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ReptileTerrestrialIntermediate
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Turner's Thick-toed Gecko
Chondrodactylus turneri
The African rupicolous terror. An arboreal/rock-dwelling gecko with an armored and rough body, very famous for its lightning-fast agility and extremely biting and combative nature. It lives glued vertically to rocky walls or under the roofs of African houses, dominating the night.
Class:Squamata
Order:Squamata
Family:Gekkonidae
Genus:Chondrodactylus
Species:Chondrodactylus turneri
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Environment
Terrestrial
Humidity
40 - 60 %
Day temperature
28 - 32 °C
Night temperature
18 - 22 °C
Adult size
9.5 cm
UVB
Low
Species description
Geographical Origin and Habitat: Massively widespread from East Africa to South Africa. It is a rupicolous gecko that disdains sandy soil: it lives exclusively in verticality amazing on granite outcrops, crevices of gigantic baobabs and, very often, has ruthlessly colonized the walls and roofs of rural human dwellings, hunting moths attracted to light.
Taxonomy and Genetics: Until recently placed in the Pachydactylus genus, now transferred to Chondrodactylus despite the enormous toes with exceptionally wide and powerful adhesive pads (unlike its cousin angulifer, which is terrestrial).Its armor is frightening: the back is entirely covered with large and hard sharp tubercles, giving it a formidable spiny and wrinkled appearance.
Behavior and Habits: Nervous, hyperactive, and biting. They are the antithesis of the docile domestic gecko. They run on vertical walls or upside down on ceilings with uncatchable speed lethal blind. If cornered pain, they open their jaws wide and emit shrill shrieks, delivering extremely painful lightning-fast bites thanks to powerful jaw muscles. Extremely voracious and competitive for food proud majestic.
Morphology: Robust and corpulent, they reach 6.5-7 inches (16-18 cm) in pure amazing length. Massive and square head, enormous bulging copper or bronze colored eyes with vertical pupil lethargy. The tail is prehensile, spiny, and stubby. Base color from mouse gray to dark brown with sharp white and black transverse spots or bands. Males are slightly larger and show extremely swollen hemipenes and pointed lateral spurs at the base of the tail.
Care, breeding and tankmates
Terrarium Setup: The Reptile Database records Chondrodactylus turneri in several countries of southern and eastern Africa. This distribution record makes no source-backed statement about captive enclosure dimensions, substrate, or furnishings.
Lighting and Heating: This recovery makes no source-backed statement about a captive lighting schedule or target temperature.
Humidity and Hydration: This recovery makes no source-backed statement about a captive humidity target or hydration protocol.
Feeding and Supplementation: This recovery makes no source-backed statement about a captive diet, feeding frequency, or supplementation.
Compatibility and Coexistence: This recovery makes no source-backed statement about coexistence or handling.
Health and Common Diseases: The record indicates oviparous reproduction, but this recovery makes no source-backed statement about disease, treatment, or veterinary management.
Geographic Origin and Distribution
Massively widespread from East Africa to South Africa. It is a rupicolous gecko that disdains sandy soil: it lives exclusively in verticality amazing on granite outcrops, crevices of gigantic baobabs and, very often, has ruthlessly colonized the walls and roofs of rural human dwellings, hunting moths attracted to light.
Origin
Selective breeding and cultivarsAfrica and MadagascarCosmopolitan or introduced
Reptile profile
- Diet
- No verified data available
- Life expectancy
- No verified data available
- Adult size
- 9.5 cm
- Lifestyle/Microhabitat
- No verified data available
- Activity cycle
- No verified data available
- Sociality
- No verified data available
- Reproduction
- No verified data available
- Handling tolerance
- No verified data available
- Brumation
- No verified data available
- Molting
- No verified data available
The catalog's scalar value is 9.5 cm. The ReptTraits v1.2 source reports a maximum adult measurement of 9.5 cm for this species, recorded as snout–vent length (SVL). These figures are not interchangeable: the first is the profile's editorial reference, whereas the second is a published maximum under a specific measurement convention; differences among sources can reflect sex, population, life stage and measuring method.
Image gallery
Licensed images linked to the species or, when marked, to the closest representative taxon.
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