Anyone else keep these? (Lygodactylus williamsi) Mine breed and lay eggs all the time.. raising the babies has not been easy though. here is a couple pics of one of my males.
Williamsi are so sweet and not shy at all!! When I feed them, they'll come right to their food bowl as I'm pouring it, and start eating. Cleaning time is a hassle cause I keep having to shoo them away from where I'm working 'cause they're so inquisitive. I get a kick out of these.
That must be the single most awesome gecko I have ever seen! How big do they get? Are they expensive? what are their cage requirements?
They are very small.. The male in those images could sit on your finger. I have them set up in an Exo-Terra 18" x 18" x 18" terrarium. They eat anything they can fit in their mouth (as far as live food goes) and they are also quite fond of Zoo Med's Day Gecko food (it's a powder). The females are green.. or more like an "olive drab" color. They do seem to like to bask.. So I have them set up with uvb fluorescent and also a daytime basking / spot bulb. One of the nicest things about them is that they are not shy.. at ALL. And when doing maintenance in the terrarium you literally have to "shoo" them away The first time I saw them for sale they were several hundred dollars each!! The price eventually fell & I think i paid 30 each for mine... Last I heard they were not coming in any more. Or are not coming in with any frequency. I am sure that will bring the price back up. So far for me, they have been incredibly easy to breed.. raising the micro-sized babies to adults has not been so easy.
awesome info! hope i can find some here in the netherlands. been looking at these guys for awhile now. how many do you keep in the 18x18x18.. do you keep 2 males together.? i am thinking of getting the Exo-terra Sri Lanka habitat it's 18x18x24. and probably will only start with a pair.
Wow, beautiful little guys! Just out of curiosity, can they be kept alone as well? If they can, what size tank would you think would suffice? Thanks!
I guess you could keep them alone. My understanding is they seem to be found in groups.. so I do not know how one would act being kept like that. I can keep pairs or a small group in an 18" x 18" x 18" cage. I am sure you could keep them in smaller cages.. but they are pretty active.
I have them. I agree, rearing hatchlings is challenging. My hatchling mortality decreased a bit with two tactics--the first, I hatch the eggs in the enclosure that the babies will be reared in, instead of an incubator. That way, they don't have the stress of being moved. I have the best luck with a cage that is at least 12 X 12 (I taped screen over the holes in the top of a ZooMed cube). They don't thrive in anything smaller. Second, I started rearing them on Repashy crested gecko diet. (They also like flightless fruit flies). Mortality is lower when they have plenty of available food, but still sometimes hatchlings will apparently fail to start eating, and decline and die. They are pretty fecund, in spite of that. I remove older hatchlings to a separate cage, so they don't overly dominate new hatchlings. Once they've about doubled their size, they're practically bullet-proof, very hardy.
Unknown. I would count on it being probably 5 to 8 years, like anoles. I doubt that longevity information even exists.
Well, there's a whole article on them in the December issue of Reptiles magazine-it says males get about 3 inches average and females a little less, longetivity should be expected from 5-10 years I love them, have a poster of one in my room lol
They are one of the most astonishingly intelligent small reptiles you will ever run into, and they are, in general, incredibly bold (though personalities vary). Once they are used to you, they will come right up to you. If you keep them in a high traffic area, in a few weeks, they will act like you're not scary at all, which is amazing in such a tiny animal. They're very curious, active, social, and learn quickly. They can be kept alone just fine, but will be more fun to watch in groups. Do make sure they have plenty of cover--some females can be aggressive and subordinate females will need places to get out of view of the dominant ones. Of course, don't keep males together. Keep in mind that they ARE arboreal geckos, and are perfectly capable of slipping out of their cage and running across your wall to hide in a place you will not find them. Fortunately, they are so bright, they often return and allow you to capture them, after a few days.
Are you going to get some in the future? I am torn between the terrariums which open in the front vs the regular tall type tanks such as 30 gallon extra high tank but only opens on top.
For all of my arboreal geckos I like to use the front opening tanks. Most arboreal geckos when frightened will go up to hide so if the top of the tank is open.... out they go!
I might get some in the future...I was considering day geckos eventually and now that I learned about the blue ones-I would love to get those! I would always reccommend the front opening tank, even more for arboreal lizards-like @StikyPaws312 says also