Species · Reptile

Crested Gecko

Correlophus ciliatus

New Caledonian gecko presumed extinct until 1994, now one of the world’s most-kept lizards — eyelashes, sticky feet and all.

The crestie broke reptile keeping’s hardest rules and got away with it: it thrives at ordinary room temperature, accepts a complete powdered diet instead of live insects, and asks for height and humidity rather than blazing heat. That makes it the gentlest possible entry to the group — with two quirks worth knowing before purchase. It is nocturnal, so the show happens after bedtime; and the tail is single-issue equipment — dropped once, under stress, it never grows back, which is the whole argument for calm, minimal handling.

At a glance

Lifespan: 15–20 years
Adult size: 18–22 cm, half of it tail
Minimum housing: 45 × 45 × 60 cm tall, planted
Heat & light: Room temperature — low-to-mid 20s; heat HARMS above high 20s
Diet: Complete powdered fruit diet; insects optional
Handling: Brief and gentle — they leap, and tails are final
Company: Alone; males never together
With children: Watch mostly — too quick and springy for small hands
Daily attention: 15–30 min — misting, feeding, spot checks

Morphs · 4 listed

Flame, harlequin, dalmatian and pinstripe patterns on the same obliging gecko. No morph changes the care sheet.

Flame
Harlequin
Dalmatian
Pinstripe

Right for you if

You want a reptile without the full heat-and-insect infrastructure.
A planted, misted vertical tank appeals as furniture in its own right.
Evening is when you are around — that is when the animal is.
Look-mostly, handle-rarely suits everyone in the house.

Wrong for you if

Summer rooms run hot and there is no cool corner — heat is this species’ danger, not its need.
A child expects a pocket-riding companion; dropped tails are forever.
You want daytime activity from the display.
Daily misting will not survive the first busy fortnight.

Welfare and sourcing — read this part

Even a room-temperature reptile is still an ectotherm running on the enclosure’s climate — and exceeding a species’ upper temperature band by only around five degrees can be deadly.¹ For a crestie the risk runs backwards from the reptile cliché: the hot room, not the cold one, is the killer. Position the tank away from summer sun and know your worst room temperature before you buy.
Metabolic bone disease stalks growing insect-eating lizards through calcium, D3 and lighting failures² — the complete powdered diets exist precisely to close that gap. Use one as the staple, not the treat.
Reptile keeping is licensed and restricted differently from place to place, including state by state within Australia — and for some species here that difference is the whole question. Check what applies where you live before you commit.

Sources

Providing a Home for a Reptile. MSD Veterinary Manual 2026. Accessed 2026-09-05. International MSD Veterinary Manual Reptiles are ectotherms that regulate body temperature by moving around their environment, so an enclosure must offer a range of temperatures within the species’ preferred band — and exceeding the upper limit by only around 5°C can be deadly for some species. UVB light in the 290–320 nm range is essential in many species for making vitamin D3 in the skin, which enables dietary calcium absorption.
Disorders and Diseases of Reptiles. MSD Veterinary Manual 2026. Accessed 2026-09-05. International MSD Veterinary Manual Secondary nutritional hyperparathyroidism — metabolic bone disease — is the most common bone disease seen in pet reptiles, driven by poor calcium-to-phosphorus ratios, insufficient vitamin D3, lack of UVB light and inadequate temperature, and it predominantly affects rapidly growing plant- and insect-eating lizards, turtles and tortoises. Respiratory infections including pneumonia are common in reptiles and are tied to unfavourable temperatures, poor sanitation and malnutrition. Treatment does not succeed unless nutrition, environment and sanitation are corrected too.

Every source here was checked, not recalled. Where this page makes a health statement and no source appears against it, that is not an oversight we have hidden — it means the claim is not yet sourced, and the build reports how many are in that state.

Availability, registration and keeping requirements differ from place to place. Check the rules where you live before you commit to any animal — we describe animals, not law.