Head to head
Leopard Gecko vs Crested Gecko
These are the two beginner geckos, and they are almost opposites. The leopard gecko is a terrestrial lizard from the dry country of Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India, with movable eyelids, clawed toes, and no adhesive pads, so it walks the ground rather than climbing glass. The crested gecko is an arboreal species from the rainforests of New Caledonia, with sticky toe pads, a prehensile tail, no eyelids, and eyelash-like flaps of skin above its eyes. Their care could hardly be more different.
| Leopard Gecko | Crested Gecko | |
|---|---|---|
| Origin | Rocky, arid grassland and desert of South-Central Asia | Rainforest of New Caledonia in the South Pacific |
| Lifestyle | Ground-dwelling; does not climb smooth surfaces | Arboreal; climbs glass with adhesive toe pads |
| Eyelids | Has working eyelids and can blink | No eyelids; licks its eyes clean |
| Tail | Fat-storage tail; regrows if dropped | Prehensile tail; does NOT regrow once lost |
| Diet | Strictly live insects | Fruit and insects; thrives on a complete powdered diet |
| Enclosure | Wide and warm with a belly-heat zone; low humidity | Tall and planted; humid; room temperature |
| Lifespan | 15 to 20+ years | 15 to 20 years |
| Conservation status | Least Concern | Vulnerable; small wild range, once thought extinct |
Leopard Gecko vs Crested Gecko: common questions
Which gecko is the better first pet?
Both are excellent, and the tiebreaker is usually your home and your schedule. The crested gecko is arguably lower-maintenance day to day: it can live at normal room temperature in much of the world, needs no special heating in a heated house, and can be fed a ready-made powdered diet three times a week, with no cricket colony required. The leopard gecko needs a controlled warm spot and a supply of live insects, but it is very tough, tolerant of handling, and does not need the height and misting a crested gecko wants. Beginners who dislike feeding insects lean crested; beginners who cannot offer humidity and vertical space lean leopard.
Is it true a crested gecko cannot grow its tail back?
Yes. A crested gecko can drop its tail when grabbed or stressed, just like many lizards, but unlike the leopard gecko it does not regenerate it. The wound heals over and the animal lives the rest of its life with a small pointed stump. This is so common in captive and wild adults that a tailless crested gecko is considered completely normal and is not a health problem, though it does affect the animal climbing and balancing. Leopard geckos, by contrast, regrow a dropped tail as a shorter, blunter, differently patterned version of the original.
Can I keep leopard geckos or crested geckos together?
Not safely as a general rule. Two males of either species will fight, often to serious injury, so that combination is never acceptable. Females are sometimes kept in groups, but even then one animal frequently bullies the others away from food and basking or laying sites, causing chronic stress and weight loss that owners miss until it is advanced. Housing a male with females means near-constant breeding, which is hard on the female. The safe default for both species is one gecko per enclosure.