Hemidactylus frenatus and Hemidactylus turcicus, more commonly known as warty geckos, are native to the tropical regions of Asia and have spread to America by humans. Warty geckos, known to fearlessly enter homes in southeastern and western parts of America, are now available on the pet market as domestic geckos and are sold in any pet store. Warty geckos are very suitable reptiles for both beginners and experts, because they are inexpensive and easy to care for.
Steps
Step 1. Habitat
A single warty gecko can live in a 20-40 liter terrarium. If you want to keep more than one gecko in the same terrarium, an additional 20 liters will be needed for each one. For example: for two geckos it will take a 40-liter terrarium, for three geckos one 60-liter, for four geckos one 80-liter, and so on. Never keep multiple males in the same terrarium, as they may struggle. Since these geckos are arboreal, the height of the terrarium is more important than its width. The tank also needs to be escape-proof, as warty geckos can pass through very small openings.
Step 2. Heating / lighting
Heat is very important for the life of reptiles; if this is not enough, these animals become apathetic and may even become ill and die from respiratory infections. But even if it's too hot, reptiles can overheat and get sick or die. Heating plays a crucial role in reptile life and, if done incorrectly, can cause disease or worse. The temperature of the warty gecko terrarium should be a maximum of 29-32 ºC in the warm zone and 25-27 ºC in the cold zone. The night temperature must be 25-27 ºC. Be sure to heat one part of the terrarium more than the other to help the animals regulate their body temperature. Suitable temperatures can be achieved by using a small low-power heating lamp placed at one end of the terrarium. You can also use a heating device placed on the side of the tub or under it. Never use heating rocks - they are obsolete and can cause severe burns and even death. To check the night temperature you can use a blue light lamp. There is no need for UV lighting for warty geckos, because they are nocturnal animals, but some breeders say it could make some difference.
Step 3. The substrate must be coir (useful for humidity)
The substrate must be at least 7.5 cm deep, because geckos usually dig small holes for their eggs. Be sure to use a soil-based or calcium-based terrarium substrate, which is easy to digest if ingested when geckos attack prey. Stir in some coconut or palm shell to help maintain moisture.
Step 4. The next thing we will need are hiding places:
Since warty geckos are nocturnal animals, they need a dark place to sleep during the day. There are two ways to do this: buying something from pet stores or a cheaper method. In pet shops there are many small houses and hiding places; the inexpensive method is to build a hiding place yourself, for example by making a hole in a small container to create an entrance. Make sure you have a hiding spot on the cold side of the terrarium and another on the warm side. If you host more than one gecko, you must have a hiding place for each gecko, plus an extra one. You could also use fake climbing plants to help retain moisture and to give the gecko something to climb and hide in.
Step 5. Moisture / moult
Some warty geckos are tropical species, so they need a humid environment. They must have around 70-90% humidity, which can be adjusted using an automatic vaporizer or spray bottle and the aforementioned mixed substrate. The most common warty geckos in the southern United States (Hemidactylus turcicus) are quite accustomed to much lower humidity levels, so they only need the humidity provided by the substrate. If you use a spray bottle, make sure it does not contain chemicals. You'll also need a wet hiding place, which you can build by cutting an entrance into a small container and putting peat moss in it and then steaming it. This is necessary for moulting and also helps to control humidity. There is no fixed time for reptiles to moult; as geckos age, they moult less frequently than when they are young.
Step 6. Choose the gecko
Make sure you choose an active and healthy specimen. Make sure you eat and defecate regularly and normally and that you don't show signs of lethargy or weakness.
Step 7. Food / water
Don't feed the gecko the day you bring it home; he probably wouldn't eat. The rule for warty geckos is that if a prey is larger than the distance between their eyes, it is too large. For a very young gecko, a diet consisting of small crickets, fruit flies and small worms is fine. An adult gecko should eat a cricket or two every other day. Avoid cockroach larvae, as they contain a relatively low level of nutrients compared to crickets or cockroaches and rapidly mutate into adult form. Additionally, the chitosan that the exoskeleton is made of is difficult to digest, particularly for younger geckos. Usually these geckos do not drink the water from the tub, so you have to spray the inner walls with reverse osmosis or distilled water to allow the animals to lick the water droplets from the walls or other objects in the cage.
Step 8. Size / Lifespan
Warty geckos can grow to a length of 8-18cm. They can live from 3 to 10 years.
Step 9. Touch the gecko
It is advisable to avoid touching the warty gecko as this would strain it and could cause it to lose its tail (even if it grows back). Only touch the gecko when you need to remove it from the terrarium to clean it. You must wash your hands before and after touching any reptile, to avoid pathogens and diseases.
Advice
- Don't take the gecko by the neck or belly.
- Mating / Incubation: Warty geckos, like many geckos, are very good at communicating. Some species make mating calls, usually not loud enough to be heard from another room (only males make these calls). Females usually lay 1-3 hard-shelled eggs per brood. The gestation period lasts from 60 to 120 days. After laying the eggs, the female leaves and does not care. The eggs are not "glued", so they can be moved without killing the little geckos. It is best to use an egg incubator; in any case, if your geckos lay their eggs, you can also leave them where they are, because they have been laid in a place deemed suitable for safety and temperature, which allows for good incubation and the birth of the young. If you move the eggs and opt to incubate them, you can create a suitable environment by filling a Tupperware container halfway with coir, vermiculite, etc. Once this is done, make a hole in the lid or side of the container so the gecko can enter and exit at will. Then you will need to vaporize the incubator substrate so that it is moist, as the gecko will look for a humid environment to lay its eggs. At this point you can place the container in the terrarium or, if the eggs have already been laid, put them inside. When the eggs are in the incubator, place the incubator in a warm environment, with a temperature of around 26 ºC.
- You don't have to keep geckos exposed to white light - this will strain them and make them more likely to get sick.
