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Written by COMING SOON / THIS CARE SHEET IS ONLY A TEMPLATE

Common name: unkown

Geographical distribution

Africa: Tanzania and.. ?

Description

L. kimhowelli is a gecko. A teeny-weeny gecko.

Sexing

In general, the preanal pores and hemipenal bulges are the only sure way of determining sex. Also, if it lays eggs, it’s a girl. Like seriously.

Natural Habitat

It lives in trees and stuff.

 

Longevity

Exact information regarding longevity is not available, but numbers between a few years up to a decade have been reported. The species is somewhat rare in captivity and having CB individuals is even more rare, so during the next 5-10 years there should be a good amount of extra information available on these geckos.

Temperature and humidity

Day: 27..31 Celsius
Night: 19..23 Celsius
RH: 50-80% on average, misting every 1-3 days.

Food

Fruit flies, small mealworms, crickets, wax moth larvae, as well as fruit-based baby food, banana mush, etc. Vitamin supplementation along with calcium is recommended. No water dish is needed, since the geckos drink from drops of water that form when misting the vivarium.

Captive Environment

A tall vivarium is recommended, since the species is arboreal. For each inhabitant in the vivarium there should be a trunk or at least a large branch for climbing on and to ensure a good number of stress-free places to rest and bask. UV-lighting is more than highly recommended. Minimum size for a pair or trio should be around 40 x 40 x 60 cm, but larger is generally better. House only one male per vivarium, unless the vivarium is very large, such as 120 x 60 x 200 cm or more. Several females can be housed together with the male. Even if the vivarium size seems large at first, the geckos are out in the open, living their lives in plain view 95% of the time.

Breeding

No special action for breeding is required, if environmental variables are in good order. Copulation happens in a typical fashion for geckos, the male holds the female in place from the back of the neck and the pair stay in this fixed position for up to tens of minutes. The pair can even move in case something threatens them, while staying 'connected'. Eggs are laid a few weeks later into a small crevice, such as the upper sliding glass door track, within a potted plant, etc. Females can store sperm for up to six months.

 

Incubation

Incubate the eggs in a moderately moist (60-80%) environment at 26 to 32 degrees Celsius. The offspring's sex is may at least partially be determined by incubation temperature, with more females hatching at lower temperatures and more males at higher temperatures. From personal experience, incubating at 27..28 degrees Celsius produces an incubation period of about 65 to 75 days, with both sexes represented in the offspring. Exact numbers, again, are not known and the aforementioned temperature of incubation and sex ratios do not prove or disprove anything. More study is needed. Do not allow the eggs to get into direct contact with water.

Juveniles

These geckos can be raised singly or in groups, but size differences in groups must be monitored in order to prevent larger geckos from feeding and stressing the smaller specimen. Hatchlings should be fed every day with small fruit flies and other comparably sized insects, and calcium- and vitamin-enriched fruit mush. After around 4-8 weeks the feeding schedule can be reduced to 3-5 times a week and after 16 weeks they can be fed 2-4 times a week. At around 3-4 months of age the size should have increased to about 60 mm of total length.

 

 

 

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