Blaesodactylus
Boivini
Giant
Madagascar Velvet Gecko
Blaesodactylus
Boivini are from the NW of Madagascar. They live in a semi arid
forest and scrub area. They love climbing trees and hiding out in
bark. They are apparently nocturnal, but we enjoy watching them bask
in the open all day long., they do not hide during the day like many
nocturnal geckos.
B.
Boivini are not common pets and not much is know about their care and
keeping. We are going to tell you what works for us and share some
tips that others have found work well for them.
Food:
- We feed primarily Crested Gecko Diets, they seem to love Pangea.
- According to others, they like crickets and/or meal worms weekly, but this has not been consistent in our experience.
- We keep a dish of water in their enclosure and they drink from it regularly.
Housing:
- B. Boivini are arboreal geckos. They love to be up high.
- Our recommendation is 1 gecko in an 18” x 18” x 24” high enclosure, 2 geckos in a 24” x 24” x 36 high enclosure, and 3 geckos in 36” x 36” x 48” high enclosure. We have had great success with these numbers.
- Our recommendation is that you house each B. Boivini individually, but we have had success with housing females together as long as the enclosure is big enough and there are enough hides. Ours have been together since hatchlings and we have heard that they are increasingly difficult to house together as they get older.
- Do not house more than one male in an enclosure.
- We house all of our B. Boivini in screen enclosures. They are from semi arid forests and do not seem to need the humidity of many other species from Madagascar.
- Most of the day they are at our room humidity of 45% to 55%, with a misting in the evening just so that there are droplets on the greenery.
- We do know keepers who house their B. Boivini in glass tanks with success too, but take care that they do not stay too humid.
- Either a paper towel bottom (with a tub of dirt and sand), or a fully eco earth and sand mixture is what they love.
- We keep them at room temperature with a high basking spot of about 32*c. They will fully use a piece of cork of some kind of basking ledge up high, where they can access the basking temperature.
- Since they do not hide during the day and are accustomed to sunlight, they will need a UV light to provide UV exposure.
- They will enjoy lots of cork bark pieces and long branches (or stumps) that nearly reach the top of the tank.
- Some hiding spots are also necessary, but they will often be out in the open.
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