Death = advice for all

[scintillatingstar]

Well... It has not even been 7 days, and one of my Sikorae died. He was alive and thriving last night, looking great. Woke up this morning to find him dead on the ground. He had moss hanging out of his mouth. When the moss was pulled out there was a cricket and more moss in his throat.

My only conclusion is that he choked on the moss. I do not understand, as the moss is said to be safe by all, and he even came with some in his plastic cup when i bought him. My advice, dont keep moss on your cage floors.

 

[scintillatingstar]

hm, no comments? cool....

 

[T&KBrouse]

Oh no... I'm really sorry to hear you lost him.
I'm still learning about geckos, but one would think that moss designed specifically for these little guys would be safe.
Thank you for the warning.

 

[MonteQ's]

Sorry to hear about your loss.

I don't have any experience with Sikorea. However, Svatek and Van Dunn's book suggest a mix of coco fiber and sand. Covered with leaf litter or bark chips. Some people suggest sphagmum or orchid moss, but they both make me a little nervous.

I've been using the coco fiber minus sand for my phantasticus for a while now. When I first got them, I was just using Eco Earth, and my female I saw ingesting a little bit, so I added the bark chips. I haven't seen her ingest any since. You might want to add a layer of Leca or gravel under this for drainage. All my plants have been thriving too with out any fertilizer. Hope this helps. Again sorry to hear about you loss. Good luck with the female.

 

[scintillatingstar]

MonteQ thanks for the advice. Although one died, the other of the pair is still left. She seems strong, but i am afraid of just using the eco earth. The moss has been removed, and i am removing the eco earth also. I was going to put a reptile carpet in until i had a better idea. They are larger than your phantasticus, as you know, so when they dive on their prey they have more momentum and get more substrate in their mouths. Do you think that the bark chips would hurt them, since they are kinda dive bombing their nose and face into the bark to get the crickets?

 

[lucia]

Sorry for your loss. I guess it just goes to show that just about anything can be potentially hazardous. I doubt a lot of other people have lost their pet to moss, but accidents can happen with just about anything. It is that way with humans as well.

 

[MonteQ's]

Star --

Glad to hear the other one is going strong. I definitely understand your concern. Loose substrate in general makes me nervous. Having no experience with Sikorea or their habits first hand, I can't answer your question. A feeding dish might be a solution, I have them in all my tanks, though only one female consistantly uses it.

However one thing I did notice is the crickets really don't spend much time on the ground since I added the thin layer of bark chips. They tend to head up the plants or backround in the Exo's. One of my other tanks has a few areas of leaf litter, and the crickets pour out of there during misting. It might make it tougher for them to hide/burrow? Just a thought.

If you decide to use carpet or paper towel, I'd stick to the paper towel with misting, it will be wet pretty consistantly. There's a good chance you'll be changing it frequently. You might not get much padding from the carpet/towels either. At least there won't be a chance of them hitting an edge or something. If you go this route and pot your plants, make sure there is no perlite, as I've been warned it can cause problems. I wish I could be more help. You might be able to find some breeders that have more experience on some of the forums. Again my heart goes out to you on your loss. Good luck.

 

[scintillatingstar]

Thanks again, MonteQ

 

[malt_geckos]

Awww! I am sorry Jill. Now that I think about it, moss isn't the best substrate. What about sifted peat moss? We use it in our moist hides and with the milii. Maybe if you mix it with the bark?

 

[scintillatingstar]

Yah.. i'm looking into possibly like playground sand since it is so fine mixed with bark chips (maybe). I really am not sure what to do
Some folks had a few comments about substrate here:
http://www.geckosunlimited.com/community/leaf-tailed-geckos-uroplatus/29985-death-advice-all.html
but i still dont know

 

[malt_geckos]

I think peat moss will hold in more moisture then the play sand. And it's soft too.

 

[david13]

sifted peat moss is awesome (thanks for the advice about it before), the the peat moss doesnt seem to want to stay moist for more than a few days for me.