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ReptileTerrestrialEasy
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Mourning Gecko
Lepidodactylus lugubris
The mourning gecko is a highly adaptable, parthenogenetic species native to Southeast Asia. It is mostly nocturnal, social, and easy to care for in a small vertical terrarium.
Class:Squamata
Order:Squamata
Family:Gekkonidae
Genus:Lepidodactylus
Species:Lepidodactylus lugubris
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Environment
Terrestrial
Humidity
60 - 80 %
Day temperature
22 - 28 °C
Night temperature
18 - 22 °C
Adult size
5.1 cm
UVB
Low
Species description
Geographical Origin and Habitat: Native to Southeast Asia, Indonesia, and Pacific islands, but widely introduced across coastal tropical regions. It inhabits rainforests, mangroves, and coastal vegetation, adapting easily to human structures where artificial lights attract prey.
Taxonomy and Genetics: A miniature gecko reaching 9-10 cm in total length. Coloration is highly variable, ranging from light cream to dark brown depending on temperature and stress, with a pattern of dark chevron (zig-zag) markings or spots along the back. Possesses adhesive toe pads for climbing smooth surfaces.
Behavior and Habits: Primarily nocturnal and crepuscular, though frequently active during the day. Highly social and vocal, they communicate via a series of clicking and chirping sounds to establish hierarchies. Females display pseudo-copulatory behaviors to stimulate ovulation.
Morphology: This species reproduces almost exclusively through parthenogenesis. The entire population is composed of clonal females that lay fertile, self-cloned eggs. Males are extremely rare, sterile, and considered genetic anomalies.
Care, breeding and tankmates
Terrarium Setup: Requires a vertically oriented terrarium (minimum 30x30x45 cm for a small group). Furnish with live broad-leaved plants (Pothos), branches, or hollow bamboo tubes, where females will glue their hard-shelled eggs in pairs.
Lighting and Heating: Maintain daytime temperatures around 22-26°C, with hot spots up to 28°C to encourage active breeding. While they tolerate room temperature, low-level (2-5%) UVB lighting is highly beneficial for calcium absorption and shell development.
Humidity and Hydration: Keep humidity levels between 60% and 80%. Mist the terrarium daily, preferably in the evening, to allow the geckos to drink water droplets from leaves and enclosure walls.
Feeding and Supplementation: Omnivorous. Feed on fruit flies (Drosophila), pinhead crickets, and commercial powdered crested gecko fruit diets. Keep a small dish of pure calcium powder available in the terrarium to support their continuous egg production.
Compatibility: Highly social and excellent for colony housing. The enclosure must be escape-proof as they can slip through gaps as small as 2 mm. Separate hatchlings immediately, as adults will cannibalize them.
Health and Common Diseases: Highly prone to metabolic bone disease (MBD) due to continuous egg-laying if calcium and vitamin D3 are deficient. Maintain clean conditions to prevent skin infections from fecal waste buildup.
Geographic Origin and Distribution
Native to Southeast Asia, Indonesia, and Pacific islands, but widely introduced across coastal tropical regions. It inhabits rainforests, mangroves, and coastal vegetation, adapting easily to human structures where artificial lights attract prey.
Origin
Cosmopolitan or introducedSouth and Southeast AsiaEast AsiaTropical oceans and reefs
Reptile profile
- Diet
- No verified data available
- Life expectancy
- No verified data available
- Adult size
- 5.1 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 5.1 cm. The ReptTraits v1.2 source reports a maximum adult measurement of 5.1 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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