Crested geckos (Correlophus ciliatus)

Crested Gecko - Correlophus ciliatus

Intro

Crested geckos are most known for their adorable “eyelash’s” and are even referred to as the Eyelash gecko to some. Since these geckos are arboreal they’re mostly spotted climbing branches or stuck to terrarium windows. Juvenile geckos are about 4-5” from tail to snout but adults reach about 7-9”. They live for roughly 15-20 years in captivity! They’re quite jumpy and will drop their tails when spooked but they don’t have the ability to regenerate them like some other gecko species. Tail or no tail, they’re pretty darn cute. 

Enclosure

Baby crested geckos will start out in a small critter keeper sized enclosure. One adult can be housed in an 18x18x24 enclosure or 20 gallon terrarium vertical conversion kit. It’s not recommended to cohabitate males or females but pairs can be kept together once they reach adulthood. Do not house pairs together before they are fully grown. 

Crested geckos love to climb so the more decorations and enrichment you can provide, the better. Trees and tall plants make great climbing material and hiding spaces. Feeding ledges that adhere to the enclosure by suction or an adhesive are the perfect way to feed your gecko off the ground. Anything up high for these little jumpers! 

Substrates can vary from coco fiber, Josh’s Frogs biobedding, eco earth, to paper towels or newspaper. This depends on how often you want to clean the substrate and how well you can maintain the humidity in your house to best suit your gecko. The more natural substrates have the added bonus of maintaining humidity and allowing live plants for the herp to enjoy. Plus, natural substrates with live plants can easily be converted into bioactive enclosures to spare time on cleaning. 

Parameters

These geckos are from tropical environments with a moderate-high humidity and moderate temperatures. This means that daytime temperatures should stay between 70-78 degrees with night time drops no lower than 70. Crested geckos will suffer from heat stress if temperatures rise above 82 so take caution not to expose them to excessive heat. Maintain a humidity of 80-100% with drops down to 50% between mistings. Accomplish this by misting 1-2x daily and monitoring the humidity with a hydrometer. 

Diet

Crested geckos primarily eat fruits and insects. The most common way to feed crested geckos is by using pre-made fruit mixes that include the vitamins and nutrients necessary for their health. No one likes eating the same thing everyday though so add some variety to their diet by feeding crickets or dubia roaches 1-2x per week. Insects like waxworms, hornworms, black soliderfly larvae, and butter worms are great treats but don’t make a good primary diet. Insects need to be dusted with a quality calcium and D3 supplement each feeding. 

Temperment

Some gecko species regrow their tails when they drop them out of fear. Crested geckos, however, do not. They will release their tail when they feel threatened in hopes to distract its threat from itself. The idea is that the hunter will focus on the wiggling tail while the gecko makes a speedy escape. Since there’s no way to tell these little reptiles that we aren’t trying to hurt them they sometimes drop their tails and there’s nothing we can do about it. There’s no need to see a vet if it happens, just keep the area clean and monitor it’s healing. If you notice infection consult a vet. 

Beyond that, these geckos are super fun to handle. They enjoy jumping from hand to hand and may even jump right onto your shirt or head. Remember, they like to be up high! If you’re handling a crested gecko holding them above your head or allowing them to sit on your head can keep them much calmer than if you stare downward at them in your hand. Handling time is best done sitting on the floor since they enjoy such great heights and leaping without looking for a landing point. 

Positive interactions are essential in taming a crested gecko. As long as the number of positive human interactions severely outweighs the number of negative ones- the gecko will handle human presence better. Tong feeding insects and spending roughly 5 minutes with them everyday are great ways to tame crested geckos.