Meet the Crested Gecko

Text and Images by Anthony Caponetto

Crested geckos, unlike a lot of lizards that have proven to make not-such-good pets, rarely have health problems as long as a few simple requirements are met. Also, because they thrive at room temperature there is no need for expensive heating equipment, which makes housing infinitely less complicated, whether you're a casual pet keeper or a serious breeder.

Their strange crests, eyelashes, seemingly endless palette of colors, interesting patterns - and ultimately, all the potential for combinations of the above, are what lured me into crested geckos in the first place. I believe this is likely the best pet reptile in the hobby - both for the average keeper and the genetics-nerds, like myself, who also breed various other species with genetic mutations involved.

Where are they found in the wild?

The crested gecko is endemic to - or native exclusively to New Caledonia, which consists a tiny chain of islands to the east of Australia. New Caledonia is a French territory (and popular vacation spot) that consists of the main island, Grand Terre, as well as a small group of smaller islands, which includes the Isle of Pines, where the species was first rediscovered thriving in great numbers. Since the rediscovery in the mid 1990's, it's my understanding that two other populations on the main island have been discovered. As small as their natural range is, I sometimes wonder who hatches more crested geckos today - breeders in the United States or the wild populations of New Caledonia. :-)

Fun Fact: 
The crested gecko (Correlophus ciliatus) was previously thought to be extinct, until its rediscovery in 1994 on the Isle of Pines, a tiny island just off the southeast coast of the main island of New Caledonia. This was the gecko people only knew from a sketch and a holotype specimen that had been preserved in the late 1800's, which was the last time scientists had been able to find one alive. The species rediscovery was greeted with much excitement amongst both academics and hobbyists, but no one had any idea of just how popular this species would become in the pet trade.

Genetic Diversity

Contrary to cliche "inbreeding" rumors that are spread about every big name breeder in the reptile hobby, genetic diversity is something I have never taken lightly, and I would consider our strong suit.

When I started putting my founding group together, I wanted to obtain every single bloodline available outside of New Caledonia. Aside from all the US lineages I got my hands on, I even got some geckos in 2003 that descended from wild collected adults that were originally imported into Russia and Germany a few years earlier - lineages that were otherwise largely unrepresented in US collections. Later on I was also able to obtain a wild collected male who was imported years after the last big shipment that came into the US. Today, all but a few of those original geckos are still here and breeding. Today my crested gecko collection is what I believe to be one of the most genetically diverse collections in the world and produces geckos that grow considerably larger than what's considered the norm.