East african day gecko (Phelsuma Dubia)

[Alaina]

Hi guys

Iv got a breeding pair of ph. dubia but not much information about the breeding or just general information about them.

They havent been introduced yet as the female is nowhere near mature enough to breed and im not sure on housing both of them together separately?

The male is in a communal tank with a american green tree frog and im hoping to add a rought green snake to the compilation.

Pics will come soon!

Any information would be lovely!

thanks

Alaina

[Keir64]

Dont know much about, but sounds pretty sweet =D

[Jase Boa]

You clearly don't have a 'breeding pair' of ph.dubia because as you said yourself, your female is immature, you therefore have a pair of ph.dubia

You will get more enjoyment from them if you can house them successfully together as they interact with each other.

I would suggest stripping out the viv they are going to live in, in order to make it neutral for both of them, and then introduce them together in the spring (I assume your female will be mature by then...).

[GlasgowGecko]

Hey Alaina,

Are your P. dubia WC? If so how are you judging her age? Most of the P. dubia in the UK are WC, so CB examples are pretty rare, and I would be interested to hear where you got them from.

Personally I would not even consider keeping Phelsuma species in a communal tank, they are very territorial.

Andy

[Alaina]

Okay i aim to create a breeding pair

I brought them from Henlow Koi Carp Centre in Henlow, Beds. The male iv had for about a year and a half and in the communal terr for about 6 months and the female around a month in a separate terr. I havent had any experiences with the male being territorial, they've got more than a sufficient amount of room and iv put a good few thick plants and hiding places and with the day gecko being a higher dweller in the terr and the tree frog being a middle dweller, they never seem to have a problem.

Obviously if im advised against putting anything else in to maybe upset the balance ill take it into consideration, and when the time comes to put the female in ill rearrange and neutralise the terr.

As far as i know, they're WC


Do you know anybody successful in breeding them?

thanks for your speedy replies n advice
x

[GlasgowGecko]

Then my question remains, how are you estimating the age of the female if she is wild caught?
Territoriality in Phelsuma is not restricted to the males, both sexes can be equally territorial, to both each other and to members of the same sex. Included in this is members of other species. I have to ask how you know you haven't seen territorial behaviour? It is certainly not restricted to fighting. How do you (or anyone else for that matter) know if the behaviour either animal is exhibiting is not being modified in a negative way by the presence of the other?

There are relatively few people breeding this species in the UK, mainly due to a low popularity, problems with parasite burden as WC, incubation issues due to being egg gluers, and the fact that because they are cheap, people tend to put them in mixed setups (this is not me suggesting this is what you have done, but mearly a general observation).

Andy

[Alaina]

The female is obviously young because she's so much smaller than the male, but she's been getting bigger since iv had her which would indicate she's getting older surely?

And what would i look for in territorial activity? Just incase i do need to separate the tree frog and the male.

Just remember that i am asking for advice, would you rather me know than not know and cause a situation thats gonna harm? Thats the last thing i want.

x

[GlasgowGecko]

This is exactly the point, without having a better idea about the animals normal activity. How can you know if it is having a effect. This is one of the major reasons I would not advocate mixing any Phelsuma.

Females are smaller naturally than males, when you suggest she is growing do you mean heavier or longer? It is clear that in an environment with plentiful food, and an absence of predators will certainly lead to 'growth' of some sort.

Andy

[Alaina]

Length ways, not dramatically, but its a definate difference and she's filling out a little bit.

So what advice would you give me?

[Alaina]

And the males behaviour never changed when i introduced the frog, reminder i had him for a little while before i got the frog.

He's a pleasure to watch, and i do so, so i believe i would have noticed a change in behaviour.