Yellow-headed day gecko

About the species

Phelsuma klemmeri is one of the smallest day geckos. It reaches 8-10 cm including the tail, and roughly half of that is tail. The head is yellow, the back and tail turquoise to blue, and a black stripe runs from the eye along the sides of the body. Males have yellow to orange scales around the pores on the thighs. Like other day geckos it has round pupils and no movable eyelids.

The species was described by Robert Seipp in 1991 and is named after the German herpetologist Konrad Klemmer. It belongs to a small group of day geckos that live in bamboo. In English it is called the yellow-headed day gecko or Klemmer's day gecko, and in the trade often the neon day gecko because of its vivid colours.

The species has been kept and bred in captivity for many years, and the animals in the trade are overwhelmingly captive-bred. It is less robust than the large day geckos, because it is small and quickly suffers from desiccation and cold, but it thrives when humidity, warmth and calcium are right.

The gecko is shy and lightning fast and moves in short dashes up and down bamboo tubes and leaves. It is an animal to look at, not to pick up.

Care

The enclosure

A pair can live in a tall enclosure of at least 30 × 30 × 45 cm (length × width × height), and one male with two or three females needs at least 45 × 45 × 60 cm. Bigger is better, because it leaves room for more temperature zones, and a female that the male becomes too eager with can get away. Height is more important than floor area, because the gecko lives on vertical surfaces.

Furnish with diagonal and vertical hollow bamboo canes of different thicknesses. They serve as hides and laying sites and resemble the species' natural habitat. Add live plants with broad leaves, for example pothos, sansevieria or bromeliads, where the gecko can drink droplets and hide. The substrate can be damp, fertiliser-free soil mixed with coconut fibre and covered with dead leaves. A bioactive substrate with springtails and woodlice keeps mould down.

The enclosure must have mesh ventilation both at the top and at the bottom, so that the droplets from the morning misting dry up during the day. Still, saturated air is more dangerous for the species than slightly dry air.

Temperature

By day there should be 25-28 °C in the enclosure and a small basking spot of 30-32 °C under a halogen spot, where the gecko can warm up. Recommendations vary from about 22 to 28 °C in the background and from 29 to 32 °C at the basking spot, so stay in the middle and let the animal choose for itself. At night the temperature should drop to 20-23 °C.

Measure with digital thermometers both at the basking spot and at the bottom, and position the lamp so that no perch becomes warmer than 32-34 °C. Hang it over the mesh lid with some clearance, so that the animal cannot burn itself. If the gecko sits with its mouth open or hides all day, it is usually too hot.

Humidity and water

Humidity should average 60-80 %, measured in the middle of the enclosure. Mist thoroughly in the morning and again in the late afternoon, so that leaves and panes are covered in droplets. The gecko licks the droplets, and this is its main way of drinking. A water dish is therefore not enough, but a small, flat dish may be left out.

Moisture must alternate with drying out. If droplets are still on the panes the next morning, there is too little air exchange or too much misting.

Lighting and UVB

The species is diurnal and needs UVB. Use a T5 tube of a strength and distance that gives a UV index of 3-4 at the uppermost perches (Ferguson zone 3), and preferably measure with a UV index meter. The rest of the enclosure must lie in shade, so that the gecko can always withdraw from the light. Replace the tube after the time the manufacturer states, because the output declines.

Keep the light on for 13 hours in summer and 11 hours in winter, preferably on a timer, and supplement with a daylight tube if you like. At night it must be dark. Strong light is part of the reason the animals develop their luminous colours.

Feeding

The gecko eats both small insects and sweet things. Offer small live insects such as fruit flies, newly hatched crickets and small houseflies, dusted with calcium with D3. The insects must be smaller than the distance between the animal's eyes.

Supplement with prepared food for fruit-eating geckos, mixed into a thin paste and served in a small dish or on a leaf. It provides calcium, vitamins and the sweetness the species seeks in the wild. A drop of fruit purée can be a treat.

Juveniles get insects daily and prepared food every other day. Adults manage with insects two to three times a week and prepared food once a week. Breeding females need extra calcium throughout the season. Adjust the quantities according to the animal's body shape, so that it becomes neither thin nor fat.

Behaviour and handling

The gecko is shy and fast and is poorly suited to handling. If it has to be moved, coax it into a container rather than grabbing it, because the tail is easily dropped, and the skin is thin and delicate.

In the enclosure you can keep a pair or one male with two or three females, if there is space and many hides. Males must never be kept together, because they fight hard, and females too can become dominant over each other. The species communicates with nods and head movements, and a peaceful group can often be seen basking together. A stressed animal hides, loses weight or becomes dull in colour.

Breeding

Sexual maturity and sexing

Males can be recognised by the pores on the underside of the thighs, which are surrounded by yellow to orange scales, and the sex can often be seen from 3-4 months of age. Breeders state that males are sexually mature after 5-6 months and females after about 8 months, but size matters more than age. Wait to breed a female until she is almost fully grown, because egg-laying drains her of calcium.

Mating

The species breeds in the rainy season, in the wild from about November to March. In the enclosure the females can lay eggs for most of the year when light, warmth and food are right. Mating happens by itself when the animals are put together. The male bites the female on the neck, and small scratches may result. If the female constantly keeps away, or there are fights, separate the animals. Give the females a short winter break with slightly shorter days and slightly cooler nights, so that they can rebuild their calcium reserves.

Egg-laying and clutches

The female usually lays two eggs at a time, now and then only one, and typically at intervals of 4-8 weeks for much of the year. How many clutches there are per year is not well documented.

The species glues its eggs fast, most often inside bamboo canes, on leaves or on the pane. Never try to loosen them, because the shell breaks easily. Provide the female with several suitable laying sites, for example bamboo canes or short plastic tubes that can be taken out of the enclosure. Females may eat eggs to obtain calcium, so make sure there is always plenty of calcium, and check the laying sites regularly.

Incubation

Glued eggs are incubated where they sit. If they are in a bamboo cane or a loose plastic tube, the whole tube can be moved into a small box with damp vermiculite or perlite and ventilation holes in the lid. If they are on the pane or in a plant, you can place a small, ventilated cup with mesh over them, so that the young do not disappear or get eaten.

Keep the temperature at 27-29 °C. The eggs then typically hatch after 40-60 days, and at lower temperatures it takes longer. In other day geckos temperature affects sex, but for this particular species there are no reliable figures.

Rearing the young

The young are only 2-3 cm long when they hatch and begin to eat after a couple of days. Keep them in a small, humid faunarium with mesh ventilation, a piece of bamboo and a plant, and mist daily. Give fruit flies and prepared food from the first week, and dust the flies with calcium.

Keep the young apart from the adults, who may regard them as prey. Siblings can live together while they are small, but separate them if one is being chased or falls behind. As they approach adult size, the males must in any case be separated.

Health and common mistakes

The species is small and delicate, and most problems are caused by husbandry mistakes. The typical ones are:

• Too little calcium, D3 and UVB, which causes soft jaws, bent limbs and tremors. Breeding females in particular are at risk.
• Too much heat and too little air exchange, which dries the animal out or stresses it.
• Constantly wet conditions and mould, which cause skin infections.
• Skin remnants stuck on the toes and tail tip. Ensure high humidity when the animal sheds.
• Fights, which cause wounds and dropped tails.

A healthy animal has luminous colours, clear eyes and a plump tail. Small animals quickly become ill, so see a vet with reptile experience if the gecko is lethargic, loses its colour, loses weight or stops eating.