How to Handle a Gargoyle Gecko (And How It Differs From a Crested Gecko)

How to Handle a Gargoyle Gecko (And How It Differs From a Crested Gecko)

Gargoyle geckos are docile and slow-moving as adults, genuinely one of the calmer arboreal geckos to handle, though juveniles are a different story entirely. For everything else about day-to-day care, see our full Gargoyle Gecko care guide.

Age Matters a Lot

Young gargoyle geckos are skittish and jumpy, quick to leap at the slightest disturbance. Adults settle considerably as they mature. Don't judge the species by a nervous juvenile, the calm reputation this gecko has earned really does apply mostly to grown animals.

Getting Started

Wait about two weeks after bringing a new gecko home before handling it. Start with 5-minute sessions every other day, working up to about 15 minutes, and cap total daily handling around 20 minutes even once your gecko is tame.

Handle over a bed, couch, or close to the ground, jumpy geckos leap when startled, and a fall from height is a real injury risk for a small animal. Let the gecko walk onto your hand rather than grabbing it out of a hide. "Treadmilling," moving one hand in front of the other as it walks, keeps things calm for jumpy individuals. Handling during the day, when gargoyle geckos are naturally sleepier, also tends to go smoother than an evening session.

Two Defense Mechanisms Worth Understanding

Biting. Rare, and almost always provoked. Gargoyle geckos have noticeably larger teeth than crested geckos, so an adult bite can actually draw blood, unlike a crested gecko's, which typically can't break skin. Still a minor injury, wash it with soap and water.

Tail drop. Like most geckos, a gargoyle will drop its tail if grabbed by it, startled badly, or restrained roughly. Never grab or hold the tail. Unlike crested geckos, gargoyle geckos do regrow their tail. The regrown tail comes back slightly different, prehensile and cartilage-based rather than bone, with somewhat asymmetrical scales, but fully functional.

The Crested Gecko Comparison

Gargoyle geckos and crested geckos get lumped together constantly, but they differ in a few concrete ways that matter for handling:

• Tail regrowth: gargoyle regrows, crested does not.
• Bite: gargoyle can draw blood, crested typically can't.
• Climbing: crested geckos stick well to glass, gargoyles climb glass poorly and need more grippable branches instead, covered in our Gargoyle Gecko tank setup guide.
• Temperament: juvenile gargoyles tend to be jumpier than juvenile cresties, but many keepers find settled adult gargoyles calmer overall.

If you're deciding between the two species, our Crested Gecko handling guide and Leopard Gecko vs. Crested Gecko guide round out the comparison from the other direction.

A Few More Things

Gargoyle geckos are territorial and can be cannibalistic toward hatchlings, and mating itself can be rough enough to cause tail loss. House them singly. Wash your hands before and after handling.

For the setup that keeps handling sessions low-stress in the first place, see our Gargoyle Gecko tank setup guide, and our Gargoyle Gecko health issues guide for the husbandry mistakes that cause most problems in this species. If you're comparing handling temperament across other easygoing geckos, see our mourning gecko handling guide and African fat-tailed gecko handling guide, or browse the rest of our Geckos care guide category.

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Sources & Further Reading