Terrarium
The terrarium should be large enough and well ventilated. It is good to have ventilation in the right places, ideally at the top of the terrarium and from the bottom down under the opening. Thanks to proper ventilation, branches, substrate and other things will not mold in your terrarium. Due to the increased humidity, I do not recommend OSB terrariums, but only glass and acrylic. The size for a three-member group is 40x40x60 cm. it is necessary to have a terrarium oriented vertically, because the pagekon is a tree gecko.
Substrate - At least a 6cm layer of substrate, ideally natural peat, or a mix of peat with sand is required. I do not recommend Lignocw due to the risk of ingestion and subsequent death of the animal. Pine chicken, for example, can also be used as a substrate.
Light bulb - If it is necessary to heat the pagekonum (often it really is not needed, they will be fine vs temperatures between 23-27 ° C during the day and at night between 18-22 ° C). The light bulb is placed in the upper part of the terrarium and secured with a grid, so that the pagekon does not get too close to her and prevent him from being burned. Temperatures above 32 ° C are dangerous for pagekons. In winter, temperatures can drop to 20-24 ° C during the day and to 15-20 ° C at night.
Mating
Reproduction is certainly a beautiful thing. But first a few important conditions need to be met. The most important thing is probably the weight of the female. Different breeders state different weight required for reproduction. If you want to be sure, I recommend waiting until the female weighs 40 grams. If you want to breed females with less weight, the female may descale and die. By default, the female lays two eggs about every 3-4 weeks in the season. It is possible to incubate the eggs only at room temperature or in an incubator. In my opinion, it is an ideal group for reproduction - three females + male.
If we see that our pagekon kalde eggs, we certainly do not disturb it and leave it to finish the work in peace. Then we dig the eggs out of the substrate or laying site and transfer them to the incubator. It is important not to turn the eggs! As we dig them out, they are transferred to the incubator. For proper incubation of the eggs, it is necessary to ensure suitable conditions for the eggs, especially the humidity with which the substrate will help us - perlite and vermiculite. It must be properly moistened with water. We bury the eggs into perlite about two thirds. We continuously visually inspect the eggs. We do not incubate yellowish or shapeless eggs, they are most likely unfertilized. During the incubation, we still monitor sufficient humidity. If the humidity is too high, mold appears on the eggs, on the contrary, if the humidity is too low, the eggs will start to crack. As for the temperature, room temperature will suffice for this type of gecko, and a night drop in temperature is important. I personally recommend a simple incubator based on a water bath, which ensures humidity. Temperature also affects the length of fetal incubation. The higher the temperature, the faster the incubation and vice versa. It is sometimes stated that incubation at lower temperatures has a higher chance of females, at higher temperatures males are born. The incubator must be well secured and in a quiet, undisturbed location.
The eggs hatched
After about 60-150 days, live young are born. The born pups from the incubator are separated into pre-prepared breeding boxes. Prepare paper towels at the bottom of the box, in the box there should also be a hidden one for the young and the ideal palestine plant. Dew twice a day, morning and evening. After about 3-4 days, we start feeding micro insects (cockroach nymphs, micro crickets, octopuses). We feed pagekons daily for about 4-5 months. We can put young pagekons in the box in groups, depending on their size, which they should have. Their sex can be distinguished from the 6th month of age, sometimes even earlier depending on the size of the individual.
Baby crested geckos are best housed in plastic boxes or in standard reptile tanks with a screen top.
