Gargoyle & Crested Gecko Care Sheet

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Natural history

Gargoyle (Rhacodactylus auriculatus) and Crested geckos geckos (Correlophus ciliatus) originate from the isles of New Caledonia.

Check out The Budget Museum’s video The Real Lost World: New Caledonia here.

Check out New Caledonia climate information here: https://www.worlddata.info/oceania/new-caledonia/climate.php

gecko lifespan in captivity is ~ years. geckos are a long-term commitment, so it is their keeper’s responsibility to ensure they have a healthy, comfortable, and enriching life.

Housing

These geckos are solitary and should never be housed together. Some folks have been able to house groups of females together for a while, but they are not social and do not thrive in this environment. Rather, they can get territorial and resource-guard until someone gets hurt or starts losing weight. In the wild, gargoyles and crested have the ability to get away from each other if they want to. In captivity, they can’t escape conflict and eventually someone gets hurt or suffers in other ways such as less access to feeder insects and the best spots for thermoregulation. Male geckos can and will fight to the death if kept together. Keeping them singly means no fights or injuries, and better observations of individual gecko’s health.

A minimum size enclosure is 12×12×18 for a juvenile, with 18×18×24 is ideal for a single adult. Clutter helps them feel safe and secure, which encourages them to leave their hiding places.

A basic gecko habitat is great for new &/or sick geckos so they can be more easily monitored. Paper towels make an excellent flooring material in basic setups, as they are cheap and relatively hygienic when replaced regularly. Use of artificial plants in these basic set-ups can provide cover that you don’t have to worry about keeping alive. Artificial plants do need to be regularly cleaned and even sanitized regularly. Basic setups are what we use for our baby and juvenile geckos so we can closely observe their growth and health.

A naturalistic enclosure features a safe substrate and tries to mimic the gecko’s natural habitat. It does not usually have the substrate infrastructure to support a clean-up crew or beneficial bacteria and fungi, but may incorporate live or artificial plants. The substrate will need to be replaced more often than a bioactive one depending on spot cleaning and type.

Bioactive enclosures are excellent for providing enrichment and encouraging natural behaviors and a more gregarious gecko. These enclosures provide a “live” substrate with beneficial bacteria and fungi, and is also home to a “clean up crew” of isopods and springtails. These critters will eat leftover gecko food, decaying plant leaves, old sheds and even poop. You may find that you have to restock your isopods occasionally as some geckos love to eat them. Bioactive enclosures also include live plants, just make sure to use hardy ones that grow fast and don’t mind being trampled on or occasionally dug up.

A mix of both worlds can be achieved by using a substrate with fake plants, or paper towels and small potted plants. For our breeders we use a bioactive substrate and clean up crew, horizontal resting areas using solid foam “pool noodles,” and lots of visual clutter like artificial plants and cork bark flats. Find what combination works best for you and your gecko’s health and wellbeing.

Glass, PVC, front-opening, solid or screened top enclosure? It’s up to you and what works best in your home to provide the optimal environment for your gecko. Some areas are much drier and a screened top tank will have trouble maintaining any sort of humidity without partially blocking the screen top, while a plastic tub in a rack system may hold on to too much humidity if not properly ventilated (i.e. drilled holes/screens). I personally find pvc front-opening enclosures with a screen top to be the most functional and visually appealing, but again find what works best for you and your gecko (and your budget too).

In reference to gecko keeping, clutter is all the stuff you put in their habitat to help your gecko feeling secure and safe in its home. When geckos feel safe in their environment they don’t feel like they have to constantly hide and will be more likely to explore their enclosures. Clutter includes the plants, driftwood, branches, ledges, and other terrarium accessories. Gargoyles and cresties don’t necessarily need humid hides if you are able to maintain proper humidity. he humid hide is needed to help when they are shedding and for females to use to lay their eggs. I find geckos hanging out in the humid hides a lot during the day too. See below for some great examples that some of our customers have put together for their gargs and cresties:

Spot clean the enclosure as needed- i.e. whenever you see a poo, clean it up. Disinfect and sanitize surfaces once a week. We use a rotation of F10 veterinary disinfectant and 70% isopropyl alcohol. We also use vinegar for removing calcium build-up in water dishes as we are on well water and our water is full of dissolved calcium carbonate and other minerals. Bioactive enclosures only need regular daily spot cleaning when properly maintained. Though the substrate may need partial replacement every year or so to replenish various nutrients and minerals utilized by plants and the clean-up crew. If you have many geckos or a small collection, your sanitation practices will need to be a little more involved and occur more frequently (see Gecko Health).

Racks are used by breeders, sellers, and some collectors, but I do not recommend them for most people. They are large, heavy, expensive, can be difficult to repair if something breaks, and ugly compared to a nice open-front fully planted bioactive enclosure with a custom moss-covered background. That said, it does make it easier and more hygienic to house many geckos while maintaining relatively good husbandry (so long as you put in the work!). Thankfully there are several excellent enclosures that can be stacked to save on space for those with several geckos that do not want to use racks.

Temperature & Heating

Average day time high temperatures in New Caledonia average~75F in winter and ~86F in the summer, with a night time drop of around 12 degrees year-round. We keep our gargs and cresties at around 75F during the summer and up to 70F during the winter with nigh time drops of about 5-7F. Our gecko room has its own air conditioner and humidifier, so we can make adjustments as needed to maintain consistent temperature and humidity ranges in the room.

Always use a thermostat when using any kind of heat-generating device. I like Inkbird brand thermostats and use them on my incubators, but do not use the wifi features myself.

Though nocturnal, additional UVB lighting can help bring out the natural behaviors and synthesize D3. In the wild, UV light

Food and water

Feeder insects, misting versus automatic sprayers; water bowls.