Crested and Gargoyle Geckos
Crested and Gargoyle Geckos are one of the easiest to care for lizards available today. Their toes have "sticky" lamellae which allow them to adhere to many surfaces and feels a bit prickly when walking across your skin. They also have ridges on the end of their tail for gripping surfaces and helping with balance.
Gargoyle geckos are similar to Cresteds, but they are a bit larger, chubbier and have a more pre-historic look than cresteds. They are slower moving, less jumpy and tolerate handling a bit better than cresteds. They lack the ability to stick to surfaces as well as cresteds, so they require more climbing branches and leaves in their enclosure, otherwise their care is much the same as cresteds with a few key differences noted in the information below.
ENCLOSURE
These geckos are relatively small, and do not need large enclosures to be happy. However, they DO need climbing room, so the taller the enclosure, the better. Crested and gargoyle geckos have different housing needs depending on their ages. Hatchling and young juveniles should be housed in Medium-Large Kritter Keepers. A single gecko can be housed in a 10 gallon aquarium turned on its side so the tank is tall rather than wide, with a screen top across the front. 20 gallons is better for an adult, as the more space they have to climb, the happier and healthier they will be. 12 x 12 x 18 or 18 x 18 x 24 terrariums are perfect setups for these geckos.
Female geckos can be housed together with care, but watch for signs of fighting and dominance and separate if needed. Males should never be housed together. Gargoyles are less likely to do well together and may require enclosures of their own. Be sure to provide lots of climbing branches, cork bark and vines for them, as they don't quite have the sticking ability that cresteds have.
Decorating the enclosure is easy. Geckos love plants, and potted easy to care for plants like Porthos make great potted plants. Fake plants of all sorts can be used too, and are easy to keep clean. Branches and logs can be used, but must be free of insects, pesticides and dirt. A better choice are the bendable reptile branches available in the store. Cork bark pieces are popular additions as well, providing hiding and climbing places. Geckos love to sleep in odd positions you cannot imagine can be comfortable. It makes for great photo ops!
The easiest substrate to use for the bottom is simple paper towels, or you can purchase easy to clean, reusable reptile carpet for a more natural look. Eco-Earth or Jungle Mix is another popular choice. It helps maintain humidity and is easy to spot clean weekly. The entire substrate should be changed every few months. Avoid any sort of wood chips, sand, or gravel, as these can pose dangers if ingested. Eco-earth does pose the risk of impaction though if ingested, especially if you feed insects in the enclosure.
Paper towels should be replaced weekly and the tank cleaned with hot water and a reptile safe cleaner once a month. Branches and foliage can be rinsed with hot water and scrubbed clean.
Males cannot be housed together as they will fight. Juveniles up to around 5 grams can be housed together regardless of sex, but at around this age they should be separated to avoid nips and injuries. Multiple females can usually be kept together safely if they are of the same size, but again, there is no guarantee! A male and female(s) can be kept together, but make sure both are of proper breeding size (35 grams and up), and prepare to incubate eggs, hatch and care for hatchlings and find homes for many babies if you have a pair! If you keep a pair together, please do your research and be a responsible breeder. Babies are cute, but homeless, unwanted or unhealthy geckos are not cute, nor are irresponsible breeders.
TEMPERATURE
Proper temperature is very important for crested and gargoyle geckos. Unlike other reptiles, Crested and Gargoyle Geckos can not tolerate higher temperatures. Never allow your gecko enclosure or the room they are in to get above 85 degrees or under 60 degrees F. A temperature between 72-80 degrees is ideal year round. If overheated, it is very likely your gecko will become stressed and die. If you cannot keep the room your gecko is in at an ideal temperature, please consider another reptile more suited to your ability. Digital thermometers are best for monitoring temperatures inside the enclosure.
10-12 hours of lighting should be provided a day. These geckos are nocturnal, so are most active at night. You may not see them eat or react must at all during daylight hours, when they spend their time fired-down and hiding among the leaves and plants sleeping.
NEVER use a heat lamp or under-tank heater for a crested or gargoyle gecko! If you want lighting on your tank for view, use a low wattage bulb that does not give off heat.
HUMIDITY
Crested and Gargoyle geckos do require humidity to be healthy. This is easily achieved by misting their enclosures with room temperature reverse osmosis water (to prevent water spots on the glass). It is recommended to mist your enclosure in the evenings, when the geckos are most active. They like to lick the water off plants and the glass for moisture rather than drinking from a bowl, but provide a bowl of fresh water for them anyhow. Lightly misting in the morning as well keeps the humidity level at a desired level. Hygrometers work great to monitor humidity levels and are a must have. Ideal humidity is around 50-80%. As the day/night wears on, the humidity will drop again until it is time to re-mist. Do not over-mist the enclosures as doing so can cause mold problems. The cage should be completely dry by the time you mist again. Cages with eco-earth will maintain humidity better than those without.
Humid hides can be provided to help with shedding. This is usually a gladware type container filled with moist eco-earth or sphagnum moss. Commercial rock caves can be purchased as well. All geckos, regardless of gender and size, will appreciate a humid hide.
FEEDING
These geckos eat primarily a special powdered diet formulated especially for them. The two major brands are Pangea and Repashy. It is a powder you mix with water, and contains everything they need to thrive. Food should be changed out weekly for fresh food.
Food dishes should be small and easy to clean. A great feeding dish is the magnetic mushroom ledge. You can purchase disposable dishes for the ledge as well, making feeding and cleanup very easy. Hatchlings should be fed from bottlecaps or something of similar size, as they can drown in larger dishes.
Crested and Gargoyle geckos eat fallen fruit in the wild, and many gecko sellers recommend baby food. More experienced owners and breeders strongly advise against this, as it does not offer the balanced nutrition they need. Improper feeding results in unhealthy, disfigured geckos from being fed a diet of baby food or bugs only, so it is very important they are fed Crested Gecko Diet their entire lives. If a breeder or pet store tells you that baby food is ok, take this as a warning that they may not be experienced enough or knowledgeable in the care for this species.
Crested geckos will eat crickets and roaches, but they do not require them. Gargoyles are less likely to accept bugs. You can offer crickets dusted with calcium powder about once or twice a month as a treat. Never feed your gecko wild-caught insects. They may be carrying diseases, or have pesticide residue on them that may hurt your pet. The insects you offer should be no larger than the space between your geckos eyes to avoid impacting or choking. It is best to feed insects that have been gut-loaded for nutrition, which is a method of feeding the insects specialized gut-loading foods, or potatoes and other vegetables prior to offering them to your gecko. Only offer a few insects at a time. Too many in the enclosure can cause them to bite and pick on your gecko, causing wounds and stress.
Never feed mealworms or superworms, as they have a hard outer shell that is hard for these geckos to digest.
Always keep fresh water available for your gecko!
HANDLING
Crested and Gargoyle geckos for the most part make great pets and are easy to handle, but every gecko is different and has their own unique personality.
An easy way to get your gecko used to being handled is to let them "walk your hand", by offering a hand in front of them and allow them to walk from hand to hand until they settle down. Never grab your gecko by the tail...if they try to leap, it is best to let them leap. By attempting to break their fall, grab them or distract them, you risk the chance of injuring them. Hatchlings under 2 weeks should be be handled much, if at all. Juvenile geckos can handle 10-15 minutes a day to help tame them down without stressing them out. Adults can handle a lot more interaction. Avoid too much interaction with newly acquired geckos. Give them a week or two to acclimate to their new surroundings before adding the stress of being handled.
Occasionally a gecko will lose their tail if stressed out or mishandled. Unlike most geckos, Crested Geckos will not grow their tails back. Gargoyles will re-grow their dropped tails over time but it will look different than the original tail. Avoid frightening your geckos when handling them. Tap on the glass softly or mist the cage lightly before putting your hand in to take them out as to not startle them from a sleep. Remember, these geckos do not have eyelids, so they are always "wide eyed", even when sleeping! Care should be taken when shutting cage doors as well...many geckos lose their tails when the base is pinched by a careless door. Overcrowding and keeping males together that may fight is another common cause of tail drop. Tailless geckos make great pets and their lack of tail in no way makes them inferior. It is rather startling when a gecko does drop their tail. In the wild, this is a defense mechanism. The dropped tail continues to twich, jump and move around for over 15 minutes to "distract" the predator while the gecko makes its get-away!!
Take care to keep your gecko clean if it does drop its tail. Make sure to house geckos with freshly-dropped tails on paper towels only to avoid infection.
Always keep your geckos away from other pets. They can be easily hurt by cats or dogs. Never let small children handle a gecko without supervision, as they can easily be crushed by overanxious hands.
SHEDDING
.
Geckos shed their skin as they grow, with the first shedding happening very soon after they hatch. They eat their shed skin, so you do not have to worry about removing it unless it gets stuck. Sometimes sheds will become "stuck", usually around their toes or tail...the best way to prevent this is to provide a humid hide for higher humidity, or to increase mistings to help them come out of the shed. If a gecko does have trouble shedding or retains shed, try putting them in a deli-cup or gladware container with damp paper towels for 15-20 minutes (make sure there are air holes in the container!). After their sauna, the shed should come off easily with the aid of a Q-tip. You may need to do this a few times to get all the shed off, but it's very important to do so as stuck shed can cause major problems and lost limbs.
GENDER
Crested and Gargoyle Geckos cannot be accurately sexed until they are around 10 grams or more. Males will develop a rather prominent hemipenile bulge just behind their vent, often around 5-6 months of age although it may take longer to become visible. Younger geckos can be very hard to sex and for this reason it is best to keep juveniles separate until you know for sure what gender they are to avoid premature breeding and fighting. A juvenile male can be spotted by looking at the ventral (bottom) side of their rear legs. Sometimes, with the naked eye, a line of very small pre-anal pores can be seen. An easier way to accurately determine the existence of pores on younger animals is with a jeweler's loupe of 10x or stronger to determine whether pores exist or not. Females will show no signs of pores, although sometimes they can have dented scales that resemble pores. All crested geckos have a small whitish bump on either side of its vent. These are the cloacal spurs and both males and females have them; they are thought to be used in mating to help the male align himself with the female.
BREEDING
.As with any pet, breeding is best left to those with experience and knowledge. Geckos with health problems, over or underbites, kinked tails from calcium loss or other issues should not be bred and simply kept for lovable pets.
If you do decide to breed, please research!
Females should weigh no less than 35 grams before breeding, so the very first thing to do is get yourself a scale, which is helpful in monitoring the health of your geckos even if you do not breed. Cresties lay eggs every 30-45 days, two at a time. They only need to mate with a male once to be gravid, and will retain that sperm for the entire breeding season. They should be provided with a cooling off period between breedings to help them maintain their health, and calcium levels need to be monitored They need a laybox to safely lay their eggs, and you will need to remove the eggs and properly incubate them to have healthy babies. Gargoyles are less prolific but can still produce 4-8 clutches a season.
Gargoyle geckos are similar to Cresteds, but they are a bit larger, chubbier and have a more pre-historic look than cresteds. They are slower moving, less jumpy and tolerate handling a bit better than cresteds. They lack the ability to stick to surfaces as well as cresteds, so they require more climbing branches and leaves in their enclosure, otherwise their care is much the same as cresteds with a few key differences noted in the information below.
ENCLOSURE
These geckos are relatively small, and do not need large enclosures to be happy. However, they DO need climbing room, so the taller the enclosure, the better. Crested and gargoyle geckos have different housing needs depending on their ages. Hatchling and young juveniles should be housed in Medium-Large Kritter Keepers. A single gecko can be housed in a 10 gallon aquarium turned on its side so the tank is tall rather than wide, with a screen top across the front. 20 gallons is better for an adult, as the more space they have to climb, the happier and healthier they will be. 12 x 12 x 18 or 18 x 18 x 24 terrariums are perfect setups for these geckos.
Female geckos can be housed together with care, but watch for signs of fighting and dominance and separate if needed. Males should never be housed together. Gargoyles are less likely to do well together and may require enclosures of their own. Be sure to provide lots of climbing branches, cork bark and vines for them, as they don't quite have the sticking ability that cresteds have.
Decorating the enclosure is easy. Geckos love plants, and potted easy to care for plants like Porthos make great potted plants. Fake plants of all sorts can be used too, and are easy to keep clean. Branches and logs can be used, but must be free of insects, pesticides and dirt. A better choice are the bendable reptile branches available in the store. Cork bark pieces are popular additions as well, providing hiding and climbing places. Geckos love to sleep in odd positions you cannot imagine can be comfortable. It makes for great photo ops!
The easiest substrate to use for the bottom is simple paper towels, or you can purchase easy to clean, reusable reptile carpet for a more natural look. Eco-Earth or Jungle Mix is another popular choice. It helps maintain humidity and is easy to spot clean weekly. The entire substrate should be changed every few months. Avoid any sort of wood chips, sand, or gravel, as these can pose dangers if ingested. Eco-earth does pose the risk of impaction though if ingested, especially if you feed insects in the enclosure.
Paper towels should be replaced weekly and the tank cleaned with hot water and a reptile safe cleaner once a month. Branches and foliage can be rinsed with hot water and scrubbed clean.
Males cannot be housed together as they will fight. Juveniles up to around 5 grams can be housed together regardless of sex, but at around this age they should be separated to avoid nips and injuries. Multiple females can usually be kept together safely if they are of the same size, but again, there is no guarantee! A male and female(s) can be kept together, but make sure both are of proper breeding size (35 grams and up), and prepare to incubate eggs, hatch and care for hatchlings and find homes for many babies if you have a pair! If you keep a pair together, please do your research and be a responsible breeder. Babies are cute, but homeless, unwanted or unhealthy geckos are not cute, nor are irresponsible breeders.
TEMPERATURE
Proper temperature is very important for crested and gargoyle geckos. Unlike other reptiles, Crested and Gargoyle Geckos can not tolerate higher temperatures. Never allow your gecko enclosure or the room they are in to get above 85 degrees or under 60 degrees F. A temperature between 72-80 degrees is ideal year round. If overheated, it is very likely your gecko will become stressed and die. If you cannot keep the room your gecko is in at an ideal temperature, please consider another reptile more suited to your ability. Digital thermometers are best for monitoring temperatures inside the enclosure.
10-12 hours of lighting should be provided a day. These geckos are nocturnal, so are most active at night. You may not see them eat or react must at all during daylight hours, when they spend their time fired-down and hiding among the leaves and plants sleeping.
NEVER use a heat lamp or under-tank heater for a crested or gargoyle gecko! If you want lighting on your tank for view, use a low wattage bulb that does not give off heat.
HUMIDITY
Crested and Gargoyle geckos do require humidity to be healthy. This is easily achieved by misting their enclosures with room temperature reverse osmosis water (to prevent water spots on the glass). It is recommended to mist your enclosure in the evenings, when the geckos are most active. They like to lick the water off plants and the glass for moisture rather than drinking from a bowl, but provide a bowl of fresh water for them anyhow. Lightly misting in the morning as well keeps the humidity level at a desired level. Hygrometers work great to monitor humidity levels and are a must have. Ideal humidity is around 50-80%. As the day/night wears on, the humidity will drop again until it is time to re-mist. Do not over-mist the enclosures as doing so can cause mold problems. The cage should be completely dry by the time you mist again. Cages with eco-earth will maintain humidity better than those without.
Humid hides can be provided to help with shedding. This is usually a gladware type container filled with moist eco-earth or sphagnum moss. Commercial rock caves can be purchased as well. All geckos, regardless of gender and size, will appreciate a humid hide.
FEEDING
These geckos eat primarily a special powdered diet formulated especially for them. The two major brands are Pangea and Repashy. It is a powder you mix with water, and contains everything they need to thrive. Food should be changed out weekly for fresh food.
Food dishes should be small and easy to clean. A great feeding dish is the magnetic mushroom ledge. You can purchase disposable dishes for the ledge as well, making feeding and cleanup very easy. Hatchlings should be fed from bottlecaps or something of similar size, as they can drown in larger dishes.
Crested and Gargoyle geckos eat fallen fruit in the wild, and many gecko sellers recommend baby food. More experienced owners and breeders strongly advise against this, as it does not offer the balanced nutrition they need. Improper feeding results in unhealthy, disfigured geckos from being fed a diet of baby food or bugs only, so it is very important they are fed Crested Gecko Diet their entire lives. If a breeder or pet store tells you that baby food is ok, take this as a warning that they may not be experienced enough or knowledgeable in the care for this species.
Crested geckos will eat crickets and roaches, but they do not require them. Gargoyles are less likely to accept bugs. You can offer crickets dusted with calcium powder about once or twice a month as a treat. Never feed your gecko wild-caught insects. They may be carrying diseases, or have pesticide residue on them that may hurt your pet. The insects you offer should be no larger than the space between your geckos eyes to avoid impacting or choking. It is best to feed insects that have been gut-loaded for nutrition, which is a method of feeding the insects specialized gut-loading foods, or potatoes and other vegetables prior to offering them to your gecko. Only offer a few insects at a time. Too many in the enclosure can cause them to bite and pick on your gecko, causing wounds and stress.
Never feed mealworms or superworms, as they have a hard outer shell that is hard for these geckos to digest.
Always keep fresh water available for your gecko!
HANDLING
Crested and Gargoyle geckos for the most part make great pets and are easy to handle, but every gecko is different and has their own unique personality.
An easy way to get your gecko used to being handled is to let them "walk your hand", by offering a hand in front of them and allow them to walk from hand to hand until they settle down. Never grab your gecko by the tail...if they try to leap, it is best to let them leap. By attempting to break their fall, grab them or distract them, you risk the chance of injuring them. Hatchlings under 2 weeks should be be handled much, if at all. Juvenile geckos can handle 10-15 minutes a day to help tame them down without stressing them out. Adults can handle a lot more interaction. Avoid too much interaction with newly acquired geckos. Give them a week or two to acclimate to their new surroundings before adding the stress of being handled.
Occasionally a gecko will lose their tail if stressed out or mishandled. Unlike most geckos, Crested Geckos will not grow their tails back. Gargoyles will re-grow their dropped tails over time but it will look different than the original tail. Avoid frightening your geckos when handling them. Tap on the glass softly or mist the cage lightly before putting your hand in to take them out as to not startle them from a sleep. Remember, these geckos do not have eyelids, so they are always "wide eyed", even when sleeping! Care should be taken when shutting cage doors as well...many geckos lose their tails when the base is pinched by a careless door. Overcrowding and keeping males together that may fight is another common cause of tail drop. Tailless geckos make great pets and their lack of tail in no way makes them inferior. It is rather startling when a gecko does drop their tail. In the wild, this is a defense mechanism. The dropped tail continues to twich, jump and move around for over 15 minutes to "distract" the predator while the gecko makes its get-away!!
Take care to keep your gecko clean if it does drop its tail. Make sure to house geckos with freshly-dropped tails on paper towels only to avoid infection.
Always keep your geckos away from other pets. They can be easily hurt by cats or dogs. Never let small children handle a gecko without supervision, as they can easily be crushed by overanxious hands.
SHEDDING
.
Geckos shed their skin as they grow, with the first shedding happening very soon after they hatch. They eat their shed skin, so you do not have to worry about removing it unless it gets stuck. Sometimes sheds will become "stuck", usually around their toes or tail...the best way to prevent this is to provide a humid hide for higher humidity, or to increase mistings to help them come out of the shed. If a gecko does have trouble shedding or retains shed, try putting them in a deli-cup or gladware container with damp paper towels for 15-20 minutes (make sure there are air holes in the container!). After their sauna, the shed should come off easily with the aid of a Q-tip. You may need to do this a few times to get all the shed off, but it's very important to do so as stuck shed can cause major problems and lost limbs.
GENDER
Crested and Gargoyle Geckos cannot be accurately sexed until they are around 10 grams or more. Males will develop a rather prominent hemipenile bulge just behind their vent, often around 5-6 months of age although it may take longer to become visible. Younger geckos can be very hard to sex and for this reason it is best to keep juveniles separate until you know for sure what gender they are to avoid premature breeding and fighting. A juvenile male can be spotted by looking at the ventral (bottom) side of their rear legs. Sometimes, with the naked eye, a line of very small pre-anal pores can be seen. An easier way to accurately determine the existence of pores on younger animals is with a jeweler's loupe of 10x or stronger to determine whether pores exist or not. Females will show no signs of pores, although sometimes they can have dented scales that resemble pores. All crested geckos have a small whitish bump on either side of its vent. These are the cloacal spurs and both males and females have them; they are thought to be used in mating to help the male align himself with the female.
BREEDING
.As with any pet, breeding is best left to those with experience and knowledge. Geckos with health problems, over or underbites, kinked tails from calcium loss or other issues should not be bred and simply kept for lovable pets.
If you do decide to breed, please research!
Females should weigh no less than 35 grams before breeding, so the very first thing to do is get yourself a scale, which is helpful in monitoring the health of your geckos even if you do not breed. Cresties lay eggs every 30-45 days, two at a time. They only need to mate with a male once to be gravid, and will retain that sperm for the entire breeding season. They should be provided with a cooling off period between breedings to help them maintain their health, and calcium levels need to be monitored They need a laybox to safely lay their eggs, and you will need to remove the eggs and properly incubate them to have healthy babies. Gargoyles are less prolific but can still produce 4-8 clutches a season.
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