Are you thinking about getting a crested gecko? Or perhaps if you have one now, you want to get to know your new buddy better. So let’s review the top crestie behaviors and facts you need to know.
19 Crested Gecko Behaviors
#1 Are crested geckos friendly?
Crested geckos are quite friendly in the sense that they aren’t hard to tame. However, although they are tolerant of handling, that does not mean they will be affectionate like a dog.
Though geckos are social creatures, they are still reptiles and as such, should be left alone sometimes.
You could make the geckos friendlier by acclimatizing them to your constant presence. Feeding them their favorite dishes like crickets or mealworms is a good way to make friends.
#2 How often do crested geckos lay eggs?
Crested geckos could lay a new batch of eggs every 3 to 5 weeks (or every 25 to 35 days), with up to 2 eggs in each batch or clutch. Theoretically, adult females starting at 12 months of age could lay up to 9 clutches per year, but it would be prejudicial to their health. It’s wiser to give them time to recover.
It should also be noted that in a gecko’s lifetime, the rate of reproduction at an early stage of life determines whether or not the gecko can continue laying eggs in the future. Too high a rate could lead to decreasing fertility or even infertility later.
Once the eggs are laid, you can incubate them in a reptile incubator. Keep them on a slightly moist substrate like vermiculite inside an airtight container at a constant 72°. It takes anywhere from 65 to 90 days for the babies to emerge.
#3 What do crested geckos’ droppings look like?
Crested geckos’ droppings vary in size and color, depending largely on what they eat. If a gecko eats a lot, then there would be more droppings than usual. When they defecate, they usually excrete a small amount of urine, too.
A health crested gecko’s poop consists of three parts: clear urine, white urates, and feces, which are dark-colored and tubular-shaped.
If the droppings look runny, that could be diarrhea. Call your vet if it continues. Blood is also a sign of illness or injury. And undigested food appearing on a consistent basis also means you should call your veterinarian.
#4 Are crested geckos still endangered?
As surprising as it may sound, the crested gecko is actually an endangered species. Although many of you would say that its ubiquitous presence as a pet speaks otherwise, it’s still hard to find in the wild.
The species of C. belepensis of crested gecko is critically endangered, while the species of C. ciliatus is considered vulnerable.
To make matters worse, habitat loss and the presence of invasive species from outside are threatening the crested gecko in profound ways.
#5 Do crested geckos hibernate?
Hibernation or brumation for geckos is a type of winter withdrawal. In such a period, crested geckos, instead of slipping into a deep sleep like other hibernating animals, opt for a reduction in their activities.
More specifically, a crestie when brumating eats less than usual and as a result, stops growing or grows very slowly due to the decrease in nutrition.
However, you could control crested geckos’ behavior by using artificial heating and lights to make them think that it’s not wintertime. But such tactics are not strongly recommended as they would jeopardize the geckos’ natural patterns.
Throughout most of the year, give them 12 to 14 hours of daylight and warm temperatures. Then for two months, drop the enclosure down to 65 to 70°F with only 10 hours of light. Before you begin, give them only water for a few days to ensure that they empty their digestive tract. These steps ensure they follow the natural rhythm.
#6 Can crested geckos see red light?
Crested geckos are tetrachromatic, so they can see red light without difficulty. If you want to view your crestie at night when he’s active, install a blue or black light. This won’t disturb them.
#7 How do crested geckos mate?
Usually, crested geckos do not mate during winter, they only do so during the warmer months of the year. In fact, to breed a female, you’ll want to raise the temperature in the enclosure slightly to between 75 to 78°F. But they still need to cycle through a cooling period before you begin to mate them.
Once temperatures begin to warm up, you can breed adult geckos once they’re big enough and old enough. Most guidelines recommend that the female be at least a year old and weigh at least 38 g.
When putting a pair of crested geckos in a tank, things can go one of two ways. There might be some head bobbing and chirping from the male. Or he might go straight to business, mount her, and bite her on the crest while they copulate for a few minutes.
Then they may be quiet for about 15 minutes before the male starts seeks out the female again.
You can keep breeding pairs together all year round.
#8 Do crested geckos have teeth?
You may have noticed that your gecko lacks a very important feature of any animal, it lacks teeth. However, the truth is that gecko does have teeth, it is just that its teeth are very small, so small in fact that sometimes they hide in plain sight.
With such small teeth, it is not very serious to be bitten by your gecko, though I would not recommend that you try it all the same.
#9 How do crested geckos shed their skin?
Crested geckos like other reptiles shed their skin as they grow. This behavior will continue throughout their lives. They have to change to a bigger “shirt” when needed.
As per their nature, when a crested gecko sheds its skin, it usually eats the shed skin. Therefore you will hardly see any shed skin from your pets. This is to recapture some remaining nutrients used to create a new set of skin, and this particular behavior is a means to avoid being detected by predators in the wild.
Naturally, crested geckos can shed on their own without your help. Sometimes you can see small pieces of stuck skin near their toes and tails. And when things go bad, stuck skin will constrict blood flow, leading to more serious damage to your pet, such as loss of toes or tail tips.
In such cases, you can help your crestie by removing those stuck skin, using warm water and a paper towel. Sometimes, a Q-tip also helps.
#10 Interesting facts about crested gecko shedding
One thing to remember, young crested geckos shed more frequently, like once a week. By contrast, adults shed only once a month or less often.
They usually shed at night. So, if you know your pet will shed tonight, remember to maintain a good humidity level in its tank and fill in the water bowl. This will ensure your little reptile buddy has an easier time of it.
#11 Are crested geckos nocturnal?
Crested geckos are primarily nocturnal, which means that they are chiefly active at night, while during the day, they would rest. Geckos spend the day sleeping in a secure spot, like in the shade up on high branches.
This means that geckos are safe from the heat of the day. In New Caledonia in the South Pacific, their original home, the daytime heat can be unbearable to this cold-blooded creature.
As you might not know, crested geckos don’t demand high light exposure or high temperatures. In fact, they enjoy room temperature as we do. So, it’s recommended to keep them away from direct sunlight, which may heat up a glass tank quickly and do harm to them.
#12 Can crested geckos live together?
It is fine to get two female geckos or a breeding pair to live together in the same tank. However, more than this number could be problematic. Males are territorial and may be aggressive with other males.
Space is of the essence here as too small an enclosure could mean that your geckos would struggle a lot.
Quarantine new pets for at least 60 days before putting geckos together to ensure that one of the geckos is not sick and could spread the illness to the other one.
So if you plan to raise more than one crested gecko, consider buying more reptile tanks for them.
#13 Do crested geckos make noise?
Crested geckos do make noise. There are two typical cases in which the geckos would emit sounds.
First and foremost, during mating, the geckos emit noise to attract partners.
The second type of sound would be made if a gecko feels threatened. So if you pick up a crested gecko, chances are you may hear a chirping sound coming from it. This is meant to say: “Get away from me!
#14 How long do crested geckos live?
The crested gecko was first described as the species “Correlophus ciliatus” by a French zoologist named Alphonse Guichenot in 1866. It has many names, including New Caledonian crested gecko (named after the island where it’s first found), Guichenot’s giant gecko (named after the French zoologist) or eyelash gecko (thanks to its recognizable feature).
Cresties were considered to be extinct. But in 1994, it was found in the wild once again.
Since it was re-discovered in 1994, it’s still a guess as to how long the creature could live in captivity. The reason is simple as there are few comparative studies with regard to the life span of this species. The most viable data comes from wild crested geckos in their home island, New Caledonia.
There has been a consensus that a well-cared for gecko could live up to 15 to 20 years. Female geckos seem to have shorter lifespans than male geckos perhaps due to the strain of breeding.
Captive creatures tend to have a decreased lifespan due to the fact that many keepers do not know how to properly care for them in terms of environment and food. But we want you to have a healthy little buddy for as long as possible We try to make it easy for you to find the information you need about caring for your crested gecko.
#15 Where do crested geckos come from?
The crested gecko is endemic to South Province, New Caledonia, in the South Pacific Ocean. There are three populations of crested geckos. The first one is found on the Isle of Pines and the other two are found on Grande Terre.
#16 Can crested geckos swim?
As a deep-rooted instinct of the animal, swimming is an innate ability of each and every gecko. However, like a baby, whose innate ability to swim is beyond doubt, we must not place our geckos in a fish tank simply because they can swim. That would be a very misguided belief at best. This is simply because swimming is just a survival instinct of the animal, triggered only when the need arises; such instinct would only be used when there is danger. As such, an aquatic environment would be a far cry from a comfortable place for your gecko.
#17 How fast do crested geckos grow?
Crested geckos, or in this case, baby geckos, take about one to two years to become fully grown adults. Generally, it takes about 18 months for a gecko to come of age. However, you should not take this as an immutable pattern as geckos in different environments could show different growth rates.
Fluctuation in humidity and temperature has an impact on growth rates. Geckos tend to reach 25 grams before they accelerate their growth rates. Before that, their growth rates are quite slow.
#18 Can crested geckos’ tails grow back?
Crested geckos may try to sever their tails as a means to distract a predator, thus saving their lives in the process. This is a completely normal mechanism, so there is nothing to be afraid of. Your crested gecko will heal soon and they can engage in activities as if nothing has happened.
However, it should be noted that once removed, a crested gecko’s tail will not regrow. Unlike some other species of geckos, a crested gecko’s tail will not regenerate.
Thinks of the tremendous amount of energy and nutrition that it has to expend to even attempt growing it back. Other species of geckos have to sacrifice their abilities to reproduce and to grow in order to regenerate their tails.
#19 Do crested geckos change colors?
Crested geckos do change their colors. In the wild, geckos have three color styles: pattern-less, white-fringed and tiger stripes.
However, try as they might, breeders have never been successful in breeding crested geckos in captivity with such color schemes as they have in the wild.
Crested geckos can change colors depending on their moods and surroundings. This is meant as a kind of alert to the changes happening in the environments. And when geckos sleep, their colors change to a darker tone, a process called “fired down”. This is hardly an indicator of danger, instead, it’s a unique trait of the species.
