Brand new!

These are my favorite geckos, and they are notoriously difficult to breed in Canada. We actually don't know of anyone who has been successful in at least 10 years. We had to go to the US to get our breeding group because there were none to be found in Canada at all. Well, we hatched out 5 last year, and today the second baby of this season hatched. I have a new birthday buddy :-) From nose to tail tip he's a bit longer than my longest finger.

Do you have your licence?

In one week we are off to Winnipeg for the Manitoba Reptile Breeder's Expo and preparation begins today! As I was printing off our "Live Wildlife Import/Export Licence", I thought it might be a good time for a reminder. Fellow Saskatchewan reptile keepers, remember that you must obtain a free "Live Wildlife Import/Export Licence" any time you move, take, or bring an animal in or out of the Province of Saskatchewan. Absolutely every time. It is law (Captive Wildlife Regulations 13 (1)). We get an Export Licence from Saskatchewan Fish, Wildlife and Lands Branch for every single animal that we take to an out of Province Reptile Expo, and we get an Import Licence to bring any unsold animals back into Saskatchewan. As residents of Saskatchewan, we (each and every one of us) need an Import Licence for any animal that we bring in to Saskatchewan from out of the province. The form is easy to fill out, and it's free, you just need to apply 14 business days before the animal will be leaving, or coming into, Saskatchewan. 

We hope to see you at an Expo this fall!

Surprise!

This week held three little surprises for us. 3 years ago we started the search for Blaesodactylus Boivini (giant Madagascar velvet geckos). There were none to be found in Canada, top Canadian breeders and importers said they had not seen any for 5-7 years and to their knowledge none had ever been captive bred and born here. We were intrigued by these guys and sought out 5 from the US, legally importing them and adding them to our family. After months of eggs with no babies, we gave up and began enjoying them simply as interesting pets. Over the past few months the 2 youngest died, leaving us with 3 older pet B. Boivini. 

Fast forward to this past week ... on Sunday, July 15 a daughter noticed a baby in the cage! Wednesday there was another! Then another on Thursday! What a crazy and unexpected week, 3 babies from pet geckos that we had no intention of breeding. We did nothing with the eggs and they hatched in the adult tank. These are the first known Canadian captive bred, captive born B. Boivini in a decade, and likely even longer! 

Blaesodactylus Boivini!

This is a super exciting milestone! We did a lot of inquiring of the top reptile breeders and importers in Canada when trying to find some B. Boivini to purchase. Over a number of months they all agreed that there were none to be had in Canada. We also repeatedly heard that while some breeders kept them 5-7 years ago, no one knew of any successfully breeding them. 

We were determined to try, imported 1.4 from the US in spring 2016 and here we are... 2 eggs! They have been laid in a hide with a narrow opening and are hard to get at, so we will leave them alone and attempt to hatch them in the terrarium with their parents. While these geckos don't parent their young (hatchlings are completely self sufficient), they do not eat them either, so babies will be completely safe with the parents. These aren't a commonly bred gecko in North America, so information can be hard to find, but we are likely looking at a 4-6 month incubation period for the eggs ... it's going to be a long wait :-).

We currently keep our breeding trio of 1.2 together in a large 23"x23"x48" high screen terrarium, and our 2 sub adult females in an 18"x30"x30" high screen terrarium. These guys come from a semi arid, forested part of Madagascar and reside away from the tropical areas, so we have elected to keep them in a drier and more airy enclosure than our crested geckos. They seem to be thriving. Our 2 sub adults are sporting some really big calcium sacs and will be ready to breed whenever we decide to put the male in with them. 

So, they have bred, now to successfully incubate and hatch these geckos and join a very exclusive club of B. Boivini breeders in Canada! Woohoo!