Animal and feces collection
T. roborowskii individuals were captured from the desert in the suburb of Turpan in May 2021 and September 2021. The capture site is located near the Turpan Eremophytes Botanic Garden. In consideration of the search ability of the site, we use the coordinates of the Turpan Eremophytes Botanic Garden to locate it. Which is located in the Turpan Basin in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China (40°51′N, 89°11′E). The experiment was divided into two groups: (1) 11 lizards were captured in spring (spring group; SG), and 23 complete fresh fecal pellets were collected during the fasting period; (2) 15 lizards were captured in autumn (autumn group; AG), and 21 complete fresh fecal pellets were collected during the fasting period.
After capture, Turpan wonder geckoes were numbered, and their sex and other basic information were recorded. Subsequently, each T. roborowskii was placed in a clean feeding box and fasted during this period. A noninvasive fecal sampling method was used to check for excretion every 2 h to ensure the timely collection of fresh fecal samples. Complete fecal samples were collected into sterile cryovials using fresh, sterilized tweezers. Samples were immediately marked and snap-frozen in liquid nitrogen, and then transferred to a -80℃ freezer for subsequent experimental operations. Our previous study showed that the transit time of food through the digestive tract of T. roborowskii is up to 15 days (Yang et al., 2021), therefore, fecal collection was performed while no food was provided for 15 days. After the experiment, all the animals were in good physiological condition and were treated in strict accordance with the relevant regulations on animal welfare. All of the experiments and handling of the animals were conducted according to the research protocols approved by the Animal Welfare and Ethics Committee of Xinjiang Agricultural University.