10 Things You Might Not Know About Crested Geckos

These are ten of the facts about crested geckos that I find most interesting and that not everyone knows.

1. They are one of the most popular pet reptiles. The top spot has moved from green iguanas and anoles to ball pythons, corn snakes and leopard geckos. Crested geckos are now second only to leopard geckos, bred in huge numbers and easy to handle and care for.

2. They live a long time. People often assume 10 to 15 years. Crested geckos can easily live 20 to 25, and some people think into their low 30s. I own a female imported from the wild in 1996. She was at least 21 when I filmed this, and still healthy.

3. Hatchlings don't eat until after their first shed. A hatchling uses egg teeth on its nose to cut open the egg, then sheds within 48 hours and loses them. It won't eat before that shed, so food put in straight after hatching just spoils. After the shed, make sure food is there.

4. They were considered extinct until 1994. First described in the late 1800s and declared extinct soon after, they were found in fairly large numbers in 1994, after a tropical storm.

5. They are not endangered, but are listed as vulnerable. The invasive little fire ant, now on all their native islands, competes with them for food and can kill them. Introduced rodents and deforestation add to the pressure.

6. They have been reclassified more than once. First placed in Correlophus, they were moved to Rhacodactylus after 1994 with gargoyle geckos and other New Caledonian species. Genetic testing moved them back: Rhacodactylus ciliatus is now Correlophus ciliatus.

7. A female can lay fertile eggs for up to 2 years from one breeding. Females retain sperm and lay two eggs about every 35 days for 6 to 7 months a year, up to 20 to 25 eggs from one breeding.

8. They have evolved not to have tails as adults. The tail detaches when a gecko is threatened, and crested geckos don't regrow it. Most wild adults have lost theirs, so they never develop the back muscles to hold one up. In captivity this shows up as floppy tail syndrome: hanging upside down on glass, the gecko's tail flops over its head or to the side.

9. They make and follow scent trails. In the wild they sleep in the same safe spot each day and follow their own scent trail home after foraging at night. That is why a gecko in a new cage often stops eating for a couple of weeks. Once it has scent-marked the cage as home, it settles and eats again.

10. They are one of the biggest gecko species. Of more than 1,500 gecko species, crested geckos are among the largest, at up to 20 to 23 cm (8 to 9 in) and 70 to 80 g for a large adult. Leachianus and big tokays are bigger, but the vast majority of geckos are far smaller.