Keeping and Breeding Geckos

John Skillcorn

Author: Hermann Seufer
Publisher: TFH Publications Inc.
ISBN: 0-86622-218-9
Price: £23.95

The Publisher says:
Geckos have a justifiable claim to the title of "Most Unusual Lizards". Not only are they gorgeous colours, personable, and often easy to maintain in captivity, but they breed well, eat cockroaches, and even bark during the night! With the recent increase in availability of captive-bred geckos of many species, geckos have become a major force in the terrarium hobby and are still gaining strength as more and more colourful species become known to hobbyists.

Because they are such new pets, there is little information on gecko husbandry available for the average hobbyist. Keeping and Breeding Geckos is the first modern coverage of the principal species of the group that are being kept and bred today. The species are discussed extensively, with emphasis on successfully breeding each species and rearing the young. Although small, geckos can be long-lived, successful, and very productive pets for the terrarium hobbyist.

Front Cover:
Phelsuma standingi
Photo by R. D. Bartlett

Back Cover:
Palmatogecko rangei
Photo by K. H. Switak

My comments:
This is a rival for Krieger's book 'Geckoes' and, although it is an adequate introduction to the species and husbandry of a variety of geckos, it is not (in my opinion) a rival for that volume. The two books were published in the same year - despite the claim of TFH that it is the 'first modern coverage' on the subject. Admittedly Krieger's book was first published in German, but the English version has been available since 1995.

It (the TFH book) is richly illustrated, but then we come to expect that of TFH these days. The pictures are of the shiny, sticky type by which I am not entirely enamoured. However, they are good quality and numerous.

Of the 190 pages, 40 deal with the husbandry of these reptiles. The remainder carry information on individual species, including some pages given over entirely to repeated photographs of the same, common species. Compare this to the 240 pages of the Krieger book, 98 of which deal with all the finer points of husbandry while the rest are detailed accounts of genera and species. The illustrations are numerous without seeming to waste space.

If you have followed me all the way down to the bottom of this page, you will know which is my favoured book! However, it entirely depends on what you are looking for. Good, basic knowledge about geckos you will find in this TFH book. But if good, sound, detailed information is what you're looking for, then you will have to go with Krieger.