Lygodactylus williamsi Decor

Hashtag ChamLife

Hashtag ChamLife

Avid Member
I've been eyeing one of these guys for a while now. Gorgeous creatures. My other option was a gargoyle. The issue I was having was availability (from a reputable source) on the williamsi. Every time they came available I either missed them or just bought something else. This time however, my lovely wife took note of my constant references and has gotten me one for Christmas - I don't get it till late January though.

I have had an extra exoterra cube laying around that a few weeks ago I began to prep. It currently has a bioactive substrate complete with springtails and some nice sheet moss - I was actually using it to grow the moss. So I can check the enclosure part off the list. My issue now is going to be the middle and upper regions. Do note, I have one of those magnetic cup holder ledges I bought a while back for my baby cham girl.

I guess my questions are:
What kind of live plants are recommended?

Anyone have suggestions on the liquid diets? (I raise my own bugs for the most part and am due for baby chams so I'll also be providing fruit flies, pin heads, etc.)

Bamboo vs wood branches? With or without suction cups?

Cork bark for hides ok?

I've never owned a gecko so other than reading and the general care, I don't know much. For those who haven't seen these guys here's an adult male:

20191209_112651.jpg
 
kinyonga said:
I've kept lots of geckos for many years ...just not this species.
Click to expand...
I'll take speaking in generalities...

What brand of gecko diet did you use? (Or did you do fresh fruits/veg?)

Did you use real branches and such, or fake foliage?

Did you provide UV? (I plan to as I have plenty)
 
I did provide UVB for all he geckos even if they were nocturnal.

I did use real branches from maple trees I used fake foliage and real plants depending on whether the species was likely to eat the leaves.

I never used commercial foods for any of them...they got gut loaded well fed crickets and any other insects I had available to me in Canada if the species would eat them. I generally dusted the insects like I do for chameleons. I used baby foods for the ones that ate fruits and gave them home made crushed berries, melon, slightly cooked apple or pear pieces. I also added a bit of fruit flavoured yogurt at times. I dusted them frequently with fruit flavoured tums crushed to a fine powder with a mortar and pestle or the calcium I used for the chameleons.

I've kept gargoyle geckos and leaf tails as well as Leo's, fat tails, mourning geckos, flying geckos, Madagascar ground geckos and a few other species.
 
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kinyonga said:
I did provide UVB for all he geckos even if they were nocturnal.

I did use real branches from maple trees I used fake foliage and real plants depending on whether the species was likely to eat the leaves.

I never used commercial foods for any of them...they got gut loaded well fed crickets and any other insects I had available to me in Canada if the species would eat them. I generally dusted the insects like I do for chameleons. I used baby foods for the ones that ate fruits and gave them home made crushed berries, melon, slightly cooked apple or pear pieces. I dusted them frequently with fruit flavoured tums crushed to a find powder with a mortar and pestle or the calcium I used for the chameleons.

I've kept gargoyle geckos and leaf tails as well as Leo's, fat tails, mourning geckos, flying geckos, Madagascar ground geckos and a few other species.
Click to expand...
Excellent. That's pretty much what I was looking for. I knew I could count on you!!

What did you use for cleaning?

I use to steam veggies for my iguana. She was a FREAK for butternut squash and collard greens. I also had to crush calcium for her as it was back in the good ol' days of my youth, lol.
 
@Hashtag ChamLife : All the information you require is available on the Frank Payne website
www.livingartbyfrankpayne.com and go into his Care Articles and Podcasts section.
I purchased my F. lateralis (carpet chameleons) from Frank. I don't know of anyone here in the USA
that has more knowledge or raises and sells as many unrelated pairs of williamsi as does Frank. They
aren't cheap but they are the best.
 
mkeBob said:
@Hashtag ChamLife : All the information you require is available on the Frank Payne website
www.livingartbyfrankpayne.com and go into his Care Articles and Podcasts section.
I purchased my F. lateralis (carpet chameleons) from Frank. I don't know of anyone here in the USA
that has more knowledge or raises and sells as many unrelated pairs of williamsi as does Frank. They
aren't cheap but they are the best.
Click to expand...
While I agree that theres lots of info there and that Frank is a font of knowledge [I've purchased many chams from him and talk with him every now and then]. However, as the articles are from a few years back, I'm just seeing if there are any differing opinions. Also, as any good breeder or keeper will say, there are multiple ways to do the same thing. I prefer to take in as many sources as possible and form my own way of doing things. By no means do I think his way is inadequate or sub par - hell, hes one of the few people who breed them, and does it well.

I do appreciate the heads up, but that's where I started. Basically, I'm trying to find out what others have had success with as far as foods and decor specifically [such the title].
 
@jamest0o0 @kinyonga
Either of you have any input of keeping isopods in with the gecko? Obviously, said gecko may/could eat the isopods. It would have to be a somewhat prolific species of iso. I've really been wanting to use those ornatus somewhere besides their cool plexi box... but not if they're the entree!
 
I'm sure they'd eat them. If you're breeding them, I'd be worried about isos eating the gecko eggs. Otherwise I see no reason not to add them. Ornatus would prob struggle with the humidity though?
 
jamest0o0 said:
I'm sure they'd eat them. If you're breeding them, I'd be worried about isos eating the gecko eggs. Otherwise I see no reason not to add them. Ornatus would prob struggle with the humidity though?
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Fair enough. Though I think I'd be hesitant to use them as they seem to be fairly slow at reproducing. My powder oranges seem to be fast and like the humidity.

No plans to breed them, I'm not that adventurous. At least not yet. I'll stick to my accidental panther hookups. 2/3 have happened because I leave their enclosures open.
 
Hashtag ChamLife said:
My Williamsi wont be ready before mid-life January, so my wife got me a gargoyle for now. It took me 2 days of rearranging to finally settle on a layout for him/her. Here's how it stands for now (need some branches):

View attachment 254308View attachment 254309View attachment 254310


Still some work to do, a leaf layer to add in, etc. Seems to like it so far, this is the first time it's been on display and not hidden.
Click to expand...
I now am a keeper of 6 different reptile species. 1 Gargoyle Gecko, 2 Crested Geckos, 1 Leopard Gecko, 2 Panther Chameleons, and most recently a Bearded Dragon. You will love the ease of caring for a New Caledonian gecko. I spray mine twice a day, swap out there Pangea every 2 days, and just do monthly cage cleanings. That's it. I use the Pangea ledges for their food and water and use 13w LED lights for a day/night cycle. None of my nocturnal geckos receive any UVB.
 
CamoChameleonsHuman said:
I now am a keeper of 6 different reptile species. 1 Gargoyle Gecko, 2 Crested Geckos, 1 Leopard Gecko, 2 Panther Chameleons, and most recently a Bearded Dragon. You will love the ease of caring for a New Caledonian gecko. I spray mine twice a day, swap out there Pangea every 2 days, and just do monthly cage cleanings. That's it. I use the Pangea ledges for their food and water and use 13w LED lights for a day/night cycle. None of my nocturnal geckos receive any UVB.
Click to expand...
Mine gets UVB by way of the cham room lighting... is only about .1-.3 depending on the time of day. Otherwise he/she gets a 75W CHE for a few hours to keep the temps up and a nice LED grow lamp.

Question, how do you know if they eat? I have had a cup of food down for 2 days an it seemed untouched. I then split the next batch into 3 cups and still seems like no action. I went with the "papaya" flavor as it came highly recommended.

Also, are they like chams where they'll drink droplets? I have a few water cups down, but I also mist 2x daily to keep the moss and air plants kicking.

I have one of those rock ledges as well. I'm lacking on vertical infrastructure (branches) at the moment. I chopped a bamboo stake I had in half and that seems to be a hit.

I keep a few species myself... but chams have always held a special place for me. I have 5 panthers, 1 veiled, a croc skink, beardie, gargoyle, williamsi and panther on the way in January, an umbrella cockatoo, 2 dogs and 3 cats. I also have roughly 90 eggs in "incubation", with 25+- due to hatch in the next 3-4 months. It's a zoo.... but I enjoy the company of my chams, bugs and plants.
 
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