Goniurosaurus Caresheet
General Information
Scientific names:
Goniurosaurus kuroiwae (NAMIYE, 1912)
Goniurosaurus splendens (NAKAMURA & UENO, 1959)
Goniurosaurus orientalis (MAKI, 1930)
Goniurosaurus yamashinae (OKADA, 1936)
Goniurosaurus toyamai (GRISMER, OTA & TANAKA, 1994)
Goniurosaurus lichtenfelderi (MOCQUARD, 1897)
Goniurosaurus hainanensis (BARBOUR, 190
Goniurosaurus luii (GRISMER, VIETS & BOYLE, 1999)
Goniurosaurus araneus (GRISMER, VIETS & BOYLE, 1999)
Goniurosaurus bawanglingensis (GRISMER, HAITAO, ORLOV & ANANJEVA, 2002)
Length: 6-9 inches on average
Lifespan: Approximately 10-15 years
Introduction
Cave geckos are native to the wet and rocky mountain tropic and subtropical forests of east and south-east Asia. Their habitat stretches from northeast Vietnam to Hainan Island in adjacent southern China and up to the Ryukyu Archipelago in the southern part of Japan, where they only inhabit 10 islands.
They prefer wet mountain forests, parks and rocky outcrops with high humidity, often close to very small rivers, mountain streams and other moving bodies of water. For this reason, these geckos are usually found sitting on vertical rocks and at the lower levels of tree trunks as well as close to the entrance of riverbank caves. They hide during the daytime in caves, crevices, under rocks and other humid places waiting for complete darkness so that they can hunt for food. They prefer temperatures to reach at least 68°F at night before becoming active.
Cave geckos are mid-sized geckos with bright yellow, orange, violet or pink banded coloration on a dark brown to black background, depending on the species. This contrasting coloration, especially in juveniles, can be quite exotic looking and makes them highly desired. Most species of cave geckos typically have reddish iris colorations. The Goniurosaurus yamashinae is the only species that has a golden colored iris coloration. All Goniurosaurus species are nocturnal ground dwellers but deft climbers.
Diet
Frequency: A good feeding schedule for Cave Geckos is every other day or at least 3 times a week.
Food: Cave geckos will eat a variety of small invertebrates. Hatchlings should be fed 2 to 3 week old crickets or roach nymphs. As your cave gecko grows, provide larger crickets, and roaches. All prey items should be appropriately sized. Offer food at night when the geckos are most active. Although a diet of crickets and or roaches will be more then enough to keep your gecko healthy and content, you may also occasionally feed your Cave Gecko a variety of other available feeder insects such as meal-worms, wax-worms, silk worms, and small Goliath worms. Wax worms are recommended for females during the breeding season.
Vitamins and Supplements: Feeder insects should be dusted with a vitamin or calcium supplements at each feeding. Rotate dusting supplement every other feeding.
Water: Provide a water dish with fresh water at all times.
Housing
Natural Setups: Pairs of cave geckos can be housed in a glass terrarium approximately 20×20x30 inches in size. The terrarium can be directed with cork bark flats and tubes as well as rough rocks such as lava rock for hiding and climbing. Use caution in choosing a substrate to avoid intestinal impaction. For Cave Geckos a substrate that holds humidity well is desirable. Coco fiber bedding or a sand peat mix is ideal. Orchid bark or California pine tree bark are also good options. Hardy plants such as Ficus pumila or Scindapsus aureus are recommended. Cave Geckos spend most of their time on the ground under cover but when given space and objects to climb, will use them, especially at night during hunting activities. Whichever objects you choose to place in the habitat, make sure that any heavy items are secure so that they will not shift and cause harm to your gecko.
Rack Setups: Individual cave geckos can be kept in 15qt plastic bin rack systems. Pairs or trios can be kept comfortably in 28 or 32qt containers. A substrate that holds humidity is required, so coco fiber, orchid bark or a sand peat mixture is best. Hides of some sort is also required for these secretive geckos in this type of setup; cork flat and tubes work well.
Moisture: Moisture is absolutely essential to keeping any Goniurosaurus species. Humidity levels must be maintained at 60 to 80%. Misting is not necessarily required if you maintain the described conditions. However, misting or spraying can be used to keep the enclosure slightly moist which is the condition that these geckos prefer. Keep in mind that each species of Goniurosaurus prefers different humidity levels in their environment and it is beneficial to regulate spraying depending on the actual species that you are keeping and the type of enclosure being used. Aside from keeping humidity up, the geckos may drink the droplets of water off the side walls and other surfaces in their enclosure.
Temperature: Cave Geckos prefer temperatures between 68°F and 77°F. A night time drop of up to 5 degrees will not harm them. If household temperatures are not already at the preferred levels, supplemental heating should be provided. Temperatures above 82°F for any extended period of time will stress the geckos and is highly likely to cause death.
Lighting: Lights should be on a 12 hour cycle in the summer and 8-10 hours during the winter. Setting up lights attached to a timer is ideal for this purpose. UV light is not required as these geckos are nocturnal and spend much, if not all, of the day in dark crevices. If your vivarium contains live plants, UV lighting is necessary to maintain the health of your plants.
Breeding
In captivity, sexual maturity is reached at an age of approximately 12-15 months depending on keeping conditions. Sex can be determined by studying the vent area. Adult males of all species of Goniurosaurus, unlike the females, have large hemipenal bulges and enlarged cloacal spurs.
Breeding season usually occurs from late May to early September. Like all other eyelash geckos, the Goniurosaurus species usually lay 2 soft shelled eggs per clutch. Females can produce up to 4 clutches per season depending on their conditions. The eggs can be incubated in containers with moist perlite or vermiculite and will hatch in 70 to 80 days at incubation temperatures of approximately 78.8°F to 82.4°F. Maintaining incubation at lower temperatures results in a higher percentage of females, while higher incubation temperatures result in a higher percentage of males.
Raising Juveniles: Remove the hatchlings from the incubating containers only after they have had their first shed. This usually happens within the first few hours of life. Getting stuck in their first shedding may cause death if not manually removed, but healthy hatchlings will shed on their own without interference. Hatchlings can be raised in small enclosures with a moist peat substrate and a flat of cork bark for shelter. This simple set-up allows you to more easily clean and observe the growing hatchling. Hatchling cave geckos can be kept together in small groups of 2 to 4 specimens until their sexes can be distinguished at about 6-10 months age. At this stage, you must separate the males from the females to prevent premature breeding.
Conservation: Due to habitat destruction and large scale legal and illegal collections, especially of the more recently discovered species like Goniurosaurus luii and araneus, all species are vulnerable to being endangered in the wild. All Japanese forms are strictly protected and are therefore still very rare in captive collections. Because of these reasons, Goniurosaurus species should be kept by experienced keepers only. Saving these wonderful creatures for future work in captivity should be our target for all breeders.
Behavior
Handling: All Goniurosaurus species tend to be very shy and cautious. Handling is very hard on the geckos and causes a lot of stress, so do not take them out of their enclosure if it is not absolutely necessary. Cave Geckos can be quite skittish, especially if caught in the wild which until very recently was the norm. Handling should be kept to a minimum – only when necessary to clean or check their health. If your Cave Geckos are captive bred, more handling may be tolerated but even captive bred specimens should be handled to a minimum. The less stressed they are the more comfortable they will become, thus exhibiting more of their natural behaviors. You should always handle them with care, without pinching or squeezing. Remember that the tail may break off if handled roughly causing unnecessary stress. Although it will regenerate, the tail will not look like the original. Until acclimated to handling, hold your gecko close to the ground or over its enclosure so that if it squirms away it won’t have far to fall.