Captive Care of Helmeted Geckos

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Helmeted geckos (Geckonia chazaliae) can be found along the North West African coast from Rio de Oro in Mauritania, northwards all the way to Morocco. They are not normally found more than three miles inland. Although being so close to the ocean increases humidity, the habitat of the gecko is desert with little vegetation where they can hide during the day.

What do they look like?

This gecko is sometimes mistaken for a rather short and stout species of Agama1. Like Agamas, the helmeted gecko stores its own fat reserves along the side of its body, rather than in it’s tail like most other geckos do. It’s head is separate from the body and at the rear of the head there are enlarged tubercular scales which resemble a helmet, giving it it’s name. These geckos have tough skin and can be handled but this can also stress them.

The Helmeted gecko has no eyelids, and relies on it’s tongue to clean the brille/surface of the eyes. The pupils are vertical, like many other nocturnal species of gecko. During the day, the helmeted gecko’s colour blends in remarkably well with the sand. At night, the light sandy colour changes to chocolate brown, with dark and light speckles along it’s spine.

The tail of these species has not got much fat storage capability, and so looks very thin in comparison to other types of geckos.

Husbandry

Vivarium

Housing is a very important consideration when thinking of getting a lizard. Helmeted geckos are best housed in a aquarium, but other geckos with adhesive toe pads or larger lizards without 'sticky' feet fair better in sliding glass chipboard cupboards.

One male can be housed together with up to four females. The size of the enclosure of a harem of helmeted geckos should be at least 80x45x45cm.

The décor can be as simple or as elaborate as you want. Use sand with a few small pebbles and pieces of cork bark for them to hide under, and one or two patches of sphagnum moss to keep it permanently damp, and to raise the humidity slightly. These geckos are part noctutnal so like to hide in the day. A simple hide can be made of plastic guttering or hard2 cardboard tube.

Lighting and Heating

Although helmeted geckos are nocturnal, they seem to have a high demand for ultra violet (UV), especially for babies and sub adults3. A full spectrum lighting tube should be placed in the vivarium, and should be switched on for at least 12 hours per day.

The daytime temperature should be around 27-28° C, and a hot spot of about 35° C should be provided. Part of the vivarium must be kept cool to allow them to thermoregulate4. At night the temperature should be allowed to fall to 20° C.

Feeding

Babies should be fed on micro brown crickets5, and all adult geckos should be fed medium to large brown crickets. To improve the rapid growth of babies, all food should be dusted with calcium every feed and multi-vitamin should be used once or twice a week. A shallow water dish should be placed in the vivarium for drinking.

Health

Helmeted geckos are not prone to bad health but still can get worms or mites. If your animal is bleeding from a wound or internally (bloody vomit, or blood in the faeces), paralysed, has abnormal swellings on any part of it's body, may have a broken bone, or has ingested a potentially toxic substance, get your pet to a vet right away. This may sound obvious but many people don't react quick enough with fatal results. Worms or mites can be treated with powder or drops, which are available from good vets.

1An Agama is a very large family for comon lizards.2Soft card tubes such as toilet roll tubes can get squashed if a lizard was to climb over.3A sub adult is a not fully grown lizard.4This means to move between the hot and cold end of the vivarium.5A rough feeding guide is that crickets should be no more than the length and half the width of the gecko's head.

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