lots of trouble with loose crickets, which had bred in the large Argus monitor enclosure, which measures, 8x4x4 & were running loose in the rep room & really pissing the wife off.so i let them loose in the room (free range, i think the term is) a few nights ago i noticed they had some how got into the enclosure, most probably through holes where lighting cables go in. now the purpose of this post is that i have been watching them with real interest(i see more of them than i do the monitor anyway ). they are active as much during the day as they are at night.i have a bank of 3 100watt spot bulbs, one of which is a t-rex active uv. now considering nocturnal reps supposedly get no benefit from uv, they spend an awful lot of time basking in the open on a raised shelf, right beneath the uv bulb & take an awful risk to do so,considering they are living with a two and half foot, forever hungry monitor.just wanted to share my observations with you.also i have really appreciated how interesting two very common, very cheap little geckos can be. another thing i learnt is just how their nick name really describes them( chit chat) as at night they are very vocal.now we don't have to listen to the crickets chirping, instead we listen to the chit chats chatting....ha ha.

Regards.

[zarozinia]

Im all in favour of Uv lighting for nocturnal geckos, I use it for my cresties and they choose to bask/sleep exposed to it
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Cheers Angi
Proud to be a Geordie!
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[mark_w]

John - What an interesting post!

I have a large tegu 10 x 4 x 4 viv in which I now have crickets, roaches and morio worms breeding!

I have considered adding some more foliage, and mounting some cork on the walls/ceiling, and then letting some small geckos loose in there...

I have been worried that my tegu would get them as it is always hungry, and despite his size, he can move bloody fast when food is involved!

Now I'm thinking that maybe this could work - how long have they been in there?

Also, are your heat lamps covered to stop the geckos burning themselves, or have they got enough 'sense' to avoid this?

Mark.

[johne.ev]

Hi Angi.
yes, i also used to use uv when i used to keep leopard & fatail geckos, im sure they must get something from it, as they used to sit under them although for shorter periods.

Hi Mark.
They have been in there for a few weeks now. iv'e not seen them climb onto the lighting, which is the ceramic holders with reflectors attached. when i first saw them in their, i thought they wouldn't last long, but they are so fast, even upside down on the ceiling. i think if you had plenty of cover & some tight hide spots they would probably evade capture although i personally wouldn't try with anything expensive. also they have helped with the hundreds of tiny crickets that are in the enclosure, but shouldn't run out of food for some time yet...