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Home > Care > Introduction to Day geckos
 

Introduction

Day geckos are amongst the most beautiful lizards of the world. They have also been referred to as “living jewels of the islands of the Indian Ocean” (by Sean McKeown). It is a pleasure to see how they move and interact with each other. Many of them are brightly coloured.

Day geckos are unlike most other geckos. As their name suggests, they are diurnal (active during the day). There are more than 60 species and subspecies of the genus Phelsuma living on Madagascar and the surrounding islands of the Indian Ocean. The majority of which, however inhabit Madagascar.

Day geckos vary in size, the smallest species being a mere 2.5 inch (Phelsuma kely) and of which the largest is around 12 inch (Phelsuma guentheri). Most of them are bright green or even blue with an attractive pattern on their back. Characteristic for day geckos (and most other gecko species) is that they don't have movable eyelids, their tong has taken over the function of eye-cleaning.
Female Phelsuma m.boehmei female climbing glass.
Female Phelsuma ornata climbing glass with ease.
   

 

All day geckos have flattened toe pads that are covered on the bottom with dead, keratinized scales called lamellae. This enables them to climb almost any surface, even smooth panes of glass. The lamellae scale surface is made up of long hair-like structures called setae, and each setae is divided and subdivided along its length making the setal tips very small.
 
Please Note: Day geckos are best thought of as display lizards. It is better that you don’t handle the animals, instead admire them for their beauty. They have a very fragile skin that could be easily torn through handling. Handling also stresses these geckos out.