Crested geckos are the most forgiving arboreal gecko in the hobby, and the two things that kill them are heat and a missing calcium supply. Almost everything else about keeping one is genuinely easy, which is why they are the standard recommendation for a first gecko.
Quick answer
- Room temperature is correct: roughly 72–78°F. Sustained heat above the mid-80s is dangerous and this is the commonest cause of death in captivity.
- Vertical space over floor space. They are arboreal and they jump.
- Humidity around 60–80% with a real dry-back between mistings.
- A complete powdered crested gecko diet covers all nutrition. Insects are optional enrichment, not a requirement.
- A dropped tail never grows back. Unlike most geckos, crested geckos regenerate nothing.
- Long-lived — 15 to 20 years is normal.
The temperature mistake
Correlophus ciliatus is endemic to southern New Caledonia, where it lives in humid forest at moderate temperatures. It is not a desert animal and it does not bask. A heat lamp aimed at a crested gecko is not husbandry, it is a slow emergency.
Keep the enclosure between about 72 and 78°F. If your house sits above the mid-80s in summer, that is a genuine problem to solve before you buy the animal — a cooler room, air conditioning, or a different species. Overheating causes lethargy, refusal to feed, and death, and it is quiet enough that a lot of keepers do not notice until it is late.
Night-time drops are fine and welcome. No basking bulb is needed at all. Low-level UVB is optional and probably beneficial, but it is not the requirement it is for a diurnal desert lizard.
The build
| Element | Detail |
|---|---|
| Enclosure | Vertical. 18×18×24 inches is a sensible adult minimum; taller is better than wider |
| Furniture | Dense cover — cork, branches, broad-leaved plants. A gecko with nothing to hide in stays hidden and stressed |
| Substrate | Coco fibre or a bioactive soil mix that holds moisture |
| Humidity | Mist heavily at night, let it dry back during the day. Permanently wet causes skin and respiratory problems |
| Temperature | 72–78°F. No basking lamp |
| Housing | One per enclosure is safest. Never two males |
The floor matters more than people expect. Cresties fall, and they fall from height. Keep the substrate soft and deep enough to absorb a landing, and avoid hard decor directly beneath the highest perch.
Feeding, and why this species is easy
Crested geckos are omnivores that feed on fruit, nectar and insects in the wild, and that combination is exactly what commercial powdered diets replicate. A good crested gecko diet mixed with water, offered a few times a week, is nutritionally complete on its own. There is no other commonly kept reptile where feeding is that simple.
Insects two or three times a month are good enrichment and let you watch a very different set of behaviours, but they are optional. Calcium with D3 on any feeder insects, and never let the diet lapse — a crested gecko without a calcium source develops metabolic bone disease, and the early sign is a soft or kinked jaw.
Floppy tail syndrome
A crestie that habitually sleeps head-down on the glass can develop a tail that flops forward over the hips, and over time that can pull the pelvis out of shape. It is associated with calcium deficiency and with a lack of secure horizontal resting places. More cork, more broad leaves and a properly supplemented diet is the practical answer.
The tail is a one-time asset
Most geckos drop and regrow the tail. Crested geckos drop it and never get it back. An adult without a tail is completely healthy, breeds normally and lives a full life — the species does this routinely in the wild, and wild adults are frequently tailless — but it is permanent, so it is worth knowing before you grab at a jumping animal.
This is one of several ways they diverge from what people expect of a gecko. We set the wider picture out in is a gecko a lizard, and the toe-pad mechanics in do gargoyle geckos have sticky feet.
A conservation footnote worth knowing
The species was described in 1866 and then went unrecorded for so long that it was widely presumed extinct, until it was rediscovered in New Caledonia in 1994. Every crested gecko in the hobby descends from that rediscovery and the captive breeding that followed. It is listed as Vulnerable in the wild, and it is also one of the most abundantly captive-bred reptiles on earth — a rare case where the pet trade and the wild population are not in tension.
Ours are captive bred, and the morphs we carry are listed individually under crested geckos for sale — including Lilly White and pinstripe lines. The broader gecko range is in geckos for sale, and everything ships under our live arrival guarantee. Provenance labelling across the catalogue is explained in about Terrarium Station.
Common questions
What temperature do crested geckos need?
About 72–78°F, which is normal room temperature in most homes. They do not bask and do not need a heat lamp. Sustained temperatures above the mid-80s are dangerous.
Do crested gecko tails grow back?
No. Crested geckos drop the tail readily but never regenerate it. A tailless adult is perfectly healthy and breeds normally, but the loss is permanent.
What do crested geckos eat?
A complete powdered crested gecko diet mixed with water covers all their nutritional needs. Insects a few times a month are useful enrichment but are not required.
How long do crested geckos live?
Commonly 15 to 20 years with good husbandry, so this is a long-term animal rather than a short commitment.
Can you keep two crested geckos together?
One per enclosure is safest, and two males will fight. Some keepers house females together in large, heavily furnished enclosures, but it requires space, monitoring and a willingness to separate.