SIZE & LIFESPAN
Mourning Geckos have been know to live in captivity for 10 or more years. If you properly care for them, and give them the correct diet, this is a gecko that you'll have as a pet for more than a decade. Mourning Geckos are a slender micro gecko measuring approximately 3-4 inches in total when full grown. All Mourning Geckos are female so are parthenogenic which means they self reproduce without the aid of male. Typically one female will not reproduce on its own, but it is still possible. If you have multiple Mourning Geckos you will most likely get eggs and babies at some point in keeping them.
HEAT & LIGHTING
Because Mourning Geckos are nocturnal, UVB lighting is not needed. That being said, Mourning Geckos can benefit from UVB lighting. It can stimulate their appetite and also help mimic their natural environment in the wild. We provide all our Mourning Geckos with UVB and recommend doing so if you can. If you decide to provide your gecko with UVB lighting, be sure to use a T5 bulb with 5% UVB. We recommend either the Arcadia Shadedweller or the Arcadia 6% bulb. Both bulbs work great and need replaced yearly to provide proper UVB. When using UVB, you also want to make sure to provide adequate coverage in the enclosure so that your gecko can get away from the UVB when it needs to. In the winter, we give our geckos 8-10hrs of UVB light. In the summertime, we leave the UVB light on for 12-14hrs. Mourning Geckos should be kept between 70-80 degrees. If you have a UVB light, it will most likely be enough to warm the tank up during the day. If your house is cold and you're not using UVB, then you'll need to add a 25-50 watt heat lamp to your setup. Your enclosure can fall into the low-mid 70s at night with no issue. Be sure that your heat lamp or mat is connected to a thermostat so that your enclosure never gets too hot. Be sure to always have a thermometer in your enclosure so that you can closely monitor the temperature in the tank.
DIET
Mourning Geckos eat a mix of CGD and insects. Because of their small size, they can be fed either flightless fruit flies or 1/4" crickets. Be sure to dust all your insects with a high-quality Calcium D3 supplement such as Minerall. Because they are nocturnal, you will most likely not see them eat. The appropriate sized insects should be no larger than the space between the geckos eyes. Typically babies can take fruit flies or 1/8" crickets, while adults prefer 1/4" insects. Alongside insects, you can offer your Mourning Gecko "Crested Gecko Diet". We offer all our Mourning Geckos a small amount every other day. They won't eat much of it, so we offer a group of mourning geckos a bottle cap worth of CGD. Always providing an abundance of food will ensure your adult Mourning Geckos don't try to make a snack out of the babies hatching in the enclosure.
HOUSING
A group of Mourning Geckos can be housed in a 10 gallon enclosure. A group of Mourning Geckos can be kept in a 12x12x18" enclosure, but you can always give them additional space. We house large groups is 18x24x18" PVC enclosures because it helps keep in humidity and heat better than a glass enclosure. Different enclosures work for different climates. If you live in a dry climate, a tub or PVC enclosure will lock in humidity. If you live in a humid climate, a glass exo terra will provided needed ventilation to insure mold does not start to grow. Being an arboreal species, they will thrive in tall tanks with vertical climbing spaces. There should be multiple hides in the enclosure to ensure each gecko can properly hide and eat without aggression issues. These guys are escape artists, so make sure to seal off any small openings or holes in your enclosure so they can not squeeze out of the tank.
BEDDING
You can use Reptisoil mixed with cypress bedding or bioactive soil with this species. We typically use a mix of Reptisoil and cypress bark in all our enclosures. You want to use a 3-5" layer of damp bedding to keep the humidity up. The substrate should be moist, but there should be no standing water. If the top layer of bedding is drying out, be sure to mist it more to lock in the humidity. You can go bioactive with this species. With a bioactive tank, you want to make sure you have a good drainage layer so that you do not get standing water in your enclosure.
DECOR
Mourning Geckos live in trees and shrubbery and will appreciate elevated hides and space to climb inside their enclosure. We recommend using either a hanging coconut, mossy hide and/or bamboo tubes as hides. We like to get fake leafy vines and hang them throughout the cage with the assistance of suction cups. Be sure to rinse off all plastic plants before you put them in the tank. You can also place live plants such as Snake Plants and Pothos plants. Be sure to rinse off the plant's leaves and re-pot any plants so that there is no way for your gecko to come in contact with pesticides or fertilizer. Personally we like to do a mix of both. Our enclosures typically consist of cork flats, a bamboo bridge, a hide (either a coconut hide or cork round), a live snake plant, and some silk plants draped around the enclosure. You want to have plenty of horizontal perches zig zagging across the enclosure so that the gecko has plenty of areas to perch.
HUMIDITY
We recommend keeping Mourning Geckos humidity between 60-80%. Having a digital hygrometer in the cage will help measure the humidity levels in your tank. Depending on your enclosure type, you may need to mist more frequently. Glass enclosures tend to lose humidity quickly, so you may need to mist 2 times a day. Whereas, tubs and PVC enclosures keep humidity better so need misted every other day. You want to mist enough so that your gecko can drink water from leaves or decor in your tank. If humidity requirements are not met, the gecko will have issues shedding as well as the risk of becoming dehydrated. The cage should have a dry out period during the day, so if you notice the tank is still wet by the next morning, you should hold off on misting until the walls and decor dry out completely.
HANDLING/TEMPERAMENT
Mourning Geckos are not handleable. They are extremely quick and flighty. They are fun to watch in their enclosure, but do best staying in their enclosure and only being removed for deep cage cleanings.
WATER
All geckos should be provided with a small, shallow water dish. We always recommend putting a small bio ball in the water dish so that any crickets that find their way into the water bowl are able to get out. Be sure the water dish is shallow enough so that the gecko can stand in it without submerging their head. If the water is too deep, there is a potential of the gecko drowning. When using water, be sure to either use spring water or tap water with de-chlorinator added to it. DO NOT use distilled water. Distilled water removes trace minerals from the water which are an essential to keeping your gecko healthy.
CLEANING
We recommend spot cleaning the cage at least once a week and doing a full bedding change and tank cleaning every 6-8 weeks. Every week look for poo, dead insects, shed, and food smears on the ground or glass and remove it from the enclosure. When cleaning the entire cage out, first remove all bedding and wipe down all surfaces with hot soapy water. Put the decor into a bucket with warm water & a capful of vinegar. Let it soak for 15 minutes & then rinse off the items & place them in bucket of hot water. Once the decor has soaked for 15 minutes, rinse them off again & then they are ready to go back into the tank once cleaning is complete. Then you want to be sure to disinfect the tank with either vinegar or a commercial reptile cleaning product. Once you have disinfected the tank, thoroughly rinse your tank out with hot water until it is free of any cleaning products. Let everything air dry before putting it back into the enclosure. When cleaning to enclosure put the reptile in either a deli cup or another small contained space. Do not put the reptile back into the enclosure until cleaning is complete.
SUPPLY LIST:
☐ 12x12x18" Enclosure
☐ Crickets or Flightless Fruit Flies
☐ Crested Gecko Diet
☐ Plastic or silicone cups for CGD
☐ Mister Bottle or Spray Bottle
☐ Dechlorinator or Spring Water
☐ Vines for climbing
☐ Plastic plants or Live plants
☐ Moist Hanging Hide
☐ Bedding - soil mix or bioactive mix
☐ UVB tube light (optional)
☐ Thermometer/Hygrometer
☐ Heat Lamp with Thermostat (Depending on house temperatures)
☐ Shallow Water Dish
