Gecko question

[mrclarke72]

Hey, Thinking about getting a knob tailed gecko and have a couple of questions.
Ive being doing reading up on these guys but just need to make sure of a couple of things.
One thing ive heard is that they like sand as a substrate, can you use like brikies sand or any type of sand? (stuff at petshops charge heaps)
Also i intent to put it in a "shallowish" 2ft glass tank, heat mat at one end, and have a regular fluro light untit on top, gets natural sunlight in room. What do you guys normally use to heat your gecko tanks, like both heat mat and spot lamp? can i get away with just a heat mat?
I intend to get another one at a later stage so that should be enough space? 2FT
Any suggestions, recommendations etc, much appreciated. cheers

 

[JasonL]

My knobtails are housed in plastic tubs, washed sand (from hardware) as substrate to a depth of about 5 cm, heated via two lengths of heatcord at the "hot end", hide is a sealed terrcotta dish with a chip out of the rim, this is placed on the cool side, though sometimes moved closer to the warmer end if I think the gecko needs it. Sand under the hide is kept moist to damp, no water bowl is supplied. Males are kept seperate, females in pairs. Males only introduced for a week or two in Spring.

 

[JasonL]

Also i intent to put it in a "shallowish" 2ft glass tank, heat mat at one end, and have a regular fluro light untit on top, gets natural sunlight in room.

Make sure they are kept out of direct sunlight, as this could overheat the enclosure.

 

[mrclarke72]

u rekon i could house a male and female together, year round?

 

[ashisnothereman]

question:
do they need UV lighting?

 

[AUSGECKO]

Males and females can be kept together year round with no problems, UV lighting has no known benefits on Knob tails as they are nocturnal.

 

[Jay84]

Males are kept seperate, females in pairs. Males only introduced for a week or two in Spring.

hey Jason, i was just wondering with this mating of the pairs for only 2 weeks, will that produce fertile eggs all season? how many fertile clutches will one mating produce?

 

[JasonL]

I have kept these geckos in about everyway possible, in all different types of enclosures, with every different type of heating, in mass groups, pairs and now singular. In short, they arn't so different to Beardies, you can keep them in pairs / trios ect, but it is largely un-natural and they do a stack better being solo, their weight increases ect. Knobbies fight and bite each other when kept in groups, and stress will always be in play, it's just it very hard to notice with such animals.
Jay, a couple of mating will result in a stack of eggs through the season, though I prefer the females only lay 3 or 4 clutches to prevent health problems, again, like beardies they can lay a real un-natural amount of eggs when being raped every night through spring / summer.

 

[mrclarke72]

anyone know where i can get knobbies in sydney?

 

[JasonL]

I have some sexed juvies from last year.

 

[Freeloader]

There is someone on this site advertising them atm. Look in for sale section.

 

[mrclarke72]

Hey jason. Would you be willing to sell any, PM me mate.

 

[74save_snakes74]

My knobtails are housed in plastic tubs, washed sand (from hardware) as substrate to a depth of about 5 cm, heated via two lengths of heatcord at the "hot end", hide is a sealed terrcotta dish with a chip out of the rim, this is placed on the cool side, though sometimes moved closer to the warmer end if I think the gecko needs it. Sand under the hide is kept moist to damp, no water bowl is supplied. Males are kept seperate, females in pairs. Males only introduced for a week or two in Spring.

i have heard that females can give about 6 clutches a year, can they give them at any time? r just i spring?

 

[74save_snakes74]

I have kept these geckos in about everyway possible, in all different types of enclosures, with every different type of heating, in mass groups, pairs and now singular. In short, they arn't so different to Beardies, you can keep them in pairs / trios ect, but it is largely un-natural and they do a stack better being solo, their weight increases ect. Knobbies fight and bite each other when kept in groups, and stress will always be in play, it's just it very hard to notice with such animals.
Jay, a couple of mating will result in a stack of eggs through the season, though I prefer the females only lay 3 or 4 clutches to prevent health problems, again, like beardies they can lay a real un-natural amount of eggs when being raped every night through spring / summer.

i was wondering if you could explain to me about the breedin of knobbies, if i want say 5 clutches a year, how often do i introduce the male to the female, and hw long would they take to put the eggs, and if i can put one male to four r three females? and does it have to be in spring and summer? or can i do it in other times of the year?

 

[JasonL]

They can lay at other times of the year if they have been introduced and weather patterns or heating is changed, though this should be avoided at all all costs. Males are introduced to females at the start of spring when night temps start to rise, they are introduced for a few days at a time, on and off untill the female shows signs of being gravid (you can visually see the eggs through the belly), then the male is kept seperate. Females will lay around 4 - 8 clutches on average depending on how they are heated and fed, expect infertile eggs, esp first and last clutches. I keep my females with no night heating, this way is more natural, they lay less eggs, but the eggs they do lay have a high rate of hatching without problems and females hold weight and stay healthier.