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Crested geckos are native to
New Caledonia, which is made up of numerous islands located approximately
900 miles east of Australia.
Crested geckos are indigenous to the largest island, Grand Terre,
and the |
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Crested geckos have many unique characteristics including
a prehensile tail (that doesn’t grow back if it falls off) with a lamellae
tip-the same lamellae that is located on their toes that allow them to
climb. They also have a velvety feel
to their skin, a large flat head and, of course, the crests. In addition, crested geckos are
polymorphic, which means that they come in a variety of patterns and colors
that can be refined with selective breeding.
This polymorphic quality makes the crested gecko a fascinating gecko
to work with because the colors are almost limitless. Crested geckos are often referred as the
koi of the reptile world. Crested
geckos are relatively large for gecko species-about 8 inches in total
length. Their life expectancy is not
known but it is believed to exceed fifteen years because some of the original
animals brought to the
One of the most predominant habits of crested geckos is
that they are jumpers. It is not
uncommon that cresteds will take a “leap of faith” from your hands. Usually they are unharmed from a fall; but
it is best to handle these geckos while sitting down. Also, crested geckos have the capability
to vocalize. It is most frequently
heard during breeding and occasionally a hatchling gecko will let out a
“chirp” in order to get away.
Finally, crested geckos have an overall good temperament. If you manipulate them for too long, they
might give you a nip but it is unlikely that it would draw blood. However, with more handling, crested
geckos’ temperament becomes better, which allows for longer handling
sessions.
SELECTING A GECKO
Selecting a gecko for a particular color morph can be
problematical because crested geckos’ colors can change at different times during
the day, different stages in growth, and at different stress levels. It is sometimes better to see the color of
the parents rather than the color of the juvenile because the juveniles’
colors will transform as they get older and will usually resemble their
parents. When selecting a gecko, as
with any reptile, make sure that the animal looks healthy, clean, and
alert. Make sure that the gecko has
all of its toes (one or two toes missing shouldn’t have an effect on its
health), which could be lost with shedding problems. Since cresteds are nocturnal, they may be
slightly sluggish when first picked up but they should quickly become
alert. When purchasing for a
particular sex, note that hatchling crested geckos have a sex ratio of about
50:50. It is impossible to sex
crested geckos until they have a snout to vent length of about three inches
at which time males develop noticeable hemipenal bulges. At that point, extra males will become
available because breeders will often keep the females to increase their
breeding stock. However, high quality
males are important to any breeding stock because he can pass his colors to
multiple females. If you’re
attempting to begin a breeding operation, I suggest that you purchase many
juveniles and raise them up. You have
to play the lottery but you could also get many females.
THE COLOR GAME
Accurately describing crested geckos can be a daunting
task. Since crested geckos are
polymorphic, each gecko is unique in some way. Also, crested geckos’ colors can change with the time of day
and at different stress levels.
Generally, during the day and at high stress levels their colors will
become lackluster. However, during
the night the colors can be vivid and intense. A categorization system was created in order to attempt to tame
the confusion; however, it is still somewhat up to the eye of the
beholder. Philippe de Vosjoli, Frank
Fast, and Allen Repashy did an excellent job going into detail about every
morph in their Rhacodactylus book.
I often find myself paging through their book in order to describe one
of my geckos. Here, I have tried to
overview the different color morphs with a picture when available. I suggest purchasing the de Vosjoli, Fast,
and Repashy book for any additional information and photographs. When naming crested geckos, first state
the background color that is most prominent (if you are able to). Then name any distinguishing features such
as tiger, dalmatian, fire, etc.
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Morph |
Description |
Picture |
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Patternless |
“Patternless” crested geckos are usually
one solid color that has little to no pattern. The color range from brown/tan, buckskin, olive, chocolate,
rust to much more brilliant colors including orange, yellow, red, and white
(moonglow). |
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Bicolor |
“Bicolor” is very similar to “patternless”;
however, the dorsal area is a different solid color from the rest of the
body. |
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Tiger |
“Tiger” is streaks of color usually running
down the back. |
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Brindle |
“Brindle” is basically an extreme “tiger” in
which there are more streaks and may extent to the limbs. |
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Chevron back |
“Chevron back” is distinguished by bands of
lighter colored blotches running down the dorsal area. |
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Fire |
“Fire” is one of the more common color
morphs. A “fire” crested gecko has
a lighter patterned head, dorsal area, as well as the area between the
forelimb and hind limb. |
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Harlequin |
“Harlequin” crested geckos are basically a
fire crested but the pattern extends onto the forelimbs. |
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Creamsicle |
“Creamsicle” color morph is one of the most
sought after morphs, today. It is a
cream/orange “fire” crested gecko. |
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Halloween |
“Halloween” is a brown and orange “fire”
crested gecko. |
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Pinstripe |
“Pinstripe” is a newer morph being
developed by Allen Repashy.
“Pinstripe” crested geckos is usually a “fire” crested gecko with
two white stripes along the dorsal crests. |
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Stripe |
“Stripe” crested geckos have a lateral
white stripe about midway between the dorsal and ventral areas. |
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Dalmatian |
“Dalmatian” is characterized by black,
white, and/or red spots all over the body. |
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White Fringe |
“White fringe” trait is when the edges of
the hind limbs are white. |
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Structural Morph |
Description |
Picture |
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Enlarged Crests |
“Enlarged crests” describes when the crests
are abnormally large and may extend down the back. |
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Crowned |
“Crowned” is when the head is larger than
normal and may droop downward. |
CAPTIVE
HOUSING
The enclosure for crested geckos can be very simplistic to
a very complex display enclosure. I
keep all my animals in simplistic caging for quick and easy maintenance. However, it is not aesthetically appealing
for most people who want to watch their pets. I have not set up a naturalistic enclosure for crested
geckos. However, I do have experience
in designing enclosures from my time working in the Herpetarium at the St.
Louis Zoo. Therefore, I am able to
give tips and suggestions about how to make an easily manageable display
enclosure. I would highly suggest
reading de Vosjoli’s Crested Gecko book because he does a great job in
describing how to set up a naturalistic enclosure for crested geckos. First, I will describe in depth the
methods that I employ in my breeding group followed by some comments on a
naturalistic enclosure setup.
When housing crested geckos together, it is best to not
house two males together. When males
are housed together, they will fight and that will cause wounds, a lost tail,
or even death. Males can only be kept
together if given ample space but it is still no guarantee and one or both
geckos may lose their tail. One time
when I was cleaning cages I placed two males together while I cleaned their
individual cages. In a matter of
minutes, one male had clamped onto the others head and drew blood. As for breeding groups, a single male can
be placed with multiple females if space allows. Also, multiple females can be housed together without incidents. As for juveniles, many unsexable juveniles
of similar size can be house together in an appropriate sized enclosure but
once hemipenal bulges appear in the males, the geckos must be separated
according to sex.
SIMPLISTIC ENCLOSURE
Crested geckos can be housed in a number of different
enclosure types including glass aquariums, plastic storage containers,
Kritter Keepers, and all screen enclosures (commonly used for
chameleons). However, height and
ventilation is key. Crested geckos
are arboreal so the amount of floor space is not very important but the
height of the cage is important.
Ventilation is essential because you don’t want the air in the
enclosure to become stagnant, which may cause an increase in mold and
diseases. At the bare minimum, an
adult crested gecko can be housed in a ten gallon aquarium or similar size
enclosure if given adequate climbing materials. An adult pair should be housed in nothing less than a twenty
gallon high aquarium. Glass aquariums
provide good visibility but are often expensive. A cheaper but equally effective alternative is plastic storage
containers (66 qt +). However, it is
harder to view your animals through the semi-transparent walls. All screen enclosures are rising in popularity
because they provide ample climbing surfaces as well as great ventilation. I currently use screen enclosures (20” h x
16” w x 15” d) with my breeding groups (1.2-1.3) and I really like them. As for hatchling and juvenile crested
geckos, I like to use Kritter Keepers.
I prefer to start out with the medium sized Kritter Keeper and house
clutch mates together. It seems to
work really well because it gives them enough space but still small enough so
they can find food easily.
SUBSTRATE AND DECOR
I personally keep all my animals on newspaper because it
is cheap, sanitary, and protects against impaction. I would never house hatchlings or juveniles on anything other
than newspaper or turf because they can become impacted very easily. Adults are usually able to spit the
substrate out of their mouth. When
crested geckos eat crickets they usually leap or dive toward the crickets and
may miss and get a load of substrate instead. The only decoration I use is egg trays because they are cheap,
sanitary and provide abundant climbing surfaces. I first saw Allen Repashy use this idea and I decided to use
them in my enclosures. The egg trays
create climbing area and visual barriers when they are placed on end and side
by side. I purchase my egg trays from
eggcarton.com
(140 egg trays for $30 shipped) and I am really pleased with their
product. I have used this idea in my
breeding groups as well as in ten gallon aquariums for individual males or
subadults with really good results.
For my hatchlings and juveniles I used to tear egg trays into
approximately 2 x 2 cells and place two of these pieces in the Kritter
Keepers. However, I noticed that they
spent too much time on the walls.
Therefore, I now tear (with the help of a razorblade) a strip the
length of the egg trays and 2 cells wide and bend it to fit in the Kritter
Keeper. The hatchlings and juveniles
really like to curl up in the cells or under the egg trays. For my breeder enclosures, I use the idea developed
by Allen Repashy to raise the egg trays off the ground in order to increase
floor space for the nest box. In
order to do this, I purchased rubber coated fencing (2” x 3”) and cut (sand
to remove sharp edges) and bent it so that it would make an “n” shape. Therefore, the fencing would create a
shelf 4-5” off the floor of the cage that the egg trays could be set on. This works great for breeder cages because
it allows for a space where the nest box could be placed.
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Juvenile Setup |
Subadult/Male setup |
Breeder Setup |
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If you do not want to use the egg trays, I suggest using
fake or real (potted) plants, branches, and cork bark. I have used fake plants before and the
crested geckos seem to really like to coil in the leaves during the day. Also, branches will give added climbing
area.
LIGHTING AND HEATING
One of the aspects that separate the crested gecko from
all other reptiles is that they do not have any heating or lighting
requirements. Crested geckos can be
kept at room temperature-mid to high 70s during the day and high 60s to low
70s during the night. In
Crested geckos are nocturnal so they have no lighting
requirements. However, it is best
that they receive at least indirect light from a window for example. From this they can get a correct
photoperiod (day/night light cycle).
If you would like a light to view your geckos or need addition heat, I
suggest using a low wattage red/blue night bulb. The red/blue bulbs allow you to view natural behaviors at night
when your gecko is most active.
Another positive quality about the crested gecko is that
they have easy feeding requirements.
During the active season, crested geckos can be fed 3-5 times during
the week and during the cooling season they can be fed 2-3 times a week. The three main food items that can be fed
to crested geckos are crickets, baby food, and Crested Gecko Diet. Crested Geckos Diet (CGD) is a complete
diet developed by Allen Repashy, the largest Rhacodactylus breeder,
and can be solely fed to crested geckos and they will do fine. It possesses all the required nourishment
for crested geckos, which means no crickets to deal with if you don’t want
to. CGD can be purchased at most pet
shops but it is much cheaper to buy it in bulk from giantgeckos.com (2.5 lb for $35 or 5 lb for $60 shipped). This amount of food will last you a long time but it is a
better deal by far. An easy way to
mix and dispense CGD is to use a plastic squeeze bottle similar to a
condiment dispenser. I can’t remember
whom I got this idea from but it drastically decreases my feeding time. These bottles can be purchased at most
grocery stores.
However, I do not prefer
to use CGD exclusively because I like to give them a little variety. Therefore, I also feed crickets and
occasionally baby food. Hatchling
crested geckos are able to eat ¼” crickets.
As a general rule the length of the cricket should be less than the
width of the crested gecko’s head.
Hatching and juvenile crested geckos can eat between five and ten ¼”
crickets per feeding and adult crested geckos can eat between three and seven
adult crickets per feeding. I
generally feed my breeders more than other adults to help with egg production. After a couple of times feeding crickets
you should be able to gauge the amount of crickets that should be given per
feeding by the amount left over (if any) from the previous feeding. I dust the crickets with calcium every
feeding to aid proper bone growth and calcification of eggs. The third main food item is baby food that
can be given as a supplement to the previous two food items. The tried and true baby food flavors are
apricot and peach but crested geckos may eat other flavors as well. Baby food should not be a regularly food
item because it doesn’t provide all of the needed nutrients.
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The CGD and baby food can be
placed in a number of different containers. I have found that one-gallon milk carton lids work perfectly
for hatchling and juvenile crested geckos.
These lids can be cleaned by placing them in the dishwasher and
reused. I do not provide a bowl of
water for my hatchling and juvenile crested geckos because they can get all
of their water requirements from nightly misting. For my adults, I use the method developed by Allen Repashy
and use plastic disposable containers recessed in a 2” x 4”. The containers can be purchased at Sam’s
as 2-ounce plastic food storage container s (2000 for $20). The 2” x 4” should be cut in 6” lengths
and then |
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ripped to make the width 1”,
which makes it easier to drill the holes.
The holes can be drilled with a 2 ¼” rotary hacksaw bit. I have found that using an air
compressor to blow on the drill will decrease wood burning and will make
the drilling much easier. The two
holes should be equally spaced apart.
One of these containers will be used for food and the other for
water. If you feed crickets and
provide a water bowl, I suggest that you place a bio-ball (used for
filtration) or a rock in the water to allow |
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the crickets to climb out of
the water or the crickets will drown and foul the water. Sometimes when I feed crickets, I just
take out the water for a day to prevent cricket drowning. The CGD should be left in the enclosure
for two nights. Many times, crested
geckos will wait a day until the CGD thickens up. I suggest feeding in the evening when the geckos are most
active. This will hopefully prevent
any crickets from having time to find a hiding spot in the cage. |
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A common worry among first-time crested gecko owners is that their gecko is not eating. Most of the time when it looks like they are not eating they really are. Young crested geckos do not require that much food to survive. One way to determine if they are eating is to look for any divots in the CGD or baby food which most of the time is caused by their tongue and sometimes their feet. A technique that I like to use to make sure they are eating is to place CGD on their nose with my finger. This will make them lick it off of their face. Crested geckos are generally not finicky eaters so just give it time if it seems like your gecko is not eating.
Another misconception about crested geckos is that they need high humidity all of the time and this is not the case. The enclosure can stay fairly dry during the day but you should mist the cage nightly in order to raise the humidity. But, the cage should dry out by morning. I have found that using a hand-held pressure sprayer works really well for nightly misting. If the humidity is high all of the time, then there is an increased chance of fungal growth, which is unhealthy for the geckos. On the other hand, low humidity all of the time will most likely cause shedding problems. Therefore, you must create a nice balance between high and low humidity through misting the cage.
NATURALISTIC ENCLOSURE
Crested geckos can make fascinating display animals in a
naturalistic enclosure. Naturalistic
enclosures allow you to witness behaviors that are not normally seen in
simplistic enclosures. I have not set
up a naturalistic enclosure for my crested geckos since I have so many
animals. However, I had the
privilege to design and construct a few display enclosures at the St. Louis
Zoo’s Herpetarium. I was able to
learn a few techniques from some of the best in the business. Philippe de Vosjoli’s book Crested
Geckos does a really nice job describing how to construct a naturalistic
enclosure and I suggest referencing his book.
Naturalistic enclosures are best to house adult crested
geckos and not juveniles. I suggest never
housing juveniles in naturalistic enclosures because you want them to find
food easily. Also, juveniles might
get impacted on the soil, which could leave to death. If you house a pair together, then it is
likely that they will reproduce and lay their eggs in the soil. Therefore, it is unlikely that you will
get 100% egg recovery. I have heard
that crested geckos can be housed with gargoyle geckos, pink-tongued skinks, and
giant millipedes without any incidences.
There are a number of different enclosure types that can
be used but I believe a top opening glass aquarium is probably one of the
best choices. Open top glass
aquariums provided unobstructed viewing unlike some of the front slide glass
enclosures. Also, they are most often
cheaper than other display quality enclosures. I suggest not to begin with anything smaller than a 29 gallon
aquarium because if you are going to spend the time and money to design an
enclosure you might as well do it big.
Also, it allows you to use larger plants, which will create a more
dramatic and interesting display.
What is really nice about naturalistic enclosures is that
the substrate can become bioactive and decompose the crested gecko’s
waste. Therefore, the cage doesn’t have
to be totally cleaned as often as a simplistic enclosure. I suggest using potting soil because it is
free of insects. First, you should
put in a layer of gravel as drainage and then place a few inches of your
substrate. The plants can be planted
in the soil or left in the pots.
However, if you leave the plants potted their growth will be
limited. The plants used in a crested
gecko’s enclosure should be sturdy because the crested geckos are fairly
large and heavy. Such plants include:
ficus benjamina, pothos, dracaena, bromeliads, and some oriental plants like
orchids. From my experience at the
St. Louis Zoo Herpetarium, I have learned that placing a couple plants of the
same species in the enclosure will help coordinate the display because then
the plant doesn’t stick out. Also, I have learned that you should never be
able to see the water bowl. You can
hide the water bowl behind a cork bark slab or branch. Also, the plants and branches should be
arranged so that even if the gecko is sleeping, he/she is still visible.
HANDLING
As I said before, crested geckos are known jumpers. They use their frog-like leaps to move
from branch to branch. Therefore, it
is best not to fight this tendency and let the gecko move freely from hand to
hand. If you try to grasp crested
geckos you have a chance of grabbing the tail, which might leave to tail
loss. A common technique to use is
the hand over hand method. This
technique allows the gecko move freely on your hands. It is inevitable that the crested gecko
will jump from your hands onto the floor or some object next to you. The gecko is rarely harmed from a fall but
it is best that you handle them will sitting down or over a table. When picking up a crested gecko it is best
to put your finger under their head and allow them to crawl on your
hand. Adult crested geckos can be
handled a few times a week for about 20 minutes before they get annoyed. The length of time can be lengthened with
more handling experience. It is best
not to handle young crested geckos because they can become stressed out
fairly easily.
BREEDING
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Crested geckos are very easy
to breed and can produce many offspring.
Crested geckos are capable of breeding and producing viable young at
35 grams. Weight of the female is more
important that age of the gecko.
Breeding groups can be kept in a pair (1.1) and/or up to five
females for each male (1.5). Once
the breeding group is established, copulation and subsequent egg laying
will ensue. Copulation
involves vocalization and biting of the female’s forelimbs or neck by
the male. |
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Copulation often looks painful
but this is normal and should not be interrupted. Three to four weeks after successful copulation, the female
will deposit her egg(s) in a provided nest box or soil substrate.
If a nest box is not provided, the eggs will be laid on the floor of
the cage and probably (but not always) will lead to the death of the
embryo. The female will almost always produce a pair of eggs unless
she is too young, |
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too old and/or under-weight. Often first time breeders will only produce one egg but subsequence egg layings will produce two eggs. Well-calcified and fertile eggs will be white. |
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The nest box is very important for good egg
recovery. There is some debate on
what is the best type of nest box to use and what substrate to provide but
the method I currently use works great.
I use a plastic food storage container for the nest box. The size of the nest box is of little
importance as long as the female can easily bury herself. I have used containers as small as 6” x 4”
x 3” (lwh) but I currently use next boxes measuring 11” x 7” x 3” (lwh). I prefer to use open top containers
because the height of these nest boxes doesn’t provide enough room and the
substrate stays moist for too long when the lid is on.
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There are a few different egg
laying substrates to choose from but I have found that the expandable
shredded bedding works great because it is sanitary, cheap, and
reusable. There are two ways to set
the bedding up depending on the number of nest boxes needed. When I had a small number of nest |
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boxes to make, I soaked a
fraction of the brick of compacted bedding in HOT water and use a small
fish net to separate the bedding from the water. When the number of nest boxes increased, I built a seine to
separate the bedding from the water.
The seine was made with window screening stretched and stapled
across a wood frame with metal hardware cloth for support. Then I use my
hand to grab handfuls of expanded bedding to squeeze the remaining water
from the bedding. The substrate |
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is ready when the stream of
water coming out of my fist becomes drips of water. The substrate is then broken up and
placed in the nest box. The
substrate will dry out over the course of a week and then the substrate can
be re-moistened I have had great egg recovery using this method. However, be aware that crested geckos
can hide the eggs very well and you must check the nest box thoroughly. |
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For the health of the female, the night and day
temperatures should decrease 10° F for three months, which will stop breeding and egg
production. The male can be kept with
the female at this time. Without this
cooling period the female will keep producing eggs with detriment to her
health because of pure exhaustion.
INCUBATION
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Eggs laid in the nest box should be removed and placed in an incubation container. Do not rotate or flip the eggs because it might cause the death of the embryo. For the incubation containers, I use small plastic food storage containers. I use one container per breeding group so I can keep track of parentage. I currently use vermiculite as incubation medium but there are other substrates that also work such as perlite. Add water to the vermiculite however water should not drip out of it when squeezed. There is no need for holes in the incubation containers but they should be aired out weekly. |
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There is some debate whether
crested geckos are temperature-dependent sex determined ( |
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It is fairly easy to incubate
crested geckos but to hatch crested geckos is another story. When crested geckos hatch they are wet
from the embryonic fluids and the vermiculite sticks to them. |
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One of the first thing crested
geckos do when they hatch is to shed.
Crested geckos eat their shed skin; therefore, they ingest
vermiculite and become impacted. To
prevent this, check the eggs often and remove hatched crested geckos as
soon as possible. Remove any
vermiculite through lightly misting.
If the gecko is impacted, attempt to remove as much of the substrate
from their mouth as possible and hope for the best. |
DISEASES AND HEALTH
For the time that the crested geckos have been in the
reptilian market it has been established that crested geckos are very hardy
and relatively disease-free. The main
health problems developed by crested geckos can usually be prevented with
optimal husbandry. These health problems include floppy-tail syndrome, stuck
shed, and calcium deficiency.
Floppy-tail syndrome (FTS) is when the tail flops over
when the gecko is lying vertical with the head facing downward. Crested geckos constantly lying vertical
on the cage walls cause FTS and the sheer weight of the tail causes the tail
to move to one side. This may cause
the pelvic bone to become bent. FTS
has little affect on the overall health of the gecko. In fact, wild specimens have been observed
with bent pelvises. In order to
prevent FTS from appearing, provide ample climbing surfaces such as branches,
plants, cork bark, and/or egg trays.
The gecko will then spend less time on the cage walls.
Stuck shed is probably the most common problem that
crested geckos have. Stuck shed is
due to improper shedding because of low humidity. When the conditions are too dry the crested gecko cannot shed
properly; therefore, pieces of skin are left on their body. Common locations for stuck sheds are on
the crests, top of the head, and on the toes. Stuck shed on the toes is most harmful because the shed can cut
off blood flow to the toe and the toe dies.
Another problem that I have found is stuck sheds on the tip of the
tail, which cuts off blood flow causing the loss of the tip of the tail. Regular misting which will increase the
humidity can prevent stuck shed.
Stuck skin can be removed with tweezers or the gecko can be placed in
a moist container for a day to help finish shedding.
Calcium deficiency can cause a number of health problems
for crested geckos including metabolic bone disease, under calcified eggs,
and bone deformities. Crested geckos
need calcium for proper bone growth and egg production. In order to prevent a calcium deficiency,
I dust all of my crickets with powdered calcium at each feeding.
All of these health problems can be prevented if the
crested geckos are given optimal care.
Note I have had only one case of FTS or calcium deficiency in my stock
so the problems are not that common.
The first and only crested gecko that got FTS always had a significant
pelvic depression, which probably led to the disorder. I have had a couple geckos with stuck shed
but it was easily resolved with tweezers and/or misting. Carefully observing your gecko(s) daily
will help diagnose any health problems early and with proper treatment,
prevent the growth of the problem. As
a precaution, any new gecko to your stock should be quarantined for 2 to 3
months so that you do not introduce new diseases to your animals.