Vivariums;reptiles;Asia-geckos 6

Food :

We give ours hydei fruit flies, small crickets, phoenix worms, mealwoms (smaller ones) and baby roaches and we have found out that they like the Crested Gecko Diet. We put a cap full in the tank along with a water dish and they will go drink the CGD on their own accord. We also dust our insects every third feeding with Repcal (phosphorous free) and once a week with Reptivite ( a multivitamin powder for reptiles). We feed them daily as they have very high metabolisms. They get live insects 4 times a week and Crested Gecko Diet is always in the tank. If they are not fed well they will eat their eggs and hatchlings. You can also leave cuttle bone or a cap of pure calcium (phosphorous free), that has no D3, and they will self regulate their calcium intake.

Handling :

You can handle mourning geckos but you have to be VERY gentle. They are small and their skin will tear if handled too roughly. The best advice to start out with is to handle them in their tank until you get used to how fast and delicate they are. That way if one jumps you won’t be chasing it across the floor. They can become rather tame, but it takes patience to get them to this point.

HEMIPHYLLODACTYLUS : Slender Geckos. There are around 25 or so species in this group, which are grouped together on the basis of the structure of the feet and digits. All have elongate, slender bodies, relatively short tails and widely splayed toes. They are nocturnal, arboreal, forest dwellers but may be found on man-made structures near forest.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hemiphyllodactylus is a genus of geckos ranging from India and China southward to Southeast Asia and Oceania. Species of Hemiphyllodactylus are commonly known as half leaf-fingered geckos.

Hemiphyllodactylus

Scientific classification :

Kingdom:Animalia

Phylum:Chordata

Subphylum:Vertebrata

Class:Reptilia

Order:Squamata

Suborder:Sauria

Infraorder:Gekkota

Family:Gekkonidae

Subfamily:Gekkoninae

Genus:Hemiphyllodactylus
Bleeker, 1860

Species :

Hemiphyllodactylus aurantiacus (Beddome, 1870)
Hemiphyllodactylus banaensis Ngo Van Tri et al., 2014 [1]
Hemiphyllodactylus bintik Grismer et al., 2015 [2]
Hemiphyllodactylus changningensis Guo et al., 2015 [2]
Hemiphyllodactylus chiangmaiensis Grismer, Wood & Cota, 2014 [3]
Hemiphyllodactylus dushanensis Zhou & Liu, 1981 (formerly H. yunnanensis dushanensis)[4]
Hemiphyllodactylus engganoensis Grismer et al., 2014 [2]
Hemiphyllodactylus ganoklonis Zug, 2010 [2]
Hemiphyllodactylus harteri (F. Werner, 1900) – Hartert's[5] dwarf gecko
Hemiphyllodactylus insularis Taylor, 1918 – small smooth-scaled gecko
Hemiphyllodactylus jinpingensis Zhou & Liu, 1981 (formerly H. yunnanensis jinpingensis)[4]
Hemiphyllodactylus kiziriani Nguyen et al., 2014 [2]
Hemiphyllodactylus larutensis (Boulenger, 1900) – Larut dwarf gecko
Hemiphyllodactylus longlingensis Zhou & Liu, 1981 (formerly H. yunnanensis longlingensis)[4]
Hemiphyllodactylus margarethae Brongersma, 1931 [2]
Hemiphyllodactylus tehtarik Grismer et al., 2013 [4]
Hemiphyllodactylus titiwangsaensis Zug, 2010 [2]
Hemiphyllodactylus typus Bleeker, 1860 – Indopacific tree gecko
- Hemiphyllodactylus typus chapaensis Bourret, 1937
- Hemiphyllodactylus typus pallidus Auffenberg, 1980
- Hemiphyllodactylus typus typus Bleeker, 1860

Hemiphyllodactylus yunnanensis (Boulenger, 1903) – Yunnan Gypsy gecko
Hemiphyllodactylus zugi Nguyen et al., 2013 [6]

Nota bene: In the above list, a binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Hemiphyllodactylus.

For the external links , refrences click here to read the full wikipedia article

Example of this species is Hemiphyllodactylus typus click here for more information ..

Also Titiwangsa Slender Gecko click here

LEPIDODACTYLUS : Scaly-toed Geckos. This group of around 30 or so geckos is grouped together on the basis of the structure of feet and digits. They are typically small in size, and plain in character. Some occur only in forest, whilst others have adapted to human dwellings. Around 10 or so species occur in Southeast Asia, often on islands or in coastal habitats.

Other websites :

- reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Lepidodactylus&species=lugubris

- www.joshsfrogs.com/mourning-gecko-lepidodactylus-lugubris.html

- www.reptilespecialty.com/mourning-gecko-care-sheet-lepidodactylus-lugubris.html

- www.pangeareptile.com/store/mourning-gecko-care-sheet.html

- www.herpetologynotes.seh-herpetology.org

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The mourning gecko or common smooth-scaled gecko (Lepidodactylus lugubris) is a species of gecko. This small (10.5 cm total length), nocturnal gecko feeds on small insects and flower nectar. This species is notable because it is parthenogenic, and there are no remaining males that have been found. Females engage in pseudocopulation, stimulating both to produce viable eggs. These eggs are adhered to surfaces in protected locations. Most clutches consist of two eggs, and clutches are laid two to three weeks apart.

Mourning gecko

Distribution :

This species are always found in coastal areas of the Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean, including the Maldives, Sri Lanka, India, Myanmar, West Malaysia, Vietnam, Japan, Taiwan, China, Indonesia, the Philippines, New Guinea, Fiji, Australia (islands of Cocos [Keeling] atoll, Queensland), Western Samoa, Guam, the Society Islands and the Mascarenes (Rodrigues; fide F. Glaw, pers. comm.).

It has been introduced into west Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, the Galapagos (Ecuador), Colombia, Chile, Venezuela, Hawaii (the U.S.A) and the Seychelles.

Scientific classification :

Kingdom:Animalia

Phylum:Chordata

Class:Reptilia

Order:Squamata

Suborder:Sauria

Family:Gekkonidae

Genus:Lepidodactylus

Species:L. lugubris

Binomial name :

Lepidodactylus lugubris
(Duméril & Bibron, 1836)

For the external links , refrences click here to read the full wikipedia article

Video :

A Quick Guide To Mourning Geckos (Lepidodactylus lugubris)

Caring for Mourning Geckos (Lepidodactylus Lugubris)

1- Meet the Mourning Gecko

courtesy to : www.acreptiles.com/main/index.php?

Parthenogenic = No Males Necessary
This is what made this gecko famous, or at least put them on the radar of gecko keepers. Parthenogenic means that the gecko doesn't need to mate with a gecko of the opposite sex in order to lay fertile eggs. Females will lay eggs on their own, without ever having to come into contact with a male. That said, egg production does increase dramatically when they're kept in groups of two or more. If you think that's interesting, it only gets better.

Originally a Hybrid
The way I understand it, L. lugubris was given full species status prior to the discovery that it is actually the result of two other Lepidodactylus species. Interestingly enough, when those two parent species breed, they actually do produce male offspring. It's not clear whether those male offspring are fertile, as there's really no way for them to pass on their genes when their female counterparts are self-sufficient.

Where do they come from?
Because they thrive on Crested Gecko Diet MRP and do well at room temperature, they're commonly thought of as a New Caledonian species, just like the crested gecko and all its cousins. However, the mourning gecko actually has a relatively widespread distribution, mostly introduced and not native, ranging from New Caledonia to Japan to Hawaii and probably hundreds of tiny islands in between.

t's not clear, to me at least, where this hybrid first originated...but read on because this gets even more interesting.

Temperature and Substrate

Temperature should be above 70 degrees but no more than 85 degrees and the substrate should be something along the lines of Repti Bed, Peat moss and coco fiber, etc. You want something that retains moisture well.

Quirks :

These geckos will eat their eggs from time to time and hatchlings if given the chance, so when your gecko lays eggs do not panic if you see them eating an egg. However watch for hatchlings after about 60 days and remove hatchlings as soon as you see them. They will start laying eggs around 8-10 months old. The geckos stick their hard shelled eggs to the side of the tank. We do not remove them as we have noticed that once the females all got on the same cycle of laying eggs they stopped eating the eggs as often. Plus they usually lay the eggs in the hardest spots to get to, any spot they feel makes a secure nesting site.

L. lugubris will lighten and darken throughout the day, and from my observations, I really believe their color does change somewhat accourding to their surroundings.

Attack of the Clones
Because sperm from a male is not required to fertilize an egg, these geckos are essentially genetic clones of their mother. This means that every baby produced by a female is going to have an identical pattern (with the exception of possible temperature related pattern abnormalities). However, each population of these geckos are reported to have different markings. I've seen photos, but have never been able to acquire specimens, of the other clones. I think there could be a demand for different paint jobs on these interesting little geckos, but I'm sure it would take some serious leg work to locate the different clones.

Housing and Social Structure
I've been observing and "breeding" these geckos for 7 years now and I still find myself watching them on a regular basis. These geckos communicate a LOT...lots of clicking and chirping, as well as tail-waiving (very cool - tail points up in the air and moves in a serpentine fashion). They are territorial, but at the same time, they don't seem to have a problem sharing a cage...that is, after the geckos establish who gets what area. This process involves lots of chasing and nipping when a new cagemate is introduced. I've seen plenty of fights, but the worst injury has been a missing tail tip...which will grow back almost as good as new. Keeping the numbers down to 4-6 babies or 2-4 adults per cage (12x12x18 Exo-Terra or Zoo Med glass terrarium) is a good way to keep fights from happening too often.

The cage shown at right is one of our subadult growout cages. I've had success raising up to six geckos in this size cage, but we try to reduce the number to 4 geckos as they reach full size.

Just FYI - The gecko visible on the plastic lip at the top of the cage is a subadult, just a couple months away from laying her first eggs.

Diet
Our mourning geckos are fed strictrly T-Rex Crested Gecko Diet (same as Repashy Gecko Diet MRP). We used to feed crickets, but we quit offering them for fear that geckos would accidentally eat their babies if they got in the habit of chasing brown crickets of a similar size. I've been offering this diet (no bugs) for over three years now and have had excellent results raising babies to adulthood in short periods of time

These geckos can be kept and grown up QUICKLY using nothing but crested gecko diet as a food source, so they're easy to keep.· You can do three to five adults in a 12x12x18 Zoo-Med or Exo-Terra glass cage (be sure to block all holes).· Keep them in the high 70's or low 80's (usually no more than a 15 watt bulb) and you're set.

Interesting Feeding Tip/Trick
A while back, I noticed that fruit flies are attracted to the diet we feed our geckos. Of course, the geckos do catch a fruit fly on occasion, but not very often. However, the fruit flies will lay their eggs in the food. If you throw the food out after 48-72 hours, you'll probably never notice anything. However, if you keep an old bowl of food in the cage for a week or so, you'll start to notice fruit fly larvae squirming around at the bottom...they basically look like house fly maggots, but smaller. You might say "ew, gross!", but it's basically like finding miniature meal worms for your mourning geckos. And believe me, when we put a bowl of fruit fly larvae in a cage, they appreciate it! The best part about this tasty treat is that the larvae have been "gut-loaded" with a balanced and nutritious diet (same thing the geckos eat) and best of all, it's free!

Pricing & Availability

Geckos Available Now - Inquire

Subadults (6-9 months) - Close to Laying Eggs, or Gravid - $75 each
Juvies (3-4 months) - Approximately 6-7 months until they start laying - $50 each

Pairs Recommended - It is highly recommended to keep at least two of these in a cage. This is because they lay eggs more often and also because it's so much more enjoyable to see them interact with each other.

Pricing - I realize that you may be able to find them cheaper if you see some for sale, but that's the key - they aren't very easy to find. I'm writing this in September 2010 and I haven't seen any of these for sale online in at least three years. While getting these geckos to lay eggs is obviously easy, these geckos are TINY and they glue their eggs (about the size of a pencil eraser) to whatever surface they're laid on, so they do require some special attention while they're young, as they hatch out at around 1" total length. You can sometimes stumble upon them at shows, but not usually.

Remember - Our mourning geckos are started on Crested Gecko Diet so that you'll never have trouble finding crickets small enough for them. This is very important to consider, as older geckos who've been started on baby food and crickets will have a hard time adjusting to the taste.

2- Caring for Mourning Geckos (Lepidodactylus Lugubris)

courtesy to : www.geckotime.com/caring-for-mourning-geckos-lepidodactylus-lugubris/

Mourning Geckos are small, parthenogenic, colony geckos. They are very active, have social hierarchies and very distinct body language and vocalizations.

These geckos are rumored to have received their common name from the natives of their home range hearing the calls and believing that they were mourning their lost male mates. Being parthenogenic, the females essentially clone themselves when they lay eggs. So be aware that if you purchase any you will get babies.

The most important thing with this species is ESCAPE PROOF CAGES. They are very small; as adults they are about 3-4 inches long and very slender, so if there are cord holes or if the mesh has wide holes they can escape. We found out that our plugs had come out of the holes when we saw mourning geckos on our walls. You can plug the cord holes in the back of the Exo Terra tanks by using damp paper towels and letting them dry in the hole or covering the holes up with something like Great Stuff.

Housing and humidity

These are colony lizards so please purchase more than one unless you already have some at home. They interact, are very social with each other, have body language and vocalizations that make them very delightful animals to observe and learn about. Even though they are small you want to give them room to move as they are very energetic creatures. We have 7 adults in an 18x18x24 Exo Terra Tank. You can put 3 or 4 in the 12x12x18 Exo Terra or something of similar dimensions. They are arboreal and need little places to hide. They are nocturnal, though in captivity they can be more active during they day than they would be in the wild. They like lots of places to hide and run about on so please provide plenty of trees with hollows, holes and plants. They will squabble over prime spots so the more spots to hang out on the better.

We mist our enclosures about 3 times a day as we are in AZ; they prefer it humid. We keep ours around 60-70%.

The most common noise mourning geckos make sounds exactly like a baby chick peeping. They also make a squeaking sound similar to a mouse. A mourning gecko will use its tail to communicate, waving it around, arcing over its back, shaking it side to side and more. Some more dominant animals will try to loom and make themselves seem larger and often make mock charges at subordinate, less dominant geckos.

I find these tiny geckos to be amazing and wonderful pets. Watching the colony interact is fascinating, these adorable little geckos are a true joy to own.

Daniel Martindale

Dan Martindale has been keeping herps since he was 8 and loved working with various lizards, geckos, skink, frogs and toads and many others. Currently he has a small business and hopes to offer a wide variety of captive bred reptiles. He does not raise his animals on a simple diet of just 1 bug; his critters enjoy a varied diet of about 5 regular prey types and a few extras like Silkworms now and then. He is currently working with Leopard geckos(Eublepharis macularius), crested geckos(Rhacodactylus ciliatus), flying geckos (Ptychozoon kuhli) and mourning geckos (Lepidodactylus lugubris). He is a co-owner of Chaotic Nights Reptiles. One day he hopes to be able to do what he loves for a living and a hobby.

3- Maritime Gecko

courtesy to : www.ecologyasia.com/verts/lizards/maritime_gecko

Family : GEKKONIDAE
Species : Lepidodactylus lugubris
Size (snout to vent) : 5 cm
Size (total length) : 10.5 cm

As its name implies, this is mainly a coastal gecko inhabiting mangroves, back-beach and rocky shorelines. Its colour can vary from yellowish to grey-brown or pinkish-grey.

Most of its young are born by parthenogenesis (asexual reproduction), and the eggs are laid either in the soil, or adhered to the foliage of mangrove species, coconut trees, Pandanus and Banana.

The species is well distributed throughout much of Southeast Asia, including Burma, West Malaysia, Singapore, the Indonesian islands of Borneo, Lombok, Sulawesi, Halmahera and Ambon, the Philippines and New Guinea.