Many crested gecko owners wonder, how long do crested geckos live? Crested geckos can live up to 15-20 years if taken proper care of. There are factors that determine the crested gecko lifespan which include the geckos’ diet, habitat, and health. In this blog post, we’ll discuss what you should feed your gecko, what size home they need, and when you should get them veterinary care in order to ensure they live a long healthy life!
Table of Contents
- Crested Gecko Lifespan in Wild
- Crested Gecko Lifespan in Captivity
- Factors That Determine the Lifespan of Crested Geckos
- Summary
Crested geckos are crepuscular lizards, meaning that they are primarily active at dusk and dawn. They also typically eat once or twice a day, and can even for as long as two weeks without food. This is because crested geckos have the ability to slow down their metabolisms to prevent them from starving to death.
Crested Gecko Lifespan in Wild
Crested geckos have been kept as pets for the past few decades, so a little is only known about crested geckos’ wildlife.
A crested gecko can live around 4-5 years in the wild, but most would die in the first year. This is because they are exposed to several dangers like predators and common diseases in the wild. It is also hard to guess the age of an adult crested gecko in the wild, so it’s still impossible to know the actual lifespan of a crested gecko in the wild.
Crested Gecko Lifespan in Captivity
Crested geckos in captivity have a much better chance of living their full lifespan. Crested geckos’ diet, habitat size, health care will all determine how long a crested gecko can live under human supervision. A properly taken crested gecko can live 15-20 years.
Factors That Determine the Lifespan of Crested Geckos
The crested gecko’s diet, habitat size, and health care will all determine how long crested geckos live. Genetics will also play a role in it. To ensure that crested geckos have a long life they need to follow the following conditions:
1. Right temperature
Crested geckos should have a proper temperature gradient in their tank. They need a cool side, where crested geckos bask during the day and an area that is warm.
Crested geckos also prefer to live on higher surfaces so they can watch for predators below them. This means crested geckos will often live on branches, crested gecko climbing areas, or crested gecko hideaways.
Crested Geckos need a large enclosure to roam about in and feel comfortable. It is important that the crested gecko’s home has multiple crested gecko perches as it will provide them with more personal space.
13 inches of crested gecko perches is equal to crested geckos needing an 88 square inch crested gecko enclosure.
2. Diet
Crested geckos need a well-balanced diet rich in proteins, carbohydrates, and minerals, which could all be found in Commercial crested gecko food. It would also be great to treat your pet crested gecko with mealworms and other different worms, insects with calcium, feeder crickets, and soft, mashed-up fruit as treats. You could also dust insects with commercial food, meal replacement powders, and multivitamin supplement powder and feed them. You should also feed your pet lizard with calcium supplements to prevent calcium deficiency.
It’s important to ensure crested geckos have fresh, clean, chlorine-free water every day and the right amount of crested gecko food. If crested geckos don’t get enough clean, de-chlorinated water and proper food, their metabolism will slow down and they’ll become less active.
It is very important to give your pet crested gecko the proper amount of food as instructed by a reptile vet because too much or too little would cause health problems for your lovely pet.
3. Care
Crested geckos should be handled regularly to avoid them getting too stressed. Handling crested geckos and playing with them will not only keep crested geckos healthy but also helps them get social, which is important if your pet lives on their own. Handling your crested gecko 15-20 minutes a day would be great. But if your pet is new minimize your handling to once or twice a week, until it gets used to you.
Crested Geckos need to be spot cleaned as often as possible and fully cleaned at least four times a week. Since crested geckos shed often, it is important to be careful when cleaning them to stop irritating its skin.
It is also advised to expose your pet gecko to UVB light for 4-6 hours per day to obtain vitamin D3 which aids in absorbing calcium. More than that might hurt your gecko’s eyes and skin.
To ensure that crested geckos have clean water, it is important that fresh distilled or filtered water is added every day.
Crested geckos are nocturnal and should be given a proper hideaway to sleep in during the day when they can’t see or bask because their eyes need time to rest and recharge. It’s also important that there are enough hiding places so they feel safe and can rest. Crested geckos should also have a climbing area so they can climb on and explore their enclosure.
4. Appropriate housing
The size of a proper enclosure should be at least 20 gallons high for a single adult crested gecko. Also, remember to provide plenty of hideouts for crested geckos that are awake during the day. Large screen covers can be used to prevent escape. Hatchling crested geckos require an enclosure size of at least 30 gallons for one gecko.
Crested geckos require a well-lit and humid environment that has an ideal temperature of 78 to 82 degrees Fahrenheit during the day, and as low as 70 degrees Fahrenheit during the night. Make sure to add additional heat sources in case of emergency.
A proper substrate is important as well; crested geckos need humidity and so they need a proper substrate that can support humidity level maintenance of their enclosure. The best choice would be either paper towels, coconut fiber, or standard reptile carpet. Layer the substrate with live plants, such as spider plants or ferns for extra humidity of habitat and hiding spots. Using these could also reduce the chance of your crested lizard developing respiratory infections.
A shallow water dish should be included at all times so that crested geckos can drink when they please; this is especially important during shedding season because some crested geckos don’t drink enough water during this time.
Keep in mind that a crested gecko’s cage should be about 50-60% humidity at all times and will require daily misting of the substrate or plants, along with providing adequate hiding spots so they feel safe while.
It would be beneficial to keep an egg-laying box in female crested geckos’ enclosures to keep proper track of the number of eggs they lay during breeding seasons.
5. Humid vivarium
A humid vivarium is one of the most important things you can provide for your crested gecko. It replicates their natural environment, which consists of rain and fog in addition to heat and humidity.
The best way to create a humid environment is by misting them daily with bottled water or through live plants that produce water.
Misting once or twice a day should create the perfect environment for your crested gecko. Live plants would be beneficial because they produce humidity without needing to wet them directly with water.
Also read: Can Crested Geckos Swim
The better your crested gecko’s environment mimics their natural habitat, the happier they will be!
Summary
- Crested Geckos can live up to 15 years with proper care and a healthy crested gecko can live past 15 years in captivity.
- Crested Geckos can go for up to two weeks without food because crested geckos have the ability to slow their metabolism down when it is necessary.
- In the wild crested gecko lifespan averages at around four to five years with most dying within their first year.
- In captivity crested geckos have a much better chance of living to their full lifespan as they are given the right diet, habitat size, and health care.
- The lifespan of a crested gecko is determined by many factors, including diet, genetics, and enclosure size.
- Crested geckos should be handled regularly to avoid stress, and their enclosure should have plenty of perches for them to climb on or explore as well as hideouts where they can sleep during the day.
- It’s important that crested geckos get enough crusted food so they stay healthy, but not so much that crested geckos get obese.
- Crested Gecko care is also important, as it’s necessary for their scales to be brushed regularly and they need a UVB light in order to maintain healthy coloration or get the proper amount of calcium from food.
- To ensure that crested geckos have clean water, it is important that fresh distilled or filtered water is added every day.
- It’s also necessary for crested geckos to get enough hiding places in order to feel safe and rest.
- Crested Gecko care should be taken seriously. If not taken care of properly, they might die even within a year.
Do Female Crested Geckos live longer than Males?
No, Most of the time males live longer than female crested geckos. But these heavily depend on many other factors but generally speaking males live longer than females
