Turquoise dwarf gecko

About the species

Williams' dwarf gecko, in English the turquoise or electric blue dwarf gecko, is one of the most colourful geckos there is. The dominant male is bright turquoise blue with a black throat and orange belly and has black stripes across the head. Females are green, olive or copper-coloured with a paler belly, and subordinate males may keep a more subdued colour. Juveniles look like small females, and the males only turn blue when they are sexually mature.

The species was described in 1952 by the British zoologist Arthur Loveridge as a subspecies of Lygodactylus picturatus, but is today regarded as a separate species. The genus Lygodactylus contains many small, diurnal dwarf geckos in Africa, Madagascar and South America, and they all share fine adhesive lamellae under the toes, which make them skilled climbers.

An adult is only 7-10 cm including the tail, and males are slightly larger than females. The gecko is quick and curious. The male shows off by puffing up the black throat, bobbing the head and waving the tail.

The popularity has come at a high price. From 2004 to 2009 an estimated 40,000 animals were collected and exported from Tanzania, corresponding to about 15 % of the entire population, even though according to the Tanzanian authorities no permits were ever issued for it. The species was assessed as Critically Endangered in 2012 and was placed in CITES Appendix I in 2017. Wild-caught animals are still sold illegally, often as captive-bred, and that is an important reason why you should only buy an animal with valid papers from a breeder you can trust.

The species is not an animal for handling. It is small, fast and delicate and requires a keeper who has a firm grasp of temperature, humidity, calcium and paperwork.

Care

The enclosure

A pair can live in a tall enclosure of at least 30 × 30 × 45 cm (length × width × height). Many keepers use something somewhat larger, for example 40 × 40 × 60 cm, because that leaves room for a clearer difference between warm and cool zones and for more planting. A male with two females needs more space, and not all females can tolerate each other. Never keep more than one male in each enclosure.

Furnish tall and vertical with bamboo tubes, cork bark and branches of various thicknesses. Stiff plants such as bromeliads, sansevieria and small screw pines provide cover and resemble the habitat. A bioactive substrate with soil, coco humus and springtails retains moisture and breaks down waste. The enclosure must have ventilation at the top and be completely secure, because the juveniles are so small that they escape through even narrow gaps.

New animals should be quarantined for two months, preferably with a vet who knows reptiles.

Temperature

By day the enclosure should be 24-27 °C with a basking spot of 32-35 °C under a halogen spot, so that the gecko can warm up and move away again. At night the temperature should fall to 20-24 °C. Keepers do not agree about the night, and recommendations range from a small drop to 23-26 °C to a larger drop, so a moderate lowering is a safe choice.

Control the halogen spot with a dimmer or thermostat, so that it does not heat the whole enclosure, and measure with digital thermometers both at the basking spot and at the bottom. A small animal in a small enclosure overheats quickly. If the gecko hides all day or lies limp and motionless, check the temperature.

Humidity and water

Humidity should be 60-80 % by day and may reach almost 100 % right after the evening misting. Mist with a fine spray two or three times a day, and let the droplets evaporate and the surfaces dry a little before you mist again. The gecko drinks droplets from leaves, and that is its most important water source. Air that is too dry quickly dehydrates so small an animal.

Just as harmful is an enclosure that never dries out, because it causes mould and skin problems. Ensure good ventilation. A water bowl is not necessary, and a deep bowl can drown small animals. Instead use a flat lid with a few pebbles in it, and let the bromeliads' leaf axils hold the water.

Lighting and UVB

The species is diurnal and needs UVB. Use a T5 tube of 5-6 % (Ferguson zone 2) together with an ordinary daylight tube or an LED lamp of about 6500 K. The light must be mounted over mesh, not over glass or plastic, which blocks the UV radiation. Be careful with powerful compact UVB lamps in small enclosures, because they give off a lot of heat and can cause eye damage if the animal gets too close.

Keep the light on 12-14 hours a day in the season from March to November and about 10 hours in winter, ideally on a timer. At night it must be dark. There must be shade and hides, so that the animals can choose for themselves how much light they get.

Feeding

The gecko is a small hunter that also loves nectar. Give very small insects such as fruit flies, bean beetles, springtails, newly hatched crickets and small roaches. The prey must be at most about 6 mm long. Dust the insects with calcium, and be sparing with D3 when the animals also get UVB.

Supplement with prepared diet for fruit-eating geckos, for example Pangea or Repashy, mixed into a thick paste and served in a small lid high up. Keepers feed differently: some give insects every other day and nectar on the days in between, others give adults prepared diet every second to third day and insects as a supplement to avoid obesity. Follow the animal's body shape. Honey and homemade nectar mixes should only be a rare treat.

Breeding females have a large calcium requirement. Place a small dish of pure calcium without D3 or crushed cuttlebone in the enclosure, keep it dry, and change it every other week. Juveniles must be fed every day.

Behaviour and handling

Williams' dwarf gecko is lively and curious, but it is not an animal for handling. It is fast, and being grabbed stresses it. Enjoy its behaviour through the glass instead, for example when the male puffs up his throat and bobs to the female.

The males are territorial and fight, so there must be only one male in each enclosure. A pair can usually live together well. A male with two females can work if there is enough space and cover, but some females do not tolerate each other and must be separated. Watch for bites and for animals that are kept away from the food. New animals must be allowed to settle in peace.

Breeding

Sexual maturity and sexing

The juveniles all look like small females, so the sex can only be determined reliably when they are older. Sexually mature males are blue with a black throat, and they have distinct pores in front of the vent in a V pattern, while the females' pores are indistinct. The animals grow quickly and can be fully grown after 4-5 months and sexually mature after 6-8 months. Wait with breeding all the same until they are about a year old and have reached full size of 7-8 cm, because egg-laying demands a lot of calcium from a small female.

Mating

In the terrarium the breeding season follows the light and typically lasts from March to November. The male courts by bobbing, puffing up his throat and waving his tail. The female lays her first eggs a few weeks after mating. Give her a winter pause of three to five months with under 10 hours of light and preferably without the male, so that she can rebuild her calcium reserves.

Think carefully before you breed. The species is critically endangered, and every juvenile that is to be sold or passed on must have its own EU certificate from the authorities. That requires you to be able to document that the parent animals were lawfully acquired and that the juveniles were bred by you. Therefore keep careful records of matings, eggs and hatchings.

Egg-laying and clutches

The female lays 1-2 small, hard-shelled eggs at a time, typically every third to fourth week in the season. How many clutches she lays in a year varies greatly and has not been reliably recorded.

The species glues the eggs to the surface, for example inside bamboo tubes, on plants or on the glass, and once the shell has hardened they cannot be moved without breaking. Therefore give the female several egg-laying sites that can be taken out of the enclosure, for example short bamboo tubes, cork tubes or small tubes of opaque plastic. The female must have plenty of calcium and food, otherwise she quickly becomes depleted. If she loses weight, put breeding on hold.

Incubation

Eggs in a removable tube are moved with the tube to a small, ventilated box with damp vermiculite or an artificial substrate in the bottom, without turning the tube. If the eggs are stuck in the enclosure, they are incubated in place under a small, ventilated cup, so that the juveniles do not disappear or get eaten. Humidity should be around 60 %, and the air holes must be so small that the juveniles cannot escape.

At 22-27 °C the eggs hatch after 60-120 days, depending on temperature, and the time may be shorter at the high end. The species has temperature-dependent sex determination. An experienced breeder reports mostly females at 21-24 °C on average, both sexes at 26-27 °C and mostly males at 28 °C and above. The figures come from keepers and not from controlled experiments, but they explain why there are so many males in the trade.

Rearing the young

The juveniles are tiny when they hatch. Move them away from the adults immediately, as the adults may eat them. Use a small, secure plastic box or a small enclosure where all gaps are closed, and furnish with thin branches, hides and plants. Mist daily, and provide the same temperature and UVB as for the adults.

The first food is fruit flies, springtails and newly hatched crickets, and there must be food every day. Also give a little prepared diet. In the first weeks mortality is high, especially if the female has lacked calcium. Keep the juveniles singly or in small groups of the same size until the sex can be seen, and separate the males when they turn blue. Remember that every juvenile must have its own EU certificate before it may be sold or given away.

Health and common mistakes

Williams' dwarf gecko is small and delicate, and it is most often calcium, humidity and heat that go wrong. The typical problems are:

• Calcium deficiency (metabolic bone disease), especially in females that lay many eggs. It shows as soft jaws, bent limbs and tremors. Give plenty of calcium and UVB.
• Dehydration if the air is too dry, or fungus and skin problems if the enclosure never dries out.
• Overheating in a small enclosure with too powerful a lamp.
• Fights between males or bites between females. Separate the animals immediately if there are injuries.
• Eye damage from powerful UVB lamps mounted too close to the animal.
• Weak, hungry juveniles. Feed them daily with very small prey.

The gecko is so small that illness quickly becomes serious. See a vet experienced with reptiles if it loses weight, lies limp or will not eat. Lifespan has not been thoroughly studied, but zoos report about 5 years as an average and up to 10 years in captivity.