Israeli Dune Gecko

Israeli Dune Gecko ( Stenodactylus sthenodactylus )

Care in Captivity by Chris Jorden

Introduction

Dune geckos are a tiny desert species from Northern Africa that grow to only 5 - 8 cm (2 - 3 inches), in various shades of cream, gold and brown.

They are lively little ground dwellers and are excellent diggers, but unable to climb. Dune geckos are a vocal lizard, and can sometimes be heard chirping to each other in the evening and night.

This species of gecko is nocturnal, so if you wish to observe them, this is best done so at night or in the evening, when it is best to feed them too.

Selecting A Gecko

These little geckos are not readily available, so research would have to be done prior to getting one of these animals. They are not an animal anyone would just impulse-buy, as they are not particularly spectacular, nor an reptile you are likely to find in a local pet shop. To locate a dune gecko, it is probably best to check on the internet for people in your country selling them, or to try and find a reptile show near you, where there is a possibility you could find some - a reptile fayre is where I bought my trio.

Although they are not easy to find, they are generally not too expensive, somewhere in the region between £10 - 35, although I was lucky enough to pick up my trio for just £15.

When you buy them they should be alert, not docile, although they are nocturnal so if you look at them in they day and they do not move unless disturbed, they are probably sleeping. A dune gecko that appears to be tame is likely to be ill, and should not be bought. They should look healthy, with no obvious injuries or unshed skin, and they should not be smelly.

The tank they are in should be set up properly, and should not be smelly. These geckos should not be mixed with any other species of lizard.

The geckos should be transported in well ventilated plastic containers, preferably with a substrate on the bottom. When getting a new lizard to add to a group it should be kept in isolation for at least a month, just to be sure it is healthy and will not affect the whole group with an illness or disease.

Setting Up A Terrarium

A tank measuring 60 x 30 x 30 cm (24 x 12 x 12 inches) is ideal for up to four of these miniature geckos (up to one male and three females), although 45 x 30 x 30 cm (18 x 12 x 12 inches) is fine for a single dune gecko or a pair. Males should not be kept together as, as with most reptiles, they are aggressive towards each other, and are likely to fight, with one male going off food, or becoming badly injured or even killed.

The best kind of habitat for them is dry, rocky, sandy areas. The vivarium should always be kept dry and well ventilated, except for a nightly spraying. A substrate of children's play sand, coral sand, or a sand designed specifically for reptiles (such as calci-sand), at a depth of around 5 cm (2 inches) would be ideal. It only needs to be changed every 2 - 6 months depending on the number of geckos in the vivarium, as they are clean animals and do not smell. Pieces of bark, slate, pottery and rocks make good hiding places, as they do not like caves or 'houses', they prefer to burrow under and hide under flat rocks that are wedged into the sand, where they shelter during the hottest part of the day. Silk plants could be used to good effect, and larger rocks would be good, where the little lizards can be seen 'playing' during the evenings.

A shallow plastic dish (something like a jam jar lid could be used) should be used as a water bowl. Pebbles placed in it would help the geckos get out if they got into any difficulty, which they should as the water should only be a few millimetres deep. Also the tank should be misted in the evening, on object such as pebbles, rocks and plants, so the geckos can lick up the water droplets, which they can sometimes be seen doing.

A heat mat under the vivarium in one side of the tank would be good, and a low wattage light above a basking rock (around 10 - 25 W) turned on just in the day could help too, and although they will not use it to bask with much (as they are nocturnal), it will help heat up the tank and take it to more like the real desert temperature. The air temperature should be around 25 - 28 degrees centigrade (77 - 82 degrees Fahrenheit) during the day, with hot ends and cool ends, with a drop to around 21 - 24 degrees centigrade (70 - 75 degrees Fahrenheit) at night, with further decreases during the colder months of the year, to make it more like the wild and to stimulate breeding activity.

Feeding

Dune geckos should be fed a variety of small insects, such as 2nd/3rd instar brown crickets, micro black crickets, aphids, fruit flies and sometimes tiny waxworms if you can find any small enough - the food should not be bigger (longer) than the width of the gecko's head. Food should be dusted with a good quality vitamin and calcium powder, to the amount specified on the pot. They should be fed at least 5 times a week, preferably every day.

Handling

As they are very small, these geckos are also extremely delicate, and should not be handled if possible, as their skin is ripped easily. If they need to be caught for a check up it is best to gently help them onto your hand and cup the hand, so they can not jump off. They should be transported in well ventilated boxes with tightly secured lids.

They are definitely not recommend for handling, they are more an animal to watch and admire, rather than stroke and hold.

Breeding

Not much is known about the breeding of these small geckos. First you must have a male and at least one female. Females are generally bigger and stockier than males, and males have two 'bumps' at the base of the tail - between the legs.

To stimulate them for breeding, the temperature should be slowly dropped by a few centigrade during the winter and left for a few months (if the geckos become too docile o do not eat, bring the temperature back up slightly again) and then should be gradually brought up to normal temperature.

After breeding, if the females looks more rotund than normal, it is possible she has eggs, a small pot of damp substrate such as vermiculite could be placed in the tank for her to lay the eggs in, but she may just lay them in the sand under a rock anyway. The eggs are tiny, about 1/2 cm long (1/4 inch) and oval shaped. They should be taken out of the tank using a teaspoon and should not be touched. They should be incubated at temperatures of around 27 - 30 degrees centigrade (80 - 86 degrees Fahrenheit). They will hatch in a few weeks.

They baby dune geckos will obviously be tiny and should probably be fed very tiny pinhead crickets (black or brown, whichever you can find that are small enough), and fruit flies (Drosophila sp.), dusted with a calcium and vitamin powder like the parents. They should be fed at least once a day, preferably twice - once early evening and again later in the evening.



Copyright © Chris Jorden. 2000.