Satanic Leaf Tail Gecko (Uroplatus phantasticus)

Uroplatus phantasticus are one of the smallest Uroplatus geckos (typically up to 4" long). As with all Uroplatus geckos, they are endemic to Madagascar, an island just off the South-Eastern coast of Africa. They are A Crepuscular gecko meaning that they are most active at dawn and dusk arboreal geckos. Uroplatus do have quite specific care requirements making them a more intermediate to advanced level species to keep. CB animals are always a first choice, personally I would only consider WC animals in order to introduce new blood into a captive breeding program. Lineage of your animals is important when breeding Uroplatusas UK gene pools are very limited, ensure to ask your breeder for information to ensure compatibility of intended pairing.     These are active lizards A well ventilated vivarium is required. I keep younger geckos in a 30cm x 30cm x 45cm but once adult the minimum space I give to a pair or trio of these guys is 42cm x 42cm x 66cm and it suits them perfectly. Males are one to a viv but I keep geckos in both 1.1 and 1.2 groups successfully. The care aspect that makes Uroplatus that bit harder to keep is the environmental control. they like it cooler than most lizards. an ambient temperature of 72 to 78 degrees Fahrenheit (22 to 25 degrees Celsius) is sufficient with a humidity of around 65%. Night temperatures should drop to around 65 degrees Fahrenheit (18 degrees Celsius) with humidity rising to 80-90%.

As humidity is important a live planted vivarium is the best way to achieve this. I set mine up as a bio active set up, consisting of a screen covered drainage layer where excess water can collect and be periodically syphoned out before the above substrate can be water logged. This is covered with my own substrate mix mimicking the 'ABG style' mix   Onto this I add a layer of leaf litter. this helps maintain humidity and supports the bio active life in the substrate, in turn breaking down the waste of the geckos. I add little pieces of cuttlefish bone for the isopods to graze on as a calcium source, to keep them from doing so on my Gecko eggs. The humidity is maintained with numerous automated misting sessions throughout the day to maintain a target humidity of around 65%, I also spray just after lights out so the geckos can drink upon waking and then A further 2 spraying sessions over night to maintain the humidity.   The vivarium is brightly lit during the day in order to provide the plants with the correct lighting to photosynthesise using 6500K LED lamps, the Arcadia Jungle Dawn is my go-to plant light. Although Uroplatus phantasticus are a crespular species Uroplatus don't hide away when sleeping, they rely on camouflage to blend in ridiculously well straight out in the open. Uroplatus phantasticus mimic leaves, they hang out in the open among the low shrubbery. disappearing amongst the leaves, for this reason of them spending the day out in the open I always give Uroplatus access to good quality UVB lighting. My product of choice for this is the Arcadia T5pro. I use a 6% lamp and give the Geckos areas of shade to get out of the UV rays if they choose to. My Uroplatus vivarium's I like to keep quite simple. For the Uroplatus phantasticus I use a bark covered background bare substrate with a small area covered with leaf litter. The geckos choose the leaf litter as a place to hide their eggs, so by giving a small portion of the vivarium a leaf covering it makes recovering eggs much easier. I then plant a single large bushy plant, Ficus benjamanica being my favourite, but a Schefflera also works well and some twigs around the base.
 Food wise, Uroplatus phantasticus are insectivores, I have found them not to fussy. As always variety is key, in my experience they tend to prefer ground insects, and not so bothered about worm shapes. I rotate in Crickets, small Dubia roaches, isopods, wax worm moths and black soldier fly. As well as all my feeders being well gut loaded prior to being fed I supplement each feed with Repashy Calcium Plus LoD. this is a combined Calcium and vitamin supplement, but using low doses so works on an every feed method rather than a plain calcium and rotating in other supplement powders. I opt for the LoD variety as this is lower in Vitamin D, which I am incorporating good quality UVB lighting to provide.