Blaesodactylus Boivini

[pakinjak]

I've been updating threads on facebook and different forums, and sometimes feel I'm beating this species into the dirt so I don't post the same everywhere... but here's a couple of update pictures I've been taking. You can get an idea how they vary and what they look like from them.



The same big female as the above pic.


Here's a couple different animals so you can see the variety of looks. They don't really seem to fire up and down though. They always look about the same to me.

[pakinjak]

I know it's been a while since this thread started, I thought I'd share my experience to date-

Right now I have had 2.4 B. Boivini since April and just adore them.

B. Boivini are large, extremely strong geckos that appear to me to be intelligent as geckos go. They seem to be watching me when I'm in the room, and I catch them peeking around branches or from under bark. This awareness and assumed curiosity is what makes me think they're intelligent.

When I hold them, I am very impressed with how tight their grip is- MUCH stronger than any other animals I keep, and I've only handled one extensively because it had an eye infection and some funky skin thing. If the sick one gripped like that, then they're a strong gecko for sure. Their structure makes them look strong as well. The entire body is lean and muscular, this is especially noticeable at the tail base and legs. One of the females I've measured was 13"+, though much of that is tail. Again, I don't handle mine very much but from the limited weighing I have done I think a healthy adult female would weigh in the 100g range.

One thing that seems to circulate around is how strong their bites are, but I haven't been bitten yet though I do believe it. I also don't handle mine very much, but I bet CB animals could be very handleable. They are flighty and very fast for large geckos, but only go a foot or two and then stop so you can just pick them up then. I wouldn't give too much pause concerning biting/handling when making a decision on whether to keep them or not.

I don't have any eggs yet, but the females have developed chalk sacs the likes of which I've never seen. They stick almost straight out the sides of their necks and look to be 1/4-3/8" on each side. I haven't found too much info on them, but that's been part of the fun. I've been operating off of what I've been told- they like it humid, but with a hot spot.

They eat insects and CGD readily. Mine were fresh imports, so at first they only ate insects and didn't touch CGD. But after a few weeks they started eating it and now have bigger appetites than my leachies.

One female was small, presumably young and lost about 2" of her tail at the show where I picked them up. It grew back in about 5 weeks and now I can tell her apart by the black pinstripe running the length of the regrown section. Other than that, the new tail looks exactly the same as an original. A couple other animals have that same tail striping in varying lengths of tail so I'm wondering if that's a sign of a re-grow. Only CB animals will answer that question.

My research tells me they are nocturnal, but not in my room they're not. They bask all day long and are almost always visible when I walk in. Sometimes they slide around the branch they're on, other times they just keep basking no matter what I do.

In summary, B. Boivini are entirely underrated. IMO, only they're relative lack of color keeps them from being a very sought after gecko. I can't think of any other reason people wouldn't want to keep them unless it's about making money.