How to Get Your Crested Geckos Fired Up

"Fired up" and "fired down" describe how intense a crested gecko's colors are at a given moment. They do not change color like a cartoon chameleon, but the strength of their pattern and color shifts through the day and over their lives.

Fired down and fired up

Fired down is the lowest intensity. It is how geckos tend to look during the day while they sleep, when the enclosure has dried out and stress is low. Fired up is the opposite: dark spots get darker, reds and oranges brighter, and the whole gecko looks more vivid.

Why they do it

There is no widely accepted answer for why the trait evolved. It clearly happens in response to stress, high humidity and time of day, but whether it is defence or camouflage is not known. Captive geckos cannot answer the question, because colors like bright neon red do not exist in the wild, and there is little research on wild geckos.

Why you might want to see it

If you just want to see your pet fired up, spray the enclosure down heavily in the early evening, when it is starting to wake up anyway. Firing up generally comes with some stress, so it is not something to go out of your way to cause.

Breeders fire geckos up for photos. A fired-up gecko is widely accepted as the look you are buying. When I photograph my breeders, or offspring I am offering for sale, I get them as fired up as I can to show their full potential.

The deli-cup method

The best way to fire a gecko up is to pack it as if you were shipping it:

1. Take a deli cup with air holes punched in the side.
2. Fold half a paper towel into a small square and put it in the cup.
3. Spray the cup with lukewarm, room-temperature water so it is humid.
4. Put the gecko in and close the lid securely.
5. Put the cup in a styrofoam-lined shipping box and close it.

That makes a dark, slightly warm, very humid space. In the video I photograph four geckos straight after waking them at about 1 pm, mid-sleep, then pack them and check again after about 45 minutes.

The results

• Red phantom: a pale, pinkish red fired down with the phantom pattern showing, then bright neon red fired up.
• Extreme harlequin: a very pale white pattern on a light grey "lavender" base fired down. Fired up, the base goes jet black and the pattern stands out sharply.
• Second extreme harlequin: a light, almost bluish-purple grey fired down. Fired up, the base darkens, the whites look cleaner and the yellows stronger.
• Charcoal: almost axanthic-looking fired down, deep jet black fired up. Charcoal is one of my favorite lines and one I am most proud of breeding.

Bright reds and oranges get most of the attention, but extreme harlequins with light patterns really come to life when they fire up.