The less commonly known Japanese Cave Gecko (Goniurosaurus orientalis) is a beautiful nocturnal Gecko that is endemic to the wet and rocky mountain forests in Japan. Adult Japanese Cave Geckos can grow anywhere up to 8.5 inches. They are a relatively cooler species of Gecko who also requires a humidity of around 60-70% to thrive.
Noticeable Traits
Japanese Cave Geckos tend to be very slender bodied with black/dark brown base and beautiful orange banding. One of their most noticeable features is the fact that they have beautiful burnt orange/red eyes. Their tails are black with white striping. This Gecko, like most Gecko's will drop their tails if they feel stressed or threatened. Over time their tail will grow back, this is called a regeneration tail.
Housing
These beautiful animals require a minimum of a 18" x 18" x 18" glass tank. The Japanese Cave Geckos do far better in glass tanks due to the fact that they are a higher humidity species and require lower temperatures, needing a minimum of 2 sprays a day. Being a cool species, they do well with only a heat mat and a mat stat to control the temperatures. They are generally a solitary animal and do well living on their own, however, if given adequate space they are able to be housed in groups but you would only want one male per group to avoid any fighting between males.
Feeding
Japanese Cave Geckos are insectivores so a diet of feeders such as crickets, small roaches or locusts would suffice. A good rule of thumb for size is to only offer insects whose length does not exceed the space in between the gecko’s eyes. Feeder insects should be gut loaded before feeding. The better fed the insect, the better fed the Gecko will be! These Gecko's have a very small appetite so we would look at feeding them 3 or 4 crickets every other day just to avoid large amounts of crickets roaming around the enclosure which could potentially cause more stress for them.
Handling
Japanese Cave Geckos can be quite skittish in the early days but become well accustomed to handling over time with perseverance and patience. We would only recommend handling any Gecko for 10-15 minutes at a time. Japanese Cave Geckos are such beautiful animals and definitely deserve more exposure.
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From,
Danni
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