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GGA CARES FOR…. Oedura tryoni Reprinted from “Chit Chat ” the Newsletter of the Global Gecko Association #5 ©2000 Common Name: Southern Spotted or Tryon’s Velvet Gecko Scientific Name: Oedura tryoni De Vis, 1884 Description: An attractively marked velvet gecko reaching around 8-9cm snout-vent length. The background color is a mottled pattern of dark olive green and light khaki green, over which is an irregular pattern of yellowish-green spots and blotches. These markings occur mostly on dark olive areas of the background. The underside is pale gray. The regenerated tail has similar markings to the original, though the pattern is less distinct and the colors are less bright. Distribution: Restricted to rocky outcrops of the central eastern seaboard and ranges of Australia from Central Queensland south to the New England tablelands. Natural History: The Southern Spotted Velvet Gecko makes its home in rock crevices or under exfoliations. These are thin sheets of rock that have separated from the bedrock by the action of rain, frost and temperature changes. They often live communally beneath these refuges, although adult males are never found together. The lizards emerge from their refuges at night to hunt invertebrates on the rock faces. In the southern part of their range, a forced hibernation period of several months is required as temperatures in this region drop to as low as -7°C in mid-winter. Mating takes place in spring (September-October in Australia) with eggs being deposited in rock crevices or in moist soil about a month later. Communal egg-laying sites do occur with one record of an oviposition site beneath timber some distance from the nearest rock outcrop, indicating that females will travel some distance to the best egg-laying position. Housing In Captivity: These are hardy, undemanding lizards in captivity. A simple glass aquaria or wooden box around 60 x 30 x 30cm is ample for a pair or trio of lizards. A suitable substrate is fine washed beach sand and a series of hiding places should be provided. Rocks can be used for this, though great care must be taken when moving these furnishings to ensure lizards are not inadvertently crushed. Layers of rigid tree bark strips are possibly a safer option or more artificial hiding places, such as inverted flowerpot saucers with an entry hole cut in one side, can also be utilised. Temperature gradients of 24-32°C can be provided in summer, with a 5-6°C drop at night, while in winter cage temperatures could drop to 16-22°C, though lower temperatures over short periods down to 8-10°C would not be detrimental. Heat within the cage can be provided by a red or blue incandescent bulb and/or a heat strip under one end of the enclosure. I prefer to control both of these heat sources with a rheostat as it provides an extra degree of flexibility with managing the captive environment. Ultraviolet light does not appear to be necessary for this species. If you have the option to provide it, then do so. However, animals have been successfully maintained and bred over several years in captivity with no access to either natural or artificial ultraviolet light. Humidity requirements are minimal. A water dish is provided at all times and the cage is sprayed liberally with water 2-3 times per week. The home sites in the cage should be maintained mostly in a dry condition. Alternatively, if several home sites are offered, one of these could be kept moist at all times, providing the lizards with a potential rehydration site if it is required. Food and Feeding: As generalised insectivores, Southern Spotted Velvet Geckos are simple to feed and possess a tremendous appetite. In this respect it is important not to overfeed these geckos as they will develop excessive fat reserves leading to obesity and possibly reproductive inhibition. Crickets are ideal as a basis to the diet and food should be provided 2-3 times per week for adults and 4-5 times per week for juveniles, providing around 3-4 appropriately sized crickets per animal. Feeding frequency can be reduced to once every 7-10 days in winter. Cockroaches, mealworms, flies, wax moths, etc. could all be utilised as supplementary food sources. Insects are dusted with a 60:40 Repcal:Herptivite mix every feed during the breeding season for adults, i.e. September-January, and once every 2-3 weeks outside of this period. Juvenile food should be dusted every second or third feed. The crickets always have access to good quality rodent pellets and fresh carrot is provided daily. Health: These are hardy geckos which do well over a wide range of captive conditions provided that the ambient temperatures are not consistently high, i.e. over 30°C. One pair that has been in captivity in excess of eight years has never exhibited any health problems during that period and produce three or four clutches of eggs every season. Soft-shelled eggs at the end of the season occasionally occur and this can be avoided by providing adequate calcium supplementation. Wounds may occur if more than one adult male is housed together, particularly if a female is present. Having said that, I have successfully housed and bred two pairs of closely related Northern Spotted Velvet Gecko (Oedura coggeri) together for two years in a 60 x 30 x 25cm cage without any aggression. If this type of social combination is tried, however, it is essential that the animals are closely monitored for the first few days and males must be separated if any aggressive interaction is observed. Breeding: While a winter cooling period would possibly be considered as mandatory to successfully breed the species considering its natural environment, in my experience a slight depression in the ambient of only 6-8°C appears adequate. Developing eggs can be observed in the abdomen of the females in mid-late spring and these are readily deposited in a small plastic container containing a moist substrate such as potting mix or sphagnum moss. Do not let this substrate dry out as eggs will rapidly dehydrate in a dry atmosphere. Females will continue to cycle throughout summer, producing three or four clutches of two eggs every month. Eggs are incubated in a 50:50 mix of vermiculite to water by weight and hatch after 55-65 days at 27-29°C. The neonates shed their skin on hatching and are robust, active lizards that will begin feeding within a few days. Ideally, these should be kept in a small raising container, e.g. around 20 x 20 x 20cm in size, for the first 5-6 months. This ensures that the young geckos regularly encounter food introduced to the cage and will thus grow rapidly. They can be sexed at around 6-8 months of age and, if given plenty of food, may reproduce in their first year, though two years of age is more common. GGA Rating: 1 - Ideal choice for beginners Recommended Reading: Baldwin, R. 1998. ‘A Touch of Velvet. Geckos of the Genus Oedura’. Reptile 6(10):12-21 Ehmann, R. 1992. ‘Encyclopedia of Australian Animals: Reptiles’ Angus & Robertson, Sydney. 495pp. Porter, R. 1998. ‘Captive breeding and maintenance of Tryon’s Velvet Gecko (Oedura tryoni). Dactylus 3(3):131-137. Rob Porter |
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