Helmeted gecko

The former Latin name for helmeted gecko was "Geckonia chazaliae" but 2002 it changed to Tarentola chazaliae when a deeper analysis and DNA-study showed that the helmeted gecko belonged to the Tarentola family. The helmeted geckos' closest relatives are "Tarentola delalandii" and "Tarentola gomerensis".

Natural habitat
Helmeted geckos natural habitat is North Africa's West Coast, from Senegal in the south to Agadir in Morocco in the north. The climate is hot during the summer and the winters are mild. Despite the relative humid coastal climate the helmeted geckos lives in a desert environment - sandy ground with small rocks and sparse vegetation. It is rare to see a helmeted gecko further away from the coast than 5 kilometers.

Nocturnal
The helmeted gecko is nocturnal and seeks shelter during the day underneath small rocks and branches where the humidity is higher and they are safe from predators. Sometimes you can see them bask during the day or right before the sunset. In the wild you usually see them alone - not in groups.

Appearance
This lizard got its name "helmeted gecko" because the shape of the head looks like a helmet. The head is fairly big, triangular-shaped with enlarged scales at the back, forming a ridge. The body is short and quite broad and the legs are thin. The helmeted gecko is a small lizard, only up to 4 inches at the most (females are bigger than males). The short and thin tail has little capacity of storing fat. If the lizard should loose its tail by accident it can regenerate (grow back), but it won't be quite as long and it will be without pattern. If the gecko would loose its tail a second time - it will only grow back a small knob.


Eyes, mouth & ears
The big eyes with vertical pupils are protected from above with a row of enlarged scales. The helmeted gecko can't blink or close its eyes. They don't have real eyelids and the eyes are covered by a "glass eye" developed from the former eyelids. Since the lizard can't blink it cleans its eyes with its tongue. The mouth is broad with a purplish tongue. The inside of the mouth is dark blue/purplish. The ear openings are almost hidden in a piece of skin under the "helmet".

Color
The coloration of helmeted geckos varies from light gray, sandy color to darker brown. The most common color is light "chocolate brown" with darker and/or lighter spots but pattern-less lizards occur as well. There aren't two helmeteds that looks the same! The belly is very light, sometimes with darker spots of varying sizes.

Sound
Those lizards make funny sounds! They have a "barking/squeaking sound. And when they get upset they kind of bark; "bjiffff". If they feel threatened they run away if they can, but if that doesn't work they stretch their legs and put the tail in the air, open their mouth and "barks". If this doesn't help either - they "attack" and bite. My geckos has bit me a couple of times when I had to move them (and they didn't want to be moved at all!) to clean the cage. Their bite doesn't hurt at all, but of course you shall respect them and don't stress them more than necessary. Therefor I handle them as little as possible.

Sexing
A helmeted gecko becomes sexually mature at 8-10 months of age, but it can happen at a younger age too. It is not difficult to tell the sexes apart at subadult and adult helmeteds. The male has big bulges where the tail starts where the hemipenes are stored. I have seen a clear difference between the sexes as early as 1,5-2 months of age.

Mating
I have red that you rarely see any mating - but I have seen it several times. See picture. My geckos don't seem very shy since they have "done it" right after the lights go off - in the middle of their cage. Of course I watch them at a distance so I don't disturb them. Sometimes the female makes a noise during mating - one night she was so loud that I woke up! It is hard to describe this sound, it is a kind of "scream" though.

Like many lizards the male bites the female in the neck when they mate. Then he lifts up her tail with his and starts mating. The whole act usually takes about 3-5 minutes. But I have seen two of my geckos' lie in mating-position for 30 minutes! When the mating is over he licks his hemipenes free from sand etc. See picture

Eggs
The female usually lays her eggs 10-15 days after mating. She uses her hind legs to dig a hole in the sand where she then lays 1-2 hard-shelled eggs. The eggs are about 1 centimeter (0,39 inches). The female can lay up to 4-5 clutches during one season. It is not that easy to find the eggs, you have to "dig around" - carefully - until you find them. Be very careful - it is easy to break them. The eggs my geckos' has laid has been well hidden except one that was lying clearly visible on the sand.


References:
Reptilia the European Herp Magazine, #17 2001
Reptiles Magazine, January 2001
Geckoes, Henkel/Schmidt
Geckos - all species in one book, Henkel/Schmidt
Terrariet vol. 2 1998, No3, article by Mikael Sörensen (in Swedish)
Carranza: Article: Relationships and evolution of the North African geckos, Geckonia and Tarentola based on mithocondrical and nuclear DNA sequences. Molecular Physogenetics and Evolution 23 (2002): 244-256.