Micro Geckos: Colonies, Cohabbing & Natural Behavior

Episode #158 of Daffy’s Round Table. On this episode, I’m joined by Cristian from The Gecko Druid, with David from Clubtail Exotics joining me as co-host.

Cristian is a reptile keeper from Italy who works with some really cool and often overlooked micro gecko species, including Tropiocolotes, Stenodactylus, Saurodactylus, Trachydactylus, Pachydactylus, and more.

We get into Cristian’s collection and his approach to keeping these tiny geckos, including the differences between keeping animals individually versus in colonies. We also have a really interesting conversation about cohabbing, both keeping multiple animals of the same species together and, in certain situations, keeping different species together in the same enclosure.

A big theme throughout the episode is simply learning to slow down and actually observe your animals. Cristian talks about how spending more time watching them can reveal behaviours and interactions that you might completely miss otherwise, and how those observations can eventually change the way you approach their husbandry.

We also talk about microfeeders, why establishing sustainable feeder colonies is so important before you start breeding tiny geckos, and why choosing species that naturally work well with the climate inside your home can make keeping and breeding them much easier.

We also get into naturalistic setups, biotopes, breeding, and what can happen when we give animals enough space and complexity to actually show us more of their natural behaviour.

If you’re into micro geckos, obscure species, colony keeping, naturalistic husbandry, or just want to hear three reptile nerds get way too deep into tiny geckos, there’s a ton of great information in this one.

Follow The Gecko Druid:

https://www.instagram.com/geckodruid/

Follow Clubtail Exotics:

https://www.instagram.com/clubtailexotics/

The Reptile Database:

https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/

Cristian’s Gecko Wishlist

This is the wishlist Cristian talks about toward the end of the episode:

Agamura

Agamura cruralis
Agamura kermanensis
Agamura persica

Alsophylax

Bunopus

Bunopus crassicauda
Bunopus orientalis

Calodactylodes

Crossobamon

Crossobamon eversmanni

Cryptactites

Cryptactites peringueyi

Cyrtopodion

Cyrtopodion agamuroides
Cyrtopodion gastrophole
Cyrtopodion brevipes
Cyrtopodion golubevi
Cyrtopodion kiabii

Haemodracon

Haemodracon trachyrhinus

Kolekanos

Kolekanos plumicaudus
Kolekanos spinicaudus

Mediodactylus

Mediodactylus heterocercus
Mediodactylus heteropholis
Mediodactylus ilamensis
Mediodactylus naryensis
Mediodactylus sagittifer
Mediodactylus spinicauda

Microgecko

Pachydactylus

Pachydactylus amoenus
Pachydactylus austeni
Pachydactylus barnardi
Pachydactylus geitje
Pachydactylus latirostris
Pachydactylus macrolepis
Pachydactylus maculatus
Pachydactylus mariquensis
Pachydactylus oculatus
Pachydactylus vanzyli
Pachydactylus wahlbergii

Pseudoceramodactylus

Pseudoceramodactylus khobarensis

Ptenopus

Rhinogekko

Saurodactylus

Saurodactylus elmoudenii
Saurodactylus fasciatus
Saurodactylus mauritanicus
Saurodactylus slimanii
Saurodactylus splendidus
Saurodactylus alphus

Stenodactylus

Stenodactylus affinis
Stenodactylus grandiceps
Stenodactylus mauritanicus
Stenodactylus slevini
Stenodactylus stenurus
Stenodactylus yemenensis

Tropiocolotes

Trigonodactylus

Tenuidactylus

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