Nephrurus wheeleri - Rough Knob-tailed Gecko
Nephrurus wheeleri care
I've successfully kept and bred wheeleri for a few years now. They're pretty easy. Daytime temps 86º - 88º F. Night time temps. around 78º - 80º. (Winter cooling temps 10º - 15º cooler day and night). They dig and move sand around, so I don't use a water dish. I mist the walls of their tanks 2 - 3 times a week. They are aggressive feeders and will readily take dusted crickets, roaches, superworms, and mealworms.
For breeding, place the mail with the female (I prefer to put the male into the female's cage) and observe for breeding lockup. It often happens pretty quickly. The first year I bred this species I left the male with the female during the whole breeding season with no problems or signs of aggression. The last couple of years I've put the male in for a few days and then removed him. About a month later, I put him in for a few days again. The female retains sperm and produces multiple clutches of fertile eggs from a single breeding. My female generally lays 3 - 5 clutches of eggs per season. I cool my breeders for a couple of months during the winter to give them a break.
I supply the female with a laybox containing moist milled sphagnum or eco-earth and I have found them to use it consistently. When you see the female digging in the box and spending time there, you know egg laying is imminent. I remove the eggs and incubate them on dampened Superhatch (although perlite / vermiculite shouild work fine as well) at about 82º F in an incubator. Eggs hatch in approximately 60 - 80 days.
I keep the adults and babies on sand and have had no problems. The babies are pretty robust and usually feed readily within a few days of hatching.
For breeding, place the mail with the female (I prefer to put the male into the female's cage) and observe for breeding lockup. It often happens pretty quickly. The first year I bred this species I left the male with the female during the whole breeding season with no problems or signs of aggression. The last couple of years I've put the male in for a few days and then removed him. About a month later, I put him in for a few days again. The female retains sperm and produces multiple clutches of fertile eggs from a single breeding. My female generally lays 3 - 5 clutches of eggs per season. I cool my breeders for a couple of months during the winter to give them a break.
I supply the female with a laybox containing moist milled sphagnum or eco-earth and I have found them to use it consistently. When you see the female digging in the box and spending time there, you know egg laying is imminent. I remove the eggs and incubate them on dampened Superhatch (although perlite / vermiculite shouild work fine as well) at about 82º F in an incubator. Eggs hatch in approximately 60 - 80 days.
I keep the adults and babies on sand and have had no problems. The babies are pretty robust and usually feed readily within a few days of hatching.
