Care Sheet for GeckosAverage Rating Given To This Care Sheet Is 4.43 (1=lowest, 5=highest) Last Updated: 09/27/2004 |
Main Category: | Lizards |
Sub Category: | Geckos |
Care Sheet Submitted By: | Flip21 |
Years Experience: | 3 to 5 Years |
Species: | Western Banded Geckos |
Other Species or Phases this Care Sheet May Cover: | Tucson Banded Gecko and Texas Banded Gecko care and characteristics are very similar. |
Sexing and Characteristics: | Males are usually larger in bulk and in size. The color variation of this species is limited. They are usually an off-white color with brown bands. Males also have rather large hemipenial bulges.
Western Banded Geckos are usually tame and gentle creatures, that are easy to keep and breed. They reach an adult size of about 4-5 inches sometimes 6 inches. They weight between 20-30 grams as adults. |
Mostly Active During: | Night |
Substrate and Water Needs: | I would use a good sand substrate for these guys. Paper towels and newspaper is good for babies but adults do better on a korse sand substrate. I have also used a decomposed granite substrate that is easy to compact and allows for digging. If you use sand wetten it and mix it up, than compact it as hard as you can and let it dry before putting the gecko into the enclosure.
Provide them with a shallow dish of water at all times. |
Lighting and UVB: | No UVB is needed. I would use a 40 watt GE house light to maintain the heat. |
Temperatures and Humidity: | Warmside-95 degrees
coolside-85 degrees
night time ambient temp should be about 80-85 degrees
keep hides slightly cooler.
Humidity-10-20% except for the middle of july to the beginning of september raise the humidity to 30-35% to simulate the monsoon season in Arizona, where the Tucson banded and the Western banded gecko are from. |
Heating and Equipment: | No heat pads or Hot rocks! Use a digital thermometr with a min/max setting and a humidity reader on it. Get a temp gun for quick reference on temps. |
Caging Provided: | A 10 gallon will work for one adult but I would use a 20 gallon for one and a 30 for a pair or trio. Have at least 2 hides one each at the warm and cool sides of the enclosure. Have a water dish and maybe a fake plant. |
Diet: | Carnivorous |
Description of Diet: | Banded geckos will eat crickets, dusted crickets, and mealworms that is not all but that is what I recomend for a captive diet. The feeding schedule and dusting schedule is the same as leopard geckos. |
Supplements, Nutrition and Usage: | I use rep-cal calcium with D3 for dusting and herptivite. Keep a dish of a D3 free calcium powder in the cage at all times. |
Maintenance: | Clean cage everyday, and make sure clean, fresh water is available at all times. |
Some Words on this Species: | The western banded gecko is the second herp I remeber encountering that sparked my interest in lizards. I have had a little less experience with these than I have had with whiptail lizards so around 8 years experience handling western banded geckos. I have 5 years experience keeping herps. I have never kept a western banded for more than 1 week, as I caught them, studied them, then released them. I have seen there behaviors in the wild, and sadly I have seen their predators at work. I have captive hatched many eggs of this species. This species is (IMO) the closet thing to leopard gecko, as far as care and temperment. This is a great beginner gecko. The western bandeds aren’t as common in the pet trade as the tucson banded and texas banded, but they are my favorite banded gecko and are tied for my favorite gecko (along with leos). |
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