A Christmas Miracle! (LOL)

[War Machine]

Well, I was doing my rounds feeding my monsters, and I got to the williamsi tank.

Open the door, did my evening misting, replaced their DGD, and put in about 30 1/4's. Closed it and went about my ways.

Wife says

"JAY! is that a baby?!"
What? no way, we're no where near hatch date
"yes thats a baby!"
holy crap it is!

This little guy was stuck on the front door, I didn't even notice it when I opened it LOL. So she has layed MORE then the 2 eggs I've found. And it/they hatched successfully.

I am caught so off guard, my raise up cube is in storage! and I cant get it till wednesday! So I rigged this up to keep inside the adult enclosure (with a screen lid)

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z197/VolcomDub/IMG_1418_zps3dfb7b2a.jpg

Here is the little slugger, he is MUCH smaller then I was expecting, and I am panicking hoping I can keep it alive lol

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z197/VolcomDub/IMG_1414_zps09ef0dc3.jpg

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z197/VolcomDub/IMG_1416_zps828ca6a3.jpg

it looks FRESH out of the egg. I will keep you guys updated! I have a little "*****" of a gecko :P

[War Machine]

Two more, he is just so tiny and cute :)

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z197/VolcomDub/IMG_1419_zps3ef53a89.jpg

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z197/VolcomDub/IMG_1421_zpsd9680841.jpg

I wonder if that cup is too big for him?

[dinosaurdammit]

CONGRATULATIONS! And merry christmas war! Looks like you deserved this little cutie.

[War Machine]

CONGRATULATIONS! And merry christmas war! Looks like you deserved this little cutie.

To be fair,

All I did was set up two geckos properly, and it was easy. Nature took its course.

Keeping it alive, and raising it, that is where the hard work will come into account im sure.

[dinosaurdammit]

To be fair,

All I did was set up two geckos properly, and it was easy. Nature took its course.

Keeping it alive, and raising it, that is where the hard work will come into account im sure.

lets hope it wont be so hard and you wont have many issues with this cutie. I suppose its too soon to tell the sex?

[War Machine]

yeah, at 4-5 months they will be able to sex. If it turns blue, male, stays green, female lol

[dinosaurdammit]

yeah, at 4-5 months they will be able to sex. If it turns blue, male, stays green, female lol

What will you do with the males? Id love to have one of these guys but I dunno if they are under CITES

[War Machine]

I'm not sure of the legality with this specie, but I know they are close to (if not) endangerment.

I'm honestly on the fence. I will either

A: Build a second identical tank for another breeding pair 1.1
or
B: Sell of males, attain a second female, and sell all offspring after that.

[dinosaurdammit]

I'm not sure of the legality with this specie, but I know they are close to (if not) endangerment.

I'm honestly on the fence. I will either

A: Build a second identical tank for another breeding pair 1.1
or
B: Sell of males, attain a second female, and sell all offspring after that.

With them being so rare Id keep all i could breed at least for a while you never know, you might lose your male :/

[infernalis]

Awesome.... What a Christmas present.

[War Machine]

With them being so rare Id keep all i could breed at least for a while you never know, you might lose your male :/

With the setup they're in, I'd be hard pressed to kill off the adults. The only thing with keeping them all, is males cannot house together.

I'm leaning to building another tank, for another breeding pair, and potentially, having two trios.

[dinosaurdammit]

With the setup they're in, I'd be hard pressed to kill off the adults. The only thing with keeping them all, is males cannot house together.

I'm leaning to building another tank, for another breeding pair, and potentially, having two trios.

what do they usually sell for?

[War Machine]

Here in ontario, about $90-$100 a piece.

[EmbraceCalamity]

That's so awesome! Congratulations. :D

~Maggot

[alessia55]

What a sweet Xmas surprise! :D Congrats!

[Donnie]

Great Christmas present, congratulations

[War Machine]

Thank you, I'm keeping my eye out for more. They lay in clutches on 2-3 I believe. This guy was fresh, so I'm expecting more shortly. But I have NO idea where she layed these eggs lol.

He survived the night :) and pretty active. I'll have the baby tank setup tomorrow

[DragonsEye]

Such a teeny lil fella!


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v41/obeah/Christmas%20smileys/xmasCreche_zpsa4896d91.gif

[War Machine]

Started on the sealed top for the tank.

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z197/VolcomDub/IMG_1479_zpsd711edb0.jpg

Simple sit on top, I will be running a pot light fixture in there, wired up to a dimmer

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z197/VolcomDub/IMG_1483_zps2ca8acdf.jpg

There will be a board to cover the whole top, none of the wiring will be exposed,
All gaps and cracks will be taken care of.

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z197/VolcomDub/IMG_1487_zpsa3dfca92.jpg

and some nice trim for the top (not done)

[War Machine]

pre stain

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z197/VolcomDub/IMG_1497_zpsafb08721.jpg

just a simple box.

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z197/VolcomDub/IMG_1499_zps3e9a7075.jpg

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z197/VolcomDub/IMG_1507_zps29e4fb04.jpg

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z197/VolcomDub/IMG_1509_zps53305352.jpg

[EmbraceCalamity]

That's cool you made your own top for that. It's a good idea. Those things don't hold humidity very well.

~Maggot

[beardeds4life]

On way I have found to help humidity in them is to cover most/all of the top with plastic wrap. I found it helps a lot.

[EmbraceCalamity]

On way I have found to help humidity in them is to cover most/all of the top with plastic wrap. I found it helps a lot.I use a moist cloth, but I'll probably switch to plastic wrap so I don't have to keep moistening it like I do the cloth.

~Maggot

[Aaron_S]

By the title of the thread are you sure it's not a "Saternalia" Miracle?

[beardeds4life]

I use a moist cloth, but I'll probably switch to plastic wrap so I don't have to keep moistening it like I do the cloth.

~Maggot

How often do you moisten it? I have had my plastic wrap on for a few years now and havnt yet had to replace it.

[War Machine]

yeah, I'd rather be %100 sure I have no gaps/nooks to lose air lol

Finished it off tonight, Filled my screws, nails, sanded, and stained it. Very "rainforest" like, overall. Im please :) Monitoring temps and humidity now.

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z197/VolcomDub/IMG_1517_zps58b03a93.jpg

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z197/VolcomDub/IMG_1515_zps7cdf2848.jpg

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z197/VolcomDub/IMG_1513_zps46c5c6ed.jpg

[War Machine]

ahh, went to check on the little guy just now, he died. I'm not sure what got to him. Probably starved. certainly wasn't dry. OR the cold night killed him.

[dinosaurdammit]

thats a damn shame :no:

[War Machine]

Its ok, It was my first baby ever. I didn't have the setup ready to roll (wasn't expecting him) I still have two cooking. I'll do better I hope with them. Goes to show how sensitive these babies are :/

[beardeds4life]

Im sorry. I would polyurethane that top.

[War Machine]

yeah it is getting sealed tomorrow.

[poison123]

Im sorry. I would polyurethane that top.

Im sure hes gonna seal it.

[War Machine]

Another one sprung up! Not from the 2 found eggs though, so odds are hes from the same clutch as the other one, he is a tad smaller, but more active.

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z197/VolcomDub/IMG_1565_zpse92edece.jpg

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z197/VolcomDub/IMG_1566_zps1a3a5db9.jpg

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z197/VolcomDub/IMG_1567_zpsf7e9c1a2.jpg

Had the tank ready fortunately, so lets see how he does.

[dinosaurdammit]

Good luck war! hope this one makes it

[War Machine]

me too, this is such a delicate specie as adults, the babies are insane. lol

[dinosaurdammit]

me too, this is such a delicate specie as adults, the babies are insane. lol

yikes. I love the males but i dunno if i can handle something so (fra-gee-lee)

[EmbraceCalamity]

YAY! So how many is that now? Are they all in the tank and doing well?

~Maggot

[War Machine]

The first died, and this is the second, i just found it, so we will see if I can keep it alive.

[EmbraceCalamity]

The first died, and this is the second, i just found it, so we will see if I can keep it alive.Sorry to hear that. I got mourning geckos this size (even though the agreement with the guy was I'd be getting well-established subadults), and they didn't do well either. Such tiny, young, fragile geckos are tough to keep. Did it die in the enclosure or in the little plastic container you originally had it in?

~Maggot

[War Machine]

In the container I had it in. I think it was too cold at night (i turn the lights off in their tank at night)

So this baby tank will run 24/7 on a dimmer to keep heat up.

[EmbraceCalamity]

In the container I had it in. I think it was too cold at night (i turn the lights off in their tank at night)

So this baby tank will run 24/7 on a dimmer to keep heat up.I hope it does well. Keep us updated. :)

~Maggot

[War Machine]

well he survived the night.

He is much more active then the last. Very flightly, and already hunting fruit flies. Hopefully I've got him cared for :)

[dinosaurdammit]

Congratulations war. Glad he made it through!

[War Machine]

Still alive, and eating fruit flies :)

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z197/VolcomDub/IMG_1614_zpse75db671.jpg

[EmbraceCalamity]

Yay! When I saw an update on the thread, I was worried it'd be to say he didn't make it. Do you feed CGD with fruit flies, or just fruit flies?

~Maggot

[War Machine]

I feed both. I always keep fresh DAY gecko diet, then feed 1/4 crickets every other day to the adults. same with this guy, but fruit flies every day.

[War Machine]

This one died too.

My conclusion, they're not eating and starving. 24/h heat source, and %80 humidity with 4 mistings a day.

I'm just gunna scrap all eggs from now on I think. Too difficult and don't have the heart to keep seeing them die.

[EmbraceCalamity]

I'm sorry to hear that. I'm sure you'll get the hang of it. This is only your first try, and the first try is always the hardest. You're still new to these geckos, right?

~Maggot

[infernalis]

This one died too.

My conclusion, they're not eating and starving. 24/h heat source, and %80 humidity with 4 mistings a day.

I'm just gunna scrap all eggs from now on I think. Too difficult and don't have the heart to keep seeing them die.

Sorry to hear that...

Allow me to pass on some personal experience.

I have lost many baby snakes over the years, some from failure to thrive, some from mistakes I have made, but the end result is always the same, babies that just never grew up.

I don't let it prevent me from pairing up the adults and trying again, sure my success rate has gone way up, but I have only once ever seen a litter of animals that were all perfect and all grew up.

Failures are what makes us stronger, failures teach us, make us wiser in the end.

[War Machine]

Thanks wayne,

I'm going to let the remaining two eggs hatch in the enclosure, and see how they pan out with the adults.

In the mean time, I make make a very tiny tank, maybe even seal off a small cricket keeper.

[EmbraceCalamity]

If these are the first clutches of the adults, that could be a factor too. Isn't it generally true that the first few clutches don't tend to do as well as later ones?

~Maggot

[poison123]

Maggot, i think thats for snakes but i could be wrong.

[infernalis]

If these are the first clutches of the adults, that could be a factor too. Isn't it generally true that the first few clutches don't tend to do as well as later ones?

~Maggot

I don't know much about Geckos, but it's true with the snakes I have bred.

Generally, as the female reaches her "prime" the babies are bigger and more robust.

That's why some people I know refrain from breeding until the mother is a full year past sexual maturity.

[EmbraceCalamity]

Well I know that the clutches can be smaller for the first time, so logic would dictate that they could be less likely to survive too. I think it's true for pretty much all animals that the first offspring is less likely to be as good as later offspring.

Plus such tiny geckos like this are hard to keep until you've got the hang of it. They're different geckos, but mourning gecko babies are the same size as these guys, and they're hard to keep for people who are new to it. Mine didn't make it, and I contacted someone who breeds them, and they had the same issues at first. After a while, though, they got the hang of it and have perfect clutches every time. So like Wayne said, I think if you keep at it, you'll get the hang of it and produce some awesome babies - and it'll be nice to see more of these stunning geckos around.

~Maggot

[War Machine]

Either the enclosure is spot on to promote insane breeding, or she is a *****.

3rd baby found, with the two eggs still intact. This guy is by far the fastest, and best one yet. I put fruit flies in, and its already hunting them.

I opened the door, and instead of two geckos scurrying off, I see the baby. It was ON TOP of the female. I've been keeping an eye on em, and they're co habituating... So this one is staying in.

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z197/VolcomDub/IMG_1669_zps2a3df662.jpg

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z197/VolcomDub/IMG_1674_zpsa0ae7c57.jpg

I'll keep you guys posted