Care

Full Care Information
Housing:
House your gecko in a glass or plastic or wooden vivarium  that offers 24″ x 12″ floor space for one  gecko housed and that is at least 12″ high. two geckos may be housed together by increasing the lenght by 6″ and so on.

Substrate:
Use paper towels or newspaper for the cage bottom. You can see when it is soiled, easily cleaned and the cost is reasonably low. We would not recommend using sand or any loose substrate until 5″-6″ in lenght  since your gecko may eat the sand and become impacted, which could cause death. A  decorative alternative could be slate,  or vinyl flooring which comes in an array of colours and designs.

Food:
All our geckos are fed a staple diet of mealworms,  they keep longer dont escape and dont smell, they must be gutloaded 48hrs before feeding to your gecko! we use wholemeal bread, oats, bran, chicken mash,cereal,fish food flakes, and fresh fruit and vegetables, these are supplemented twice weekly with crickets,locust,roaches, and the occasional waxworm. all of these food items must be dusted with pure calcium every feed and twice weekly with vitamin powder containing D3 this is an absolute must! without it your gecko cannot absorbcalcium.

heating:

you will need a heatmat that covers approximately one third of your vivarium, controlled by a thermostat set to 30-32c this is the warm end floor temperature so place your thermostat probe as close to here as possible, this temperature is needed for food digestion and the general well being of your gecko! nothing is needed at the other end as geckos like a temperature gradient.

lighting:

if your vivarium receives natural daylight no lighting is needed, although there are various night bulbs available on the market for observing your geckos, a simple low watt bulb will do for daytime lighting if needed, but please make sure your gecko cannot come in contact with this!

decor:

this is very much personal choice but your gecko needs at least, a moist hide,( warm end), needed to aid your gecko when shedding,  and a hide at the cool end, a shallow dish with fresh water available at all times, a small dish of pure calcium, your gecko can be seen licking this as and when needed. a shallow dish for mealworms, wood, plastic plants etc, are really your own personal choice.

sexing:

males generally become sexually mature at around 45gms although it is better to wait until fully grown before breeding as introducing him to females at this age can affect his growth rate, where as females need to be at least 55gms and preferably 12 months old before breeding although there are always exceptions to the rule.

Sexing your gecko is not very difficult. Male geckos are larger, heavier in the neck region, have a line of small pre -anal pores on their belly between their hindlegs which are just in front of the anal opening or vent and they exhibit two swellings at their tail base and just past the vent.

Females lack the large size, in general, and the pre-anal pores and post-anal swellings are missing. Sex can’t be easily seen until your gecko reaches 5-6″ in total length.

Cage mates:

geckos as a rule are solitary animals and thrive on their own, they do not need company, but quite often you can keep a group of females together with no problems! you must keep a careful eye on them though for any signs of bullying, and have the means to seperate them if needed, males on the other hand cannot be kept together and must be housed seperately, they can inflict serious wounds on each other, which at worst could lead to death!

All in all geckos are an easy pet to keep provided you meet their needs, they can become very tame with patience and gentle handling, they are very clean creatures and generally only soil one corner of their home, they come in an endless array of morphs and colours, but beware they are addictive! and also be aware that they have been known to live for 20 years! although this is an exception.