Leaf Tail Gecko-- Uroplatus henkeli
One of the most bizarre creatures of the Madagascar forest, the Uroplatus
henkeli is one of the most hardiest of its genus. This animal reaches over
all lengths of 11 inches and can be considered as the chameleons of geckos. It
is able to change its colors and patterns to blend in with the barks and leaves
it is around. It has a large, flat tail shaped like a leaf, hence the name
"Leaf Tail Gecko". Multiple males and females can be housed together
in one aquarium. The enclosure should be tall and filled with things like
branches and limbs for the gecko to climb on. The Uroplatus is one of my
personal favorite "display" geckos out of them all!
These Creatures are some of the wildest looking animals on the face
of the earth. They come from the African country, Madagascar, and primarily
spend all their lives in and on trees. These Geckos have to be the masters of
camouflage. They resemble leaves of bark of trees and can change colors like
Chameleons, but only with hues of brown and tan and white. These are just one
of the ten or so species of the Uroplatus genus. The henkeli is
the most common among the importers and captive breeders of these awesome
creatures. Others include U. fimbriatus, which is the largest of the
genus, U. sikorea, U. lineatus, U. phantasticus, and the list could go
on. What I breed and care for are the henkeli. They seem to be the
hardiest of the Uroplatus.
Housing
I have 3 Henkel’s leaf tails in one 29-gallon aquarium. I
would put no more than 3 in that much space. They live in the trees, so they
need tons of climbing room and tons of things to climb on. I use a mixture of
piet moss and bark (not cedar) for a substrate. The piet moss helps to keep
humidity high for the gecko. They need about 75% to 100% humidity at all times.
The best thing to use, if you have a large colony, is a misting system. You can
get one of these systems set up on a timer and it can tap right in to you water
supply in your house. These systems can be somewhat pricey. I use a pump
sprayer and mist the cage real good about 3 to 4 times a day. You will need a
screen to with clips for the top of the enclosure. I would stay away from
wooden enclosures because wood and water don’t make for a long lasting
cage. Plus it will not hold humidity in as well. Some people house males
together and have know problems with territorial battles, giving that there is
plenty of space for them and the females.
Heating and Lighting
The temperture should be kept in high 70’s to low
80’s. The night time temporertures can drop to the mid
70’s. A full spectrum light that emits UVB will help in heating and
in the performance of reproduction. No heat pad will really work, as the Uroplatus
live mostly in the trees. The heat pad will never heat up the limbs in
which they lay on.
Food
The Uroplatus are insectivorous, so they will eat domestic
crickets, mealworms, moths, and grasshoppers. Do not feed them items caught in
the wild, for they might be carring pestdicides and that would result in death
of the gecko. If you are planning on feeding them millworms or waxwormss, they
should be offered in a padded dish. The Uroplatus like to hang from the
limbs and ambush their prey from above. This is another benefit of having bark
as the substrate. I use a styrofoam bowl and place the worms in it. All
crickets must be gutloaded with a hi calsium diet and dusted with D3 and
calsuim. The dusting alone will not be enough, for the misting of the cage will
wash it off. I dust the crickets every feeding to ensure the vitamin intake.
Water will be drank off of the leaves and branches. Ofteen licked off the side
of the aquarium. This is also the importants of misting the cage regularlly.
The will not drink from a bowl or container filled with water.
Breeding
Uroplatus breed in
the spring and summer times of the year. They will lay 2 egg clutches, but some
studies have seen 4 egg clutches. They will lay about 4 to 6 clutches a year.
Some people tend to separate the males from the females and introduce the males
in at breeding time. Then only to take them a way after thy have don’t their
part in reproduction. The fe,male will lay here eggs in the bark and try to
hide them. The eggs are about a half of inch in diameter and are a leafy
patern. They blend in well, just like the gecko, to the bark in the floor of
the enclosure. These eggs will need to be incubated at about 78 degrees F. It
will take 60 to 100 days for them to hatch. Incubate the eggs artificially in
perlite(to avoid mold growth) with a 1:1 ratio by weight, with water. The
hatchling should be housed just as the parents are housed.