I want to share with you a somewhat unconventional story about how I got to know about crested geckos.
My story starts in early 2011 with my wife and myself wanting a pet but struggling as she is allergic to animals with hair or fur. We had considered reptiles, but sadly my wife also had a crippling fear of snakes, to the point the word “snake” used to send her into a panic attack. We had considered birds and fish, but the consensus was "they don't do much", which resulted in many hours wandering around pet shops, looking at some of the smaller animals and being completely uninterested in any of them.
Then, late one afternoon, we had been shopping and stumbled across a pet shop belonging to a large chain. We didn't expect to find anything but were leaning towards getting some fish at this point. Towards the end of the fish tanks there were some small glass enclosures filled with artificial plants and, on casual inspection, not a lot else.
Curiosity got the better of me and I asked one of the assistants what was in there, and he told me it was a gecko. We had both seen geckos on holiday before but never considered having one as a pet. I mean, what do they eat, what special enclosure do they need, do they need special light or anything like that?
The assistant called over the manager who knew a little bit more about geckos than the assistant. He told us they were crepuscular , so active at dusk and dawn, they liked to hide, didn’t need any special lighting or heating, and could live on baby food and the occasional cricket (for clarity, we found out later that baby food as a long-term food stuff for cresties is a big no-no).
The million-pound question came next – did we want to see this gecko. We were nervous, but said yes, and the manager proceeded to open the vivarium and rummage around for the inhabitant. Eventually, he unceremoniously pulled out this dirty-yellow drop tailed gecko and presented it to us. To say this little gecko looked less than impressed was an understatement. We were handed this small creature to examine to see if it was what we wanted.
Remember, this was the first time we had help something like this with the consideration of having it as a pet, so we were very cautious with it. The gecko continued to look unimpressed as we examined it, and we didn’t know what to think. I asked if they had any more in stock and was told no – this was the only one. This gecko was male, and a sub-adult, so had to be kept on his own, as males fight with each other – which is how he lost his tail. They couldn’t get any more in until they had sold this one due to this issue, so did we want him.
Now, this is where alarm bells should have started ringing, as we were told that if we bought a vivarium and the accessories, then we could have the gecko for free. Like all good scams, we didn’t see it coming and before long I was the proud “owner” of a crested gecko (Correlophus ciliatus) – because this was a reptile, my wife didn’t really want to handle him, but she was OK looking at him, so he sort of became mine.
Once home I made space for the vivarium, ensuring it was out of the sunlight, setting up all the plants and substrate, and putting this little creature in. At this point he didn’t have a name, so he was called “gecko” for the time being. I knew he was crepuscular but didn’t see much of him. I felt he was stressed, as he hid all the time and didn’t seem to want to eat. After 5 days of this I returned to the pet shop and asked their advice. Turns out “stumpy” as they called him, didn’t eat after losing his tail, so the staff used to sit in the staff room, hand feeding him on their break, whilst watching TV. And this is when the second red-flag went up and I didn’t notice it – “stumpy” would only eat in front of the TV.
Returning home, I moved the vivarium into a space that had a good view of the TV, and within moments of the TV going on “stumpy” came out and got himself comfortable watching whatever was on and even accepted some food; this was a breakthrough. We let him watch the TV for some time, then decided to turn it off whilst we did other things, as we didnt’ want to waste electricity. All well and normal, except it wasn’t.
Upon returning back to the living room, instead of finding the little yellow gecko either gone back to hide, or asleep, we found him with his hemipegic bulge wedged up against the glass of his vivarium for us to see, like some sort of protest. It was at this point he got his proper name – Paul, as his behaviour instantly reminded us of the little alien in the Simon Pegg / Nick Frost film.
It turned out that Paul didn’t just like TV, he was addicted to it. To say he was a 6-inch-long little lizard with a very small brain, he knew what he liked, and he liked what he knew. Science Fiction was a firm favourite, especially Star Wars, with his favourite being The Empire Strikes Back (but only the battle of Hoth section). Next, were fly-on-the-wall Police shows, and finally anything with a decent amount of violence in it. Now, you may think I am being over dramatic when I say he was addicted to TV, but this is exactly what happened. After a couple of years, we moved house and didn’t have a working TV for a couple of weeks until we got the satellite company out to wire in a dish. This resulted in Paul sitting at the back of the vivarium with his head wedged in the corner and not moving. If you attempted to move him, he would bite you and then go back to sulking. The only way I could fix this was to buy an android tablet so I could stream films, and this improved his mood to the point that he stopped sulking.
An odd thing occurred after a few months with him… my wife could pick him up and hold him without a panic attack or anything. This led us to getting another gecko, and then another, and then word spread at the pet shop that we would take the unsellable geckos, and before we knew it, we had 14 of them at one point. But, despite all this, Paul was still my favourite. Eventually, because of Paul and the others, my wife lost her fear of snake, being able to hold them now, after a bit of building up to it.
He enjoyed going on adventures, especially in the car, but only if he could see out of the windows. He went on holiday with us and was sneaked into hotels and then left with the TV on all day. At one hotel I used to visit on a regular basis for work, I was stopped by a staff member at reception as they were curious about the box I had poking out of a bag, as I hadn’t hidden it well. I tried to play it down, but Paul had managed to get himself hanging upside down on the lid so he was quite visible, resulting in me having to explain what he was. The next time I visited, the same staff member rushed over and immediately asked if I had brought Paul with me. On one trip, before we knew about baby food being bad for him, I think it may have fermented, as Paul became a rock star for one night only, trashing his travel vivarium and biting large chunks out of the polystyrene backing. Again, only the TV would pacify him, resulting in me staying up all night watching random rubbish as to stop Paul trashing his vivarium any more!
Despite appearing grumpy, he was very socialable. He used to enjoy meeting Trick-or-Treaters on Halloween and would happily walk up kid’s arms without fear. He used to enjoy sitting with visitors when they came to the house and even went to work with me on a couple of occasions to meet the people I worked with. It got so bad at work that people never asked how I was, they always asked how Paul was, to the point I set up and Instagram account so they could keep up to date with his latest adventure.
I can’t tell you how spoilt that little gecko was – we got a movies package with the TV subscription so Paul could watch films whilst I was at work, or when I went to bed. He used to sit with me whilst I was playing on the Xbox, and if I was doing something he didn’t approve of, he used to bite me to let me know.
The TV addiction was so bad, that he would throw himself at the glass on his vivarium if the TV wasn’t on. You could get him out of the vivarium, and he would sit and watch TV quite happily from his viewing cushion (yes, he had his own cushion). Obviously, if we went out, he went away, which always prompted protests, but as long as the TV remained on then he didn’t protest too much.
I made the mistake once of getting a Star Wars Lego kit and building it without removing him from his vivarium. This let to lots of throwing himself against the glass until I got him out. He then sat, quite contently, watching me build the kit (a small AT-AT) and when it was finished, he promptly climbed on it, kicked off the driver, and claimed it for his own.
I would never have suspected that such as small creature would have such a massive personality. And this isn’t unique to Paul either – with any one of the geckos if you described a behaviour, I could tell you which one it was.
After owning so many I learnt a lot about them. They aren’t difficult pets to keep, but they do need a few special considerations. Crested geckos like to climb, so a taller vivarium is better than a wider one. They like to hide, so plenty of hiding spaces are required, such as artificial plants, hides, etc. One thing that all of mine have enjoyed is hanging-down coconuts, they have all loved them! Crested geckos don’t need any special heating, as long as your home is between 20 and 24oC (68 and 75oF). They enjoy relatively high humidity, so regular misting with water is recommended. Food is a contentious issue – some people state that they can be fed exclusively on meal replacement powder (MRP) whilst others say they must have live food dusted in calcium in between the MRP. Fruit baby food is never recommended, as it often contains other things that are bad for the gecko and don’t contain calcium, but you can use overripe fruit as a treat (ours love pear and mango). Another contentious issue is light – some people state they need UV light; others state natural day light is enough. Last thing is life span – crested geckos can live between 10 and 15 years, so a long-term investment in time and care.
I could go on for pages about Paul and his antics, and I have hundreds of photos of Paul doing his thing, but I need to draw this to a close.
Sadly, all good stories must come to an end. On the 24 June 2023, Paul left his world. However, in true Rock Star fashion, he went out on his terms. I had known the day was coming, as he had become pale and lost weight. He stopped eating and wouldn’t eat any of these favourite foods – even the expensive Japanese gecko food he loved wasn’t enough. That evening, I put him on his viewing cushion and put on The Empire Strikes Back. Sure enough, come the Battle of Hoth he seemed to perk up slightly, but as soon as that sequence ended, he gave one big yawn, and he was gone.
He was buried in a special place in the garden with the other geckos we have lost over the years, but instead of the little wooden casket the others are in, Paul is buried in a hollowed out gold-plated Xbox controller, because he would not have tolerated anything less.
I miss the little sod every single day, even though it has been two years since I lost him, he had such an impact on my life.
So, kind reader, if you are ever wondering about something different as a pet, I can heartily recommend considering a crested gecko; I can’t guarantee you would get one with the same personality as Paul, they don’t give the same love as a puppy, nor do they snuggle like a cat, but their unique personality will certainly win you over… maybe not straight away, but definitely eventually.
