Tropical arboreal lizard

Day gecko

Phelsuma

Kept the same way as the veiled chameleon, Chinese water dragon and green anole, so they share one kit: the same heat, light, and humidity, sized to the animal.

Build a day gecko setup See the gear

Photograph of a Day gecko — Photograph by Charles J. Sharp, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Care sheet

What it needs

We have taken these figures from published sources and are still checking them against our own experience. Treat them as a guide, and ask us before you buy.

Day gecko is not one animal. A genus (Phelsuma). P. grandis is the one usually meant. The figures below span the group, so ask us which one you have before you buy the heating.

Basking surface: 29 to 33°C Measured on the surface the animal lies on, not in the air.
Daytime air: 25 to 31°C The cool end, away from the lamp.
Night air: 21 to 25°C
UV index at the basking spot: 2.9 to 7.4 Zone 3. Open or partial sun basker, thermoregulator
Humidity: 55 to 75%
Daylight hours: 13 h in summer, 11 h in winter
Winter: Cooling A cooler period: activity and feeding drop, but the animal stays awake.
Where it lives: Foliage or shrubs, Arboreal
Adult length: 10 to 28 cm
When it is active: Diurnal
How it lives: Arboreal
Typical captive life: 15 years

Our reading of the literature, not veterinary advice. Animals vary, and so do rooms, so take these figures, and any setup the builder puts together, as a starting point, and ask a reptile vet about your own animal. Where the figures come from.

From the catalogue