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20-03-09, 03:41 PM
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Stenodactylus Species Care Sheet Here!
Intro
The Stenodactylas Species is a very rewarding and enjoyable lizard to own, I personally own a group of S.Petrii. They are very easy to care for so brilliant for any beginners or someone who just wants something a bit different. They are full of character and a very active species and we often find ours out and about, digging and investigating during the evenings and thus give a lot of entertainment for such a small gecko. They are a small gecko which make them ideal for an owner with limited space or to fit into a spare gap in an ever increasing collection. The Stenodactylus species is found in northern Africa and southeast Asia. I have found that many pet shops name these species many other names, we brought 2 from one shop and they were labled up as Madagascan whip tailed geckos!!! So you have to be careful when going into shops to if they are named correctly. Common names I have come across are Dune gecko, Dwarf Sand Gecko, Jeweled gecko, whip tailed gecko and Elegant gecko. Types of Steno There are 3 species of steno and these are as follows
 Note the small whip like tails in this species.
Sizing. All 3 species max out at a size of 3 ½ inches to 4 inches. Colouring. They’re colouring ranges from a tan/ beige colour to a very dark brown with patterning all over their body’s apart from their stomachs which are white. I have personally found that no two gecko are alike, we have a few that are very dark and a few that are light and a few with a lot of patterning and a couple with a bit less. Sexing the species. Personally I have been unable to sex our Petrii’s as there doesn’t seem to be any obvious hemipenal bulge however I have noted on some pictures of S.Stheno that the bulges are present and easy to see. Where to get a steno from? We got ours from pet shops, the majority which are sold in pet shops are wild caught animals, however they are hard to come across in captivity however if you have the opportunity to choose captive bred lizards over wild caught I highly recommend you do so. When we got ours as they were wild caught they were on the skinny side so you may need to consider feeding them up and possibly a trip to the vets to treat them for any possible parasite infections. Ours soon bulked up and grew very quickly so it seemed we had brought sub adults. How to keep Stenos. Stenos like to be kept in groups, i highly suggest a group of 3 or above, a Large Faunarium would give sufficient room for these however the more room the better. We have our group of 8 in a 60cm x45cm x45cm Exo Terra. We personally have our set up as follows.  They require sand deep enough to be able to dig into and tunnel, we have our sand depth on a gradient as the hot end has less sand so easier to monitor the temperatures. Stenos are the only species I personally recommend keeping on sand, due to the fact they get stressed if not kept on it and by nature enjoy digging and tunnelling. We have a small water bowl at the front however I have never seen any of ours drink from it but better to be safe than sorry. We have 2 hides, one in the hot end and one in the cool end and the fake plant also gives additional shelter within the cooler side. If adding in any stones make sure they are sterilised prior to being placed within the enclosure, also make sure that there is no possibility of the steno digging under it and displacing the rock so as it can fall upon them and hurt or possibly kill them. We personally use play sand for our substrate, we found some of the reptile sands too thick, once a week I remove the stenos and give the sand a spraying so as it keeps some moisture to help with tunnel construction. I have heard other keepers using Exo terra excavation sand with success and in the near future I may try that with ours. Cleaning We clean ours once a week and spot clean if i find any dirt in the meantime, the best method i have found is using a normal house hold siv and siving the sand through and it leaves any dirt behind. Once a month roughly we replace the sand with new sand. Temperature I personally keep our stenos on a statted mat set at 95f, I have not used heat bulbs so cannot personally comment on them. I do not give ours a night time drop in temperature. Feeding I personally feed ours medium crickets and wax worms every few weeks for a treat. I have heard of people using mealworms, and fruit flies too however mine just have crickets and waxies. They are very food orientated animals and love eating, ours come out of no-where to hunt their food and they hunt them well. Feeder insects will also need dusting with calcium and/or calcium and mineral supplements every other feeding. Handling. It is not recommended to handle these lizards, they have very delicate skin and they can also be very fast. Our Stenos have gotten used to being handled but it is only carried out to move them from their viv into a holding container while cleaning/misting is carried out. Here are some S. Petrii pics.       This Caresheet is written by Claire Vjestica 2009 and all pictures are owned and copywrited by Claire Vjestica. Last edited by Mush; 20-03-09 at 03:47 PM. 
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| The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to Mush For This Useful Post: | ||
Lizardlover (20-03-09), ViRMiN (20-03-09) | ||
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20-03-09, 08:08 PM
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good care sheet hun thanks for taking the time to do it for us.
YOUR A STAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!
__________________
 RIP OSCAR  we had the pleasure of loving him from December 04 to September 8th 09
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| The Following User Says Thank You to Lizardlover For This Useful Post: | ||
Mush (20-03-09) | ||
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20-03-09, 09:42 PM
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Quote:
no problems the care sheets for these guys arent the best so thought id just write one with my experiences and what works for me.
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