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Can I keep it?

DifficultyBeginnerAdult size20–25 cmwhen adultLifespan15–20 yearsSpace45×45×60 cmminimum statedActivityNocturnalTemperamentDocile but jumpyNight18–22 °CUVBOptional low-level beneficial
Check your setup against this sheet
I keep one 123 plants usable with this species

Setup

The numbers

Thermal gradient

152025303540 °C
21–24°Cool side
28–29°Warm side
18–22°Night

Day: a real gradient, 28–29°C warm against 21–24°C cool, so the animal chooses. Night: 18–22°C.

Why

Same scale on every sheet here, so two species compare by eye.

The sheet stateswarm 28-29 °C / cool 21-24 °C / night 18-22 °C

Humidity

60–80%Target RH

The sheet states60-80% (mist daily; dry between)

UVB

Optionalbeneficial

The sheet statesOptional low-level beneficial

Diet
Commercial Crested Gecko Diet (CGD) powder

Part of this is not on the page we cite. We opened it on 10 Aug 2026 and some of the degrees above are not stated there. The values above may still be right, but we cannot show you where they came from, and nobody here has checked them against a second source. Anything about a sick animal goes to a qualified exotic vet, not to a page. reptilesmagazine.com

14:00
Day

Drag the sun. Crested Gecko is Nocturnal, so what it is doing changes with the light. The sheet states a night temperature, and the rail follows it.

Enclosure and conditions

Enclosure

45 cm60 cm
warm sidewarm hidecool hidewatersubstrateUVB tube
50100150200 cm
45 × 45 × 60 cmWidth × depth × height
20dm² of floor

Drawn from the stated numbers. Only what the sheet states is drawn inside.

Why

The rectangle carries the exact width-to-height ratio of the figures above it, and the ruler under it places that width on the 0–250 cm scale every sheet here shares, so two species still compare at a glance. Nothing is added that the sheet does not name: a lamp drawn on a sheet that never mentions one would be invented equipment. What the sheet leaves out is listed rather than left blank, because an empty tank reads as « none needed ».

The sheet states45 × 45 × 60 cm vertical (height matters)

Ambient
22–26 °C (72–78 °F)
Note
Avoid > 29 °C — heat-sensitive
UVB (required)
Optional low-level beneficial
Substrate
Coco / bioactive (humidity)
Furnishings
Lots of branches, foliage, cork
Water
Dish + misting droplets

What your climate adds

This sheet states a range to hold. Your local climate decides how much work holding it is. Pick the nearest city: nothing is sent anywhere, the choice stays in this browser.

What it needs

Enclosure at least 45 × 45 × 60 cmbecause Enclosure — 45 × 45 × 60 cm vertical (height matters)
A heat sourcebecause Temperature — warm 28-29 °C / cool 21-24 °C / night 18-22 °C
A thermostat to regulate itbecause Temperature — warm 28-29 °C / cool 21-24 °C / night 18-22 °C
A thermometerbecause Temperature — warm 28-29 °C / cool 21-24 °C / night 18-22 °C
A way to check the night figurebecause Temperature — warm 28-29 °C / cool 21-24 °C / night 18-22 °C
A hygrometerbecause Humidity — 60–80% (mist daily; dry between)
UVB, stated as beneficial rather than requiredbecause UVB — Optional low-level beneficial

Every line above is deduced from a value this sheet states, and names which one. Nothing here is a general recommendation.

  • Vertical terrarium 45×45×60
  • Branches & foliage
  • Coco substrate
  • Crested Gecko Diet (CGD)
  • Feeder insects
  • Calcium + D3
  • Mister/spray bottle
  • Hygro/thermometer

Food

Diet

Staple
Commercial Crested Gecko Diet (CGD) powder
Method
CGD 2–3×/week (mix with water)
Staple insects
Crickets/dubia 1–2×/week, dusted
Prey size
≤ space between the eyes
Water
Fresh + droplets from misting

Daily life

Behaviour and handling

HandlingTolerant but jumpy. 'hand-walking'
TailDrops tail and does NOT regrow (normal)
CohabitationBest solo; never 2 males
DefenseMay squeak/jump; rarely bites
ChildrenGood with calm handling

Health

Common health problems

Metabolic bone disease
Signsweak jaw/limbs
Preventcomplete CGD + supplement
Floppy Tail Syndrome
Signstail flips over the head at rest
Preventvary perches / horizontal rest spots
Dysecdysis (toes)
Signsstuck shed on toes
Preventmist + humid hide
Overheating
Signsstress/death > 29 °C
Preventkeep cool, no strong heat lamp

When to see a vet

This is not veterinary advice. If red flags appear, consult a qualified exotic (herp) veterinarian. Quarantine new arrivals 30–90 days.

Red flags

  • open-mouth breathing
  • months of weight loss
  • stargazing
  • persistent regurgitation

The species

Identity

Adult size

True scale, against a 1.75 m person

1.75 m20–25 cm

Logarithmic, the same axis on every sheet

1520100400 cm
20–25 cmNose to tail, adult

The size the sheet states for a grown animal.

Why

Two drawings, because they answer two questions. The silhouette is at true scale against a 1.75 m person: it says how big this animal actually is, which no number does for someone who has never seen one. The bar under it is logarithmic and shared by every sheet here, so a 2 cm isopod and a 4 m python both stay readable on the same axis and two species can be compared at a glance.

Family / Order
Diplodactylidae / Squamata
Origin
Distribution
Humid tropical forest (arboreal)
Adult size
~20–25 cm total
Lifespan (captivity)
15–20 yrs
Activity
Nocturnal; arboreal
Temperament
Docile but jumpy; very easy

Morphs

12 morphs, with how each one is inherited. 3 of them carry a documented welfare cost, and those come first.

Welfare risk2documented neurological defect or lethal super form
Frappuccino (Capp×Lily)comboCarries Lily White lethal-super riskSuper form: —Welfare risk
Lily WhiteDominantHomozygous non-viable — never Lily White × Lily WhiteSuper form: Super = LETHALWelfare risk
Caution1effect reported in some lines only
CappuccinoCo-dominantSuper linked to tail/viability issues in some linesSuper form: Super CappuccinoCaution
No known risk9colour and pattern only
AxanthicRecessiveBlack & whiteSuper form: —
DalmatianLine-bredSpottingSuper form: —
Empty BackLine-bredSuper form: —
Extreme Harlequin / TricolorLine-bredSuper form: —
FlameLine-bredSuper form: —
HarlequinLine-bredSuper form: —
Pinstripe / Partial PinLine-bredStructuralSuper form: —
PortholesLine-bredSuper form: —
Tiger / BrindleLine-bredSuper form: —

How common this animal is

17/100Search interest as a pet

Relative Google search interest for the species as a pet, 2020. The scale is relative within the study: 100 is the most searched reptile it measured, not a count of animals. Reptiles only, and only the species the study measured. An absent value means the study did not measure that species, not that nobody keeps it.

Valdez JW (2021), Using Google Trends to Determine Current, Past, and Future Trends in the Reptile Pet Trade, Animals 11(3):676

1,441Live individuals in declared US trade filings

NOT a measure of how many are kept. These filings count animals shipped for any purpose, including the food trade and laboratory supply, and they are United States records only. The three largest volumes in the source belong to a food frog, a bait species and the standard laboratory amphibian.

US Fish and Wildlife Service LEMIS declared wildlife import and export records, as compiled in the received dataset

Reproduction

Life course

Day 0Hatch
1.3–1.5 yrSexual maturity
15–20 yrLifespan in care
60–90 dIncubation
2 eggs every ~4–6 weeks in seasonClutch
15 yrMinimum commitment
~14 yrReproductive window

Read from the lifespan and maturity the sheet states, for animals in care and not in the wild.

Why

The minimum commitment is the low end of that lifespan, and the reproductive window is what is left after maturity: both are subtractions on stated figures, not figures of their own.

Sexual maturity
15–18 months / ~35 g
Sexing
♂ hemipenal bulge (no femoral pores)
Clutch
2 eggs every ~4–6 weeks in season
Incubation
~60–90 days at 22–25 °C
Note
No supplemental heat needed to breed

Good to know

  • The 'eyelash gecko': a crest of soft spines over each eye.
  • Thought extinct until rediscovered in 1994 in New Caledonia.
  • Can thrive on a complete powdered diet: no live food strictly required.
  • The 'eyelash gecko' — a crest of soft spines over each eye.
  • Can thrive on a complete powdered diet — no live food strictly required.
Arboreal · temperate · humidFrom the sheet: warm end 28–29°C, humidity 60–80%

The way of life is written in this sheet, word for word. The climate words summarise the two figures above them, they do not add to them.

National law is not global, and we hold no national wildlife law for any country, Thailand included. Check your own authority before buying or selling.

Questions & sources

Common questions

Must I feed insects?

No. CGD is complete; insects are enrichment.

Does the tail grow back?

No: adults are often tailless and perfectly healthy.

Do they need heat?

Usually room temperature is fine; avoid overheating.

Going deeper

Research dossier: read at the source, not yet cross-checked by our team. Every figure links to the page it was read on.

In the wild

Wild distribution habitat

Behavior
Nocturnal and arboreal; shelters by day in tree crevices/holes or dense foliage and forages at night in canopy.

Distribution

Region
New Caledonia; Grande Terre and Île des Pins documented in Endemia species account.

Elevation m

150-1000

Regional biodiversity authorityendemia.nc

Habitats

  • coastal forest
  • closed humid forest
  • montane forest

Regional biodiversity authorityendemia.nc

Natural diet

Wild stomach content

Finding
Published summaries of wild stomach contents from New Caledonia report arthropods, small reptiles including geckos/skinks, and plant material including flower parts and nectar.
Interpretation
Wild diet is genuinely omnivorous; this supports complete CGD plus appropriately managed insect feeding rather than a fruit-only model.

Peer reviewed summary of field stomach contentsdoi.org

Secondary academic

Foods

  • insects
  • fruit
  • nectar
  • sap/plant fluids

Academic secondaryanimaldiversity.org

Growth and body condition

Growth weight body condition

Remaining gap
No sufficiently robust sex-separated age→weight growth curve identified yet. Do not turn breeder weight thresholds into a juvenile growth chart.

Adult male biomechanics sample

N
4
Sex
male
Note
Adult male biomechanics sample; useful morphology reference only, not a healthy target range.

Mass g range

35.9-49.2

Svl cm range

11.37-12.74

Peer reviewed small samplepmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Housing density longitudinal

N
45
Follow up weeks
22
Finding
Higher-density groups had more injuries/mortality and less uniform body-weight gain; individually housed animals had no reported injuries and stable weight gain in the study.

Groups

  • 5 geckos/enclosure
  • 3 geckos/enclosure
  • single housing

Peer reviewed longitudinalkci.go.kr

Growth weight body condition evidence

Conclusion
Published data support growth tracking but still do not justify a universal sex-specific age→weight curve. Keepr must track individual longitudinal weight rather than enforce breeder charts.

Juvenile diet trial

N
60
Duration weeks
5
Caveat
Short 5-week trial; not a long-term diet-safety proof and not a normative growth curve.

Groups

Dubia papaya calcium

N
30
Mean weight gain g
0.81
Percent gain
24.35

Peer reviewed short feeding trialdoi.org

Housing density longitudinal

N
45
Follow up weeks
22
Finding
Higher-density groups had more injuries/mortality and less uniform body-weight gain; individually housed animals had no reported injuries and stable weight gain in the study.

Groups

  • 5 geckos/enclosure
  • 3 geckos/enclosure
  • single housing

Peer reviewed longitudinalkci.go.kr

Adult male reference

N
4

Mass g range

35.9-49.2

Svl cm range

11.37-12.74

Peer reviewed small samplepmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Deep evidence with explicit limit

Telling males from females

Sex dimorphism

Body size note
Sex has substantial overlap in overall adult body size; do not infer sex from weight alone.

Reliable home sexing

Male
Prominent paired hemipenal bulge at tail base once developed; preanal pores can appear earlier but are less reliable for definitive early sexing.
Female
No developed hemipenal bulge; absence of visible pores in a small juvenile does not prove female.
Development signal
Specialist guidance reports male bulge commonly developing around ~18-25 g; earlier pore sexing should remain provisional.

Specialist husbandryreptifiles.com

Health and welfare

Health and biosecurity

Oral gout case 2026

Animal
~12-year-old female
Diagnosis context
end-stage nephropathy with oral gout

Presentation

  • hyporexia
  • lethargy
  • dehydration
  • dysecdysis
  • kyphosis
  • oral urate lesions

Veterinary case reportpmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Ascarid outbreak

Finding
Hexametra angusticaecoides infection was genetically/morphologically identified in a captive crested-gecko population with illness/deaths.
Biosecurity rule
Mixing species or moving enclosures/stock between collections can create parasite-transmission risk; quarantine/fecal screening matters for breeder collections.

Peer reviewed parasitologypmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Breeding

Reproduction deep

Review 2025

Female breeder weight g min
40
Male breeder weight g min
75
Incubation c
22.7-24.4
Humidity percent
70-80 cited in review
Caveat
Review/practical farming guidance; these thresholds should not be treated as universal veterinary minima without additional corroboration.

Peer reviewed reviewgdxmsykj.cn

Light and food: the evidence

Evidence

Current vet care

Temperature day c
22-26
Dangerous heat c
>28-29
Humidity cycle percent
~50-80
Diet
complete CGD; daily juvenile / every other day adult
Cohabitation
solo safest

Adult enclosure cm

L
45
W
45
H
60

Veterinary careroyalveterinarycenter.com

Heat risk

Finding
Modern veterinary care guidance emphasizes cooling/heat avoidance; high temperatures can be more dangerous than insufficient heating in many homes.

Veterinary careroyalveterinarycenter.com

Thermal biology

Laboratory thermoregulation

Preferred setpoint c
24-28
Life stage difference
No major adult-vs-juvenile difference detected in thermoregulatory set-point in the study.
Relevance
Supports avoiding simplistic assumptions that juveniles require much hotter thermal targets than adults.

Peer reviewed experimentalpubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Genetics and morphs

Genetics

Existing repo traits
12
Audit required
yes
Guardrail
Do not calculate Mendelian ratios for Harlequin/Flame/Tiger/Dalmatian/Pinstripe-type line-bred traits unless evidence supports a specific Mendelian locus.

Priority traits

  • Lilly White super lethality
  • Cappuccino/Super Cappuccino welfare
  • Frappuccino
  • Axanthic
  • Empty Back
  • Soft Scale
  • line-bred/polygenic patterns

Evidence audit v2

Trait
Lilly White
Reported inheritance
incomplete dominant
Homozygous state
reported lethal/non-viable across specialist breeding programs
Evidence class
strong_specialist_pedigree_not_molecular
Calculator allowed
yes

reptidex.com crestedgecko.dpdns.org

Trait
Axanthic
Reported inheritance
recessive
Evidence class
specialist_pedigree
Calculator allowed
yes

crestedgecko.dpdns.org

Trait
Cappuccino
Reported inheritance
incomplete dominant
Super state
Super Cappuccino
Evidence class
current_specialist_pedigree
Calculator allowed
conditional
Welfare note
Current specialist programs report homozygous/super structural and survival concerns; evidence is breeder-program data rather than peer-reviewed molecular work.

lmreptiles.com reptidex.com

Trait
Sable/Cappuccino complex
Finding
Current breeder programs report allelism based on controlled pairings producing intermediate Luwak offspring.
Evidence class
specialist_pedigree
Calculator allowed
conditional

breedledger.co

Naming guardrails

Rule
Pattern descriptors such as Harlequin, Flame, Tiger/Brindle, Dalmatian and Pinstripe remain polygenic/line-bred unless a specific Mendelian locus is demonstrated.

Current calculator model

Measured at
2026-09-27
Critical rule
Labels such as 'super' in line-bred traits are intensity/grade labels, not homozygous genotypes. Do not calculate them with Punnett squares.
Allelic note
Current specialist model treats Cappuccino and Sable as mutations at one shared locus; one Cappuccino + one Sable allele yields Luwak.

Mendelian scope

  • Lilly White
  • Cappuccino/Sable shared locus
  • Phantom
  • ChoCho
  • Axanthic

Line bred scope

  • Tiger
  • Brindle
  • Super Dalmatian
  • Pinstripe
  • Full Pinstripe
  • White Pinstripe
  • Super Stripe
  • Quad Stripe
  • Drippy
  • White Spot
  • Solid Back
  • White Porthole
  • White Crown
  • White Wall
  • base colors

Current specialist modelryangstudio.com

Lilly white

Inheritance
incomplete dominant
Homozygous
reported lethal/non-viable

Specialist pedigree consensusreptidex.com

Cappuccino

Inheritance
incomplete dominant
Homozygous
Super Cappuccino
Welfare
Current specialist programs report structural/respiratory and poor-thriving concerns in some Super Cappuccino animals.

Specialist pedigree welfarereptidex.com

Wild-caught or captive-bred

Trade history provenance

Rediscovery trade

Fact
Species was rediscovered in New Caledonia in the 1990s and entered the pet trade in 1994; a parasitology paper notes that current trade is now exclusively captive-bred.

Peer reviewed backgroundpmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Native distribution

Fact
Native to three islands in New Caledonia according to the same peer-reviewed source.

Peer reviewed backgroundpmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Back to the Atlas My keep

https://keepr.pet/husbandry/en/correlophus-ciliatus

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What this sheet states

100%
TemperatureHumidityEnclosure sizeActivityOriginDietSourcesUVB

Every field this product runs on is stated here. That is not a claim that the values are right: it says what the sheet states, not whether it is true. Whether a human has read it is the badge at the top of this page.

UVB is measured but does not count: it is absent from 420 of 678 sheets, and on most of them that is not a gap, since a nocturnal snake's sheet has no reason to state a UV index. Counting it would call the library incomplete without cause.