New Caledonia Gecko Care
One of the best reptiles to have as a pet are the geckos that are from New Caledonia. This includes the crested, gargoyle, chahoua and leachianus geckos as well as others! Crested geckos were thought extinct until discovered alive and well on the Isle of Pines in 1994! The Isle of Pines is part of New Caledonia which is comprised of several small islands located near Australia.
The geckos in this family are easy to care for, generally requiring no extra heat. Day temperatures for these geckos should reach no higher than 80 degrees on average and night temps should not fall below 65 degrees. Humidity levels should range between 60 and 80%. Misting one time every other day or each day depending on your home and humidity levels, they may require misting twice a day to achieve these levels you will want to monitor your specific conditions. UVB is not required for these geckos but some breeders are having a good response using UVB.
These geckos are fed a commercially prepared diet and should be supplemented with appropriately sized crickets or roach nymphs. Phoenix worms are a good supplement as they are high in calcium . You should not be feeding your geckos baby food! You will want to be feeding your geckos a commercially prepared diet along side your chosen insect.
These geckos can be housed in a variety of enclosures, they are arboreal so they require more height in their enclosure than width or depth. Leachianus geckos prefer cork rounds or cork tubes in their enclosures. Chahoua geckos have been found closer to water and seem to do better in a more moist environment. The chahoua also does best when fed a prepared diet along with a good variety of insects. You can place a 20 gallon aquarium on its end, after installing a secure screen type door and house a crested, gargoyle or a chahoua gecko in that. Leachianus do require larger cages as adults. There are also special cages made for reptiles, such as Exo-Terra. You should purchase the largest size enclosure possible based on the size gecko you own. Gecko Haven houses them in planted enclosures as adults. You can possibly keep a couple of female crested geckos together if the size of your enclosure is large enough and the geckos are the same size. Once again, you must have the proper sized cage. Male geckos need to be kept separately from each other as they may fight. You may even find that female geckos of the same size will fight. You must keep a close eye on them to make sure you do not find any injuries that show one is being bullied and that each animal is receiving the proper amount of food. We do not recommend keeping animals together unless you are an experienced keeper!
Some of the items you can use in your caging can be paper towel tubes, toilet paper tubes, pipe insulators, suction cup soap dishes used as ledges. You can be very creative and make a planted vivarium or have it simple. Totally up to you as long as the required care is given.
Baby reptiles always do better in a smaller enclosure. Moving up in size as the baby gets older and larger. Make sure you have a lot of things to climb on and hide in. Please contact us if you have further questions on housing or food.
This enclosure was just misted
This is a pipe insulator you can use as "branches"
Thanks to Exo Terra for this awesome video of New Caledonia!
Thanks to Brian at Altitude Exotics here is a video to assist with a picky eater!
Here is a video produced by Pangea that teaches you how to handle your gecko!
Here is a great video on sexing your crested gecko by Swift Arrow Geckos!
We also have a safe plant list that you can find in the tab section above.
As always, we are here to help you in any way we can. If you have questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us!