Species of the Day: Bibron's Gecko

Scientific Name: Pachydactylus bibroni
Family: Gekkonidae
Adult Size: 6 to 8 inches long
Range: Southern Africa
Habitat: Arid environments containing rocky outcroppings

    The Bibron's Gecko is a moderate-sized, thick-toed gecko with a stockier build than most other geckos. Males are generally larger than females. It has a brown base color with a beaded dorsal pattern with horizontal black stripes and white dots. The belly is white or a very light brown. Hatchling geckos will have more solid patterns, becoming paler and more broken with age, with females sometimes lacking the white dots. The Bibron's Gecko is both terrestrial and arboreal. It is territorial, with males being especially aggressive towards one another, so they should be kept separately. These geckos are very fast runners, so care should be taken when handling to prevent escapes.
    This hardy wall crawler is simple to keep if a few basic criteria are met. Being nocturnal, Bibron's Geckos spend the majority of the day out of sight in a favorite hiding place. These can be in rocky crevices or between slabs of tree bark. Then they will come out at night under cover of darkness to hunt. Coarse sand or gravel works well as a substrate, with various rocks and pieces of driftwood covering the floor for climbing. A water bowl is not necessary as long as the terrarium is misted every day to allow the gecko to drink up the water droplets off the rocks and walls of the enclosure. Bibron's geckos are insectivorous, with crickets and meal worms providing the bulk of the diet, but supplementing with various other insects is always a wise course of action. Day time temperatures can reach the low 90s F, but preferred nighttime hunting temperatures should be in the 80s or even the 70s.