CARE SHEET
Rhacodactylus ciliatus
Written by Marcello Festa

DESCRIPTION

Rhacodactylus ciliatus is today one of more popular geckos over the world, thanks to its easiness of breeding, to its calm and peaceful character and to its nice appearance.
The ciliatus belongs to the Rhacodactylus genus, that is endemic in New Caledonia. It is a nocturnal gecko, with a length between the 20/25 cm and a weight that fluctuates between 25 – 40 grams. It’s a polimorphic gecko with a certain capacity to change its color, usually when the temperature changes.
It has a triangular head with typical crests and with eyelashes that give the name to the species. A male can be distinguished from a female from the swelling to the base of the tail. Adult males weigh less then adult females.
In captivity the expectation of life of this animal is around 10/15 years.


HOUSING

Crested geckos can be placed essentially in two different manners:
• In a plastic container of dimensions 30cm x 30cm x 40/45cm (dimensions just for 2/3 geckos), furnished in sterile way, using absorbent paper or sheets of newspaper like substrate, and pieces of cardboard and plastic plants like hiding places;
• In a glass terrarium, or in a fauna box of same dimensions, furnished in naturalistic way, using damp soil (generally blond peat) or specify mixture for reptiles (the "Forest Floor" of the Zoomed, for example) like substrate, and real plants (photos and bromelia are the best) and big barks like furnishing .
In both cases it is necessary that there is a good air circulation inside fauna box / terrarium to avoid air stagnations and molds. So there must be enough holes on at least one side of the terrarium to allow an adequate ventilation.


TEMPERATURE

22°C-27°C during the day; 18°C-24°C during the night.
It is not necessary use warming lamps or warming little cables, but the temperature must be over 15°C and under 30°C. Warming is necessary instead for the hatchlings and the young geckos, above all in winter. You can use a little warming cable or a warming plate to place under half of the terrarium/fauna box.


DAMPNESS

50-60% during the day; 60-75% during night. It is sufficient nebulize abundantly the inners of terrarium / fauna box at least once at the day, generally in the evening, to maintain a right percentage of dampness.


FEEDING

The diet of our ciliatus geckos consists in alive food, whims, cockroaches and mealworms, (some waxworms 1 – 2 times at month, more frequently for debilitated animals or for females in the breeding session).
The whims should be dust with Calcium + D3 and you can offer 3/4 whims for gecko twice at week. You can find the supplement Calcio+D3 in the animal shops or on online shops and often in the herp-shows.
It’s necessary buy only supplements that have exclusively Calcium+D3, without other vitamins, that they could be harmful for the animals.
The diet should be integrated from baby food of fruit for children, you can offer it 1 – 2 times at week in a little plug of plastic (little plugs of water bottles for example). The more appetites flavors are: banana, apple, peach, tropical fruits. You can add Calcium+D3 in the baby foods (a bit of teaspoon for plug). The newborns and the young ciliatus (until the 4/5 months older) should be fed 4-5 times at week with whims of adapted dimensions (the length of the whims should not surpass the distance between the eyes of the gecko) to obtain an optimal development. It is not necessary put little plugs with water inside the terrarium, the geckos drink the water sprayed on the walls or on the plants.


BREEDING

The first requirement is to have a couple of R. ciliatus, the male is distinguished from the female for the obvious swelling to the base of the tail. Both reach the sexual maturity around one year, and it is possible to try the reproduction not before the female reached at least 35 g of weight.
The couple mates in the night, the male pursues the female and often bites her during mating. After the mating (after almost a week) it’ is necessary to put a layed box inside the terrarium, this little box must be replenished with damp soil (blond peat for example) so the female will go in to lay eggs. After 30-45 days of gestation, the female will lay two eggs. Often some females, the youngster or elder ones, will lay only an egg. You will pick up the eggs delicately from the box and you must systemize them in a new box replenished with dampened vermiculite (or perlite).
The eggs, incubated between 22°C - 26°C, will be hatch after 70 days.