The sky-blue dwarf day geckos at Chemnitz Zoo have had another offspring. Four young of this relatively small gecko species, measuring 5 to 8 centimetres in length, can now be discovered in a terrarium in the foyer of the tropical house. The species has only been kept at the zoo since March 2024. (see press release 164/2024)
The sexes can be easily distinguished by their colouring. The males have a bright turquoise-blue dorsal colouring, which is also the origin of their common name.
The females, on the other hand, are greenish to bronze in colour. The juveniles are similarly inconspicuously coloured at the beginning. The males only change colour when they reach sexual maturity.
The animals are sexually mature at around ten months.
Four to five weeks after mating, which can take up to an hour, the female "sticks" two eggs in the crevices of tree bark or on leaves. After 60 to 70 days, the eggs hatch into two to two and a half centimetre long young. As is common with many reptiles, the sky-blue dwarf gecko does not breed.
The sky-blue dwarf day gecko is threatened with extinction. The species is only found in the Kimboza Forest Reserve in north-east Tanzania. There, the animals live exclusively on screw trees of the genus Pandanus.
This makes the successful and coordinated breeding of such endangered species all the more important. With a total of ten captive-bred animals, Chemnitz Zoo is already making an important contribution to the conservation of this species, which is an important core task of zoological institutions.
Photos: Jan Klösters and Kevin Rüffer (archive photos)
www.tierpark-chemnitz.de
Opening hours of the zoo and wildlife centre
In February
daily: 9 am to 4 pm, last admission 3 pm
In March:
daily: 9 am to 5 pm, last admission 4 pm
*Correction from 26.02.2025
