Crested Geckos at GaiaUniversal

Crested Geckos (also known as Eyelash Geckos) are small lizards native to New Caledonia. They are a mostly arboreal species of gecko and are nocturnal. They spend the daylight hours sleeping in secure spots in high branches. They get their name from the fringed crest that begins over their eyes that runs down their necks and backs. The size of their crests vary, they tend to be much smaller in the wild than they do in captivity as many breeders line-breed to improve their crest structure. Crested Geckos come in a array of colours and markings which are known as morphs and traits. 

Crested geckos typically live for 15-20 years in captivity with proper care. Some individuals may even exceed this lifespan, reaching 20 years or more.

New Caledonia is nestled between Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, and New Guinea. It is inhabited by the Kanak people, renowned for its incredible nature, barrier reefs, and perfect climate year-round.  

  The species was thought to be extinct until it was rediscovered in 1994 during an expedition led by German herpetologist Robert Seipp. Along with several other New Caledonian gecko species, it is being considered for protected status by the Convention on the international trade in endangered species of wild flora and fauna.

Crested geckos are arboreal so they require a decent amount of vertical space as well as horizontal space.  An adult requires a 45cm wide by 60 cm tall and 45cm deep enclosure at minimum. It is best for babies and juveniles to be housed in a smaller space and upgraded as they grow so that they can easily find food in their enclosure.  Crested geckos are  solitary animals and prefer to live alone. Cohabiting can bring different problems such as fights leading to injury, domination over food and stress.

For decor, fill your enclosure with plenty of branches, vines, cork bark, and foliage. You can use strong artificial vines and artificial plants that don't shed small shards of plastic or leach dye.  Cover the floor in clean coco coir soil substrate. You can also use paper-towel if cleaned frequently. Paper towel is also good to use if you want to check if the gecko is pooping fine during the first few weeks of ownership and quarantine. Make sure the paper-towel is unscented and doesn't have any harmful chemicals.

You can also create an bio-active environment with real plants that are non toxic to crested geckos such as bromeliads, peace lilies, devil's ivy and ferns. This is best done in glass terrariums. Bioactive is simply the term for setting up an enclosure in a way that resembles the native habitat of its inhabitants and relies on live plants, invertebrates and fungi to help control waste. Setting up a bioactive enclosure is not as straightforward as your more typical habitat. Additional research and planning is required to ensure success. 

Crested geckos appreciate a day-night cycle with 8-12 hours of light a day. Specialist UVB lamps can be used which can provide health benefits for geckos. If providing UVB, they require a low level typically 1-2.4% and on for only 4-6 hours daily.

Crested geckos are more heat sensitive than you might expect from a reptile and actually like living in the temperatures most people do here in the UK.

Their preferred temps are between 22°C -26°C in the day and a slight drop to 20°C-22°C at night.  

The maximum temperature to crested geckos is 28°C... its dangerous  for them in prolonged temperatures of 30°C or over as they can get heatstroke, develop neurological issues or pass away. So in summer keepers must be extra careful. 

Here are a few tips to keep your gecko cool and happy:

• Change water daily and offer a decent sized water bowl. 
• Make sure to mist the enclosure down 2-3 times a day.
•  Keep enclosure out of direct sunlight.
• Have good airflow and ventilation.
• Have a cooling system in place if need be.
• Never keep the enclosure against a radiator (Regardless of the season).

 If the room you keep your geckos in stay within the safe temperatures then special heating isn't required. Though if temps drop below 20°C you can provide a heat mat on a thermostat or a ceramic heat lamp on a thermostat.

Adult males weigh 38g-70g the average being 40g-50g.

Adult females weigh 40g-70g the average being 45g-60g.

There are a few adults that get past 70g without overfeeding but this isn't very common. 

Here at GaiaUniversal, our largest adult male is 71g and our smallest adult male is 40g.

Our largest adult female is 62g and our smallest female is 45g.

Size wise Crested geckos typically reach an adult size of 6-10 inches in length, including their tail. Their body length, without the tail, is generally between 4-6 inches. They can reach their full size within 18 months.

Crested geckos are omnivores having a diet of fruit and insects. Their main food provided in captivity is a complete nutritious powder food that is added with water to make a nice ketchup-consistency paste. They'll happily lick this out of a small feeding bowl during night-time. 

In our opinion the best brands of powdered food is Repashy and Pangea. Both Repashy and Pangea are reputable and come in a variety of flavours. Some flavours have added insects providing a higher content of protein and calcium which is super handy for the fussy geckos that don't take insects. 

Crested geckos are natural hunters when they want insects. Safe insects to feed are brown crickets, black crickets, locusts, dubia roaches, wax worms, meal worms, and calci worms. Worms have a high fat content so offer them more as a treat. Insects should be gut-loaded before feeding. You can easily gut-load your insects by offering them safe vegetables and fruits, best if they are organic or home-grown! 

Insects can be dusted with supplement powders every now and then so that your gecko gets the right nutrition and the right amount of calcium. Always provide the recommended brands and doses so that a overdose is avoided. 

As a treat you can also offer your crested gecko fresh fruit. Always mash the fruit into a paste or blend before feeding. Safe fruits to feed are mangoes, pears, watermelons, papayas, bananas, grapes, and apples (Not the core as seeds are toxic).

Jelly pots sold in stores are mostly sugar and offer no nutrition. The gecko can also end up going off their proper food if fed too many jelly pot treats so its best to avoid them altogether. 

Through experience of what works best for our geckos this is our personal feeding schedule:

0-5 days old: Fed every day, live food 2-3 times a week if they'll take bugs.

5 days - 3  months old: Fed every 2 days, live food 2-3 times a week if they'll take bugs.

3 months - 12 months old: Fed every 2-3 days, live food 2 times a week if they'll take bugs.

12  months+ : Fed every 3-4 days, Live food 1-2 times a week if they'll take bugs.

Crested Geckos can sometimes be a bit food fussy. Some geckos will take a liking to only  1-2 flavours of Crested Gecko Diet (CGD) and stick to that. Other geckos  like having a different flavour on rotation. It's simply a preference to the individual. At GaiaUniversal, we try and raise our babies on a variety of food flavours so that when the surplus find new homes they won't be as fussy. If we get a fuss pot, it doesn't take long to work out which flavour they like.

Some can be fussy on the CGD texture also. In experience they tend to like a smooth consistency rather than a lumpy grainy texture. Some like it thicker than ketchup consistency, others like it a little less thick. Its like Goldy Locks and her porridge, some of these geckos want it just right! 

With live food, food fussiness can come into play here as well. Young geckos tend to be more bug driven and then once they age this can slow down. Some adults go off bugs altogether and some babies don't ever get started on bugs. Others are bug crazy from the get go and never get tired of seeing bugs being offered to them.  Its worth trying a few times with different live food if your gecko doesn't take bugs. There is also a method of gutting a bug before offering which triggers a feeding response, its gross but it works in most cases.

To keep the humidity around 60-80% its good to mist the enclosure once in the morning and once in the evening. When weather is dryer, you may find the need to mist 3 times a day. You can do this with a water spray bottle. Geckos will often lick the droplets from misting so its also a great way to keep them hydrated. There are a few sources that say they don't require a water bowl because of this, however please always offer your reptile a water source. You may rarely see them drink from a water bowl though they all do it. Animals having access to clean fresh water 24/7 is vital to their good health.

For misting we like using distilled water as it leaves the enclosure glass clean from limescale.

Crested geckos aren't really stinky though they can make a mess by pooping in their water bowl, leaving wee and skid marks on the sides and walking all over their food and smearing it about. This is all easy enough to spot clean though! If you have soil substrate, with spot cleaning  you only really need to deep clean once every 3-4 weeks. Changing paper-towel regularly is vital though as with high humidity requirements it can mould pretty easily. With bio-active enclosures, you will still need to spot clean some areas and the sides of your enclosure. 

Crested geckos come in a array of different temperaments and personalities. 

For the most part crested geckos make excellent pets because so many can be sweet and docile. Some will gladly jump from hand to hand not having the urge to launch themselves to the other side of the room and then climb the wall up to the ceiling... yes some do that. Some  geckos like to eat their food nicely from the bowl and then go back to exploring. Others like eating from their bowl, walking over their food and smearing it all over the enclosure walls. Some geckos leave their water bowl pristine while others think of it as the best place to toilet in.

They all have the ability to bite though in experience its just from food response if they are bug crazy or during breeding season if a adult male has caught scent of a female. If you keep males and females, its best to wash your hand between handling so that the male is less likely to bite you thinking your hand is a female's crest. During breeding season the males can be a bit restless when awake so at night they may seem a little more active.

For the most part the most docile geckos are the ones who have been handled regularly from a young age. Skittish geckos are usually ones that are stressed, haven't been handled as much, handled too roughly, having been cohabiting with other geckos, or treated poorly.

 If you are looking for a gecko and would like them to have a good temperament  here are some things you can do:

• Buy from a reputable breeder that handles their geckos regularly.
• Ask what the temperament is like before buying.
• Let the gecko properly settle in their new home before handling (1 week+ is best).
• Introduce handling at a slower pace.
• Handle gently in a no-stress quiet environment.
• Set the gecko up in a quiet place in the household, the less stress and noise in their environment, the more calm they'll feel.
• Buy a young gecko and raise them up so that they grow up getting used to you and their environment. 

Handing geckos is a great way to get them used to you and is enjoyable for us keepers all round. Pick them up by gently scooping them from underneath. Put one hand in front of the other and they'll either walk or jump from hand to hand. Never grab them fast or by the tail as this could cause them stress or cause them to drop their tail. If they do jump far and walk off, try to remain calm and get them back again gently. Try to not grab them from above as this could scare them. 

Crested gecko morphs are different variations in colour and pattern, resulting from genetic mutations. These variations are visually distinct and can include traits like patternless, bicolor, tiger, harlequin, pinstripe, tri-colour and more. Each morph represents a specific combination of colours, patterns, and structural traits.  

They have base colours such as black, brown, red, lavender, yellow, and orange. 

The range of patterns and colours you can get is also one of the reasons why crested geckos are so popular. Every one is unique and no two geckos are the same. Geckos of the same morph can look completely different due to genetics and how the individual expresses that morph. 

 There is no direct correlation between colour and sex.  

Crested geckos have a natural process called "firing up" and "firing down" where their colours shift from a vibrant, darker state ("fired up") to a paler, duller state ("fired down"). This color change is a normal behavior and is often linked to environmental factors like temperature, humidity, and lighting, as well as their activity level and mood. Sometimes when handling, you can see them changing their colours slowly before your eyes. Crested geckos can also 'misfire' which means they fire up or fire down different parts of their body resulting in a 'patchy' looking gecko.

Crested geckos are usually fired down when sleeping and chill. They are usually fired up when awake, hunting live food, and when breeding/searching for a mate.

Crested geckos will look different at different stages of their life. Hatchlings can look darker or a reddish brown when hatching out and progress into their true colour overtime. For example red crested geckos can come out the egg very dull, brown/dark, or pale and then start progressing red from a few months or so. Patterns can also progress and spread, this is usually the case with the lilly white gene as their white/cream pattern usually spreads to a higher percentage in comparison to when they hatched out. Super dalmatians start off with a few spots and end up with over 100 by the time they are an adult. This is one of the reasons why baby geckos tend to be cheaper than adult geckos and why breeders take a gamble on buying geckos young in hopes they'll progress better. You can get a good idea on a young geckos progression looking at lineage records that established breeders should have. 

Crested geckos will reach their colour and pattern prime at the age of around 1-2 years old. This is where their colours are the most vibrant in their lifetime. Depending on genetics they'll typically stay in their colour prime for 2-5 years before they start to loose their colour vibrancy from aging. It is more than possible for them to hold vibrancy for much longer. Its why line-breeding is very important to good breeders. Breeding vibrant individuals together that hold their colour for a good few years will give their offspring a better chance of doing the same if not holding onto their colour vibrancy for longer. 

Crested geckos shed their skin more frequently when they are young and less often as they mature. Newly hatched geckos will shed 0-4 days after hatching. After that first shed,  hatchlings shed their skin weekly, juveniles every couple of weeks, and adults roughly once a month. The shedding process typically occurs overnight, and the gecko will eat the shed skin so you may not catch them at it often. Sometimes they can leave a little bit of shed behind.

Crested geckos going into shed will start to look dull and pale, duller than the colour they fire down to. Their feet will be less 'sticky' and they'll loose a bit of grip until they shed.  It's best to leave them alone and skip handling until they are done shedding.

To ensure they shed well, keep humidity at 60%-80%, mist, and provide a water bowl. You can also offer a small hide with some damp sphagnum moss in to help. 

Even with everything right some do struggle to shed sometimes especially hatchlings. If this happens, you can put them in a small tub with paper towel with misted sides for a couple hours. This will help rehydrate their skin so its easier for them to get it off. 

Crested geckos drop their tails as a defense mechanism, primarily to escape predators. When a gecko feels threatened, it can detach its tail, which will continue to wiggle, distracting the predator while the gecko escapes. This is a natural behavior, though it can also be triggered by stress or rough handling in captivity. Once they drop their tail, it won't grow back like other gecko species. Good news is that this doesn't happen very often in captivity though if it does, it is not the end of the world. The wound heals very quickly. You can clean the wound with a little bit of 'pet silver by GaiaUniversal' by spraying it on the wound and keeping the gecko on paper towel until it heals. Geckos that drop their tail grow a little nub in place and that's why we call them a 'frog-butt'. 

Young geckos adjust to tail-loss better than adults. Older geckos may need a little while of peace while they get used to moving without their tail aka 'fifth foot'.  Their tails are prehensile and can be used to grip and climb, effectively acting like a fifth limb. The tip of their tail has lamellae and setae, similar to their toe pads, allowing it to adhere to surfaces.  

 Adult males develop a visible bulge at the base of their tail, where the hemipenes (reproductive organs) are located. This bulge is often prominent and easily noticeable. Male crested geckos also develop a line of pores directly anterior to their vent that secrete pheromones they use to mark territory, attract mates, and more. They can develop pores from the age of 4 months+ though usually its very hard to tell the younger the gecko is due to small the pores are. It is why breeders list young geckos as unsexed or possible female or male. If you want a certain sex, look for geckos that are over a year old. The photo above shows the pores and bulge of a adult male.

Females do not develop a hemipenal bulge and their underside will appear flat. Some females may have a slight bulge due to fat deposits, but it will not be as pronounced as a male's hemipenal bulge. l characteristics like hemipenile bulges in  

It really depends on you. Buying geckos young can have a range of benefits whether you are a keeper or a breeder. Raising babies is a lovely experience. To see them grow and how their colours and patterns progress is amazing. It is easier to bond and get babies used to you more than it is a older gecko. Babies are usually cheaper too which can work well for breeders banking on how well their colours and patterns will progress. With adults they are usually more set in the ways of their upbringing. If an adult gecko wasn't handled as much in their younger days then they can be skittish, though you can get the complete opposite and have a adult that is perfectly handable. Small geckos are more fragile than adults, it can be a bit of a panic when they jump off your hand and their so small you don't want to startle them when trying to get them back. Size and temperament is something to consider if you'd like to bring kids into the handling experience as well.

Crested gecko pricing depends on a lot of factors, most breeder price geckos based off the trending morphs/looks and based on what other breeders price their geckos on the market. There is also a quality spectrum, the higher the quality of the gecko genuinely the higher the price. In all honesty, pricing is mostly opinion and rarity based. Females are genuinely priced higher than males as the market is usually more male heavy with breeders holding back females for future projects. Juveniles and young adults are usually priced higher than babies too. Common morphs/looks can range from £30-£500 whereas designer morphs/looks can range from £500-£5000+. New morphs that emerge can range much higher than that! and gradually come down once those individuals are more readily available. Lineage and reputation also play a big role when it comes to pricing. Big reputable breeders that have been working with crested geckos for years usually can provide very high quality animals with amazing lineage records which will bump up prices.

At GaiaUniversal we price geckos based on quality, lineage, and what we'd genuinely pay for that said individual. We keep a eye on the market and take place within it pricing more in the mid-ranges. We want our geckos to be as affordable as possible as well as working with higher-end individuals.

Crested geckos are getting more and more popular. This is due to their attractive appearance, docile nature, and relatively low maintenance requirements compared to other reptiles. They are small, most individuals are easy to handle, and have a low-maintenance diet, making them suitable for beginners and experienced pet owners alike. 

In our opinion,  crested geckos are such wonderful pets full of colour and personality. Their faces are adorable and they are so soft. Most of ours are happy to come out and chill for a little while. They live for a long time so as long as you can commit to their lifespan and keep up to date with their requirements, they are one of the most rewarding pet reptiles to have.