The Western Banded Gecko (Coleonyx variegatus) is a small, terrestrial lizard native to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. These geckos are desert generalists, found in various desert-type habitats, including sand dunes, scrub, and rocky hills. Although less popular than the better-known leopard gecko, western banded geckos are similar in care and can make great pets for new and experienced reptile enthusiasts alike.
Natural Habitat and Appearance
I first saw the banded gecko in a book my parents got for me as a gift from Phoenix, AZ. The book was called 50 common Reptiles & Amphibians of the Southwest and it showed the desert banded gecko. Fast forward another 3 years and we went to Arizona for vacation, where I got to see the desert banded gecko at the Phoenix Zoo. I fell in love after that moment, from that moment on till this day I’ve researched about this species hoping to buy some in the future. This year might be the year that I will get some. On average desert banded geckos attain a length of 4-6 inches and are sandy in color with dark crossbands and patches. Western banded geckos have a yellow background with brown spots and stripes along its body. Their smooth, almost translucent scales give them a very unique look. An adult western banded gecko is generally 6-8” long, with smooth skin, a large head, vertical pupils, long body, slender limbs, and an unsegmented tail. Unlike most geckos, they have eyelids and their feet don’t feature sticky toe pads. Pattern is strictly banded as juveniles, with the bands breaking up into spots with age. Western banded geckos are nocturnal and spend most of the day hiding under cover or underground. They may take cover under rocks, in mammal burrows, or even under cow dung, using the cooler temps of nighttime to do most of their foraging. These small lizards have plenty of predators. They use their coloring to help them blend into their desert environments, but when that doesn’t work they can drop their tails. This helps to distract their predators because their tails continue to move while the gecko makes its getaway.
Diet in the Wild and Captivity
Banded geckos are insectivores. In the wild, banded geckos consume a large variety of smaller Arthropods including but not limited to; crickets, beetles, moths, spiders, ants, and even baby scorpions. Banded geckos are helpful in the area of pest insect control and will readily consume baby scorpions (this is not recommended in captivity as it could harm or kill your gecko).
In a captive setting banded geckos will eat small crickets, mealworms, calci-worms, and wax worms as the occasional treat. Fruit flies could be fed as well, but have been a hit with some geckos and a miss with others. Western banded geckos have a voracious appetite. As insectivores, they should be provided a staple diet of dubia roaches or crickets. Other food items, like small mealworms or wax worms, can be offered as occasional treats. A good rule of thumb for size is to only offer insects whose length does not exceed the space in between the gecko’s eyes. Generally, hatchling western banded geckos should be fed insects measuring around ⅛-inch. Subadults and adults can then be moved up to ¼-inch insects. Dust feeder insects with a vitamin/mineral supplement. An escape-proof feeding bowl will help keep bugs from hiding within the enclosure.
Housing
Your new pet should be housed in nothing smaller than a 20 gallon “long” enclosure, with an at least 4” substrate dam for substrate. You cannot provide the proper thermo-gradient with tanks smaller than this, and could put your critter in danger if you choose to do so. If you can afford larger, then it’s strongly advised to do so with a 40 breeder or a 4'x2'x2. When the space is properly utilized, bigger is always better. I keep one pair to one trio to every ten gallons. In a long twenty gallon aquarium I keep three males and three females. They seem to get along peacefully most of the time. One setback to this style of housing (keeping more than one male in a tank) is the fact that when a female is gravid, you are not sure what male it was. Western banded geckos generally get along in groups. This is not required for their mental well being, but a 40 gallon enclosure can adequately house up a pair. A trio of one male with two females can live in a ten gallon tank. It is advised to never house two males together as they will fight and could injure or kill each other.
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For the substrate, I use fine silica sand, purchased in one hundred pound bags at Home Depot. For those who want to go ornamental (and expensive), one of the commercial reptile sands work just as good, and they come in many nifty colors. I would avoid the calcium sand. Sand, such as Repti-Sand, works well as a substrate but should be spot cleaned at least once a week, if not more often. So long as the animals are kept healthy and temperatures are correct, impaction is not a risk. The goal of my setup is to replicate the natural habitat of the desert banded gecko (Coleonyx variegatus), I will be trying to replicate a picture I saw on California Herps. The picture shows an abandoned wood pile with lots of grass and a shrub. I plan on making the tank as natural as possible with loose substrate. YES, I just said LOOSE substrate with a gecko, I will have 2 substate layers: a moist layer for the CUC (clean up crew) and the dryer desert layer that the gecko will walk on. There will be a Sedum sp. and dry grass, along with a cholla skeleton, dead brush and some rocks. Selecting the plants was one of the harder aspects of this build, besides the climate and hardscape. There were many different routes I could have chosen to produce a desert theme with cactus, agave, dead shrubs; a more forest-like environment with smaller “shrubs”, dried mosses and live grass or the combination of the two. I chose to build the tank as a dry shrubland with an old wood pile. The plants I will be using are dead/dying grass patches, Sedum spurium ‘Red Carpet’, and some moss. The substrate will have two different layers as stated earlier. The bottom layer will be the moist layer to provide a humid retreat for the CUC, then a screen layer with the dry layer on top of that; this layer will be what the gecko walks on. The moist layer will consist of wood chips, Joe’s Organic Canadian Peat Moss, crushed up eggshells, Fluker’s Dry Cricket Food and leaf mulch. The dry substrate layer has fewer ingredients but it does form a nice crust on top when it dries. I used play sand, bentonite clay and Joe’s Organic Canadian Peat. The hardscape is super simple, yet effective for the goal of the tank. I am going with some small sandstone rocks and a cholla log for a hide. For tank décor, I use a big log that the geckos like to hide under. I also have a fake cactus, some rocks, and some reptile hiding caves. My males like to climb to high places and “survey” their surroundings.
Enclosure décor is about more than just making your setup look good. It’s also an important part of providing environmental enrichment to your lizard, which enhances your pet’s quality of life by providing opportunities to express natural behaviors. Although your banded gecko may not seem particularly active to your perception, they’re usually quite busy at night. Live plants in particular are critical to helping your mini-ecosystem function properly. Make sure the plants that you choose are drought-tolerant. Western banded geckos spend the hot daytime in burrows, where temperature is cooler and humidity is higher. Cork bark, upside down plant saucers, slate, and other similar items can be used as hides; commercially available reptile hides also work. Rocks, low driftwood, and other similar items can be provided as decor and climbing material, but any heavy cage items should directly supported by the bottom of the enclosure instead of being placed on top o the sand.
A thick layer of bioactive-compatible substrate such as the Bio Dude Terra Sahara is essential to creating a bioactive western banded gecko enclosure. Because western banded geckos require a relatively dry environment, no drainage layer is needed. Instead, you can jump right to the substrate. You will need a soil-like mix such as the Terra Sahara that mimics a desert habitat and nurtures desert-type plants. Alternatively, you can let The Bio Dude do the work for you with The Bio Dude’s Terra Sahara bioactive substrate kit. To make the substrate fully functional, make sure to add CUC organisms like Oreo Crumble isopods, powder orange/blue isopods, and arid springtails.
Climate and Humidity
The ambient temperature should be 75-78 degrees. I provide a under tank heater that boosts one area of the tank to 85-90 degrees. Although these are desert reptiles, they do not appreciate the same climate as a collard lizard chuckwalla. These geckos are nocturnal and do not experience as arid conditions as the above desert denizens. At night, there is a significant rise in humidity. I mist the tanks nightly to replicate that. I also supply a humid hide box that also serves as an egg laying box. It is basically a deli cup with an opening that is filled with damp vermiculite. Chuckwall basking ON ROCK. Banded gecko UNDER ROCK. Keep this species at an ambient temperature between 75-85F. A daytime hot spot of around 95F should also be provided; this can be maintained with a heat pad or heat lamp.
Some banded geckos like living in a humid environment, but western banded geckos prefer drier conditions. Keep ambient humidity levels at 50% or less, but the gecko should always have access to a humid hide with humidity levels of 70% or higher to use as needed. This is important to keeping your gecko well hydrated and ensuring healthy shedding. Pay attention to the water needs of the plants that you choose to use in your enclosure, and water them as needed. To help keep both your plants and CUC alive, keep the lower 1-2” of your substrate layer moist at all times. Western banded geckos spend a lot of time in a more humid microclimate. As such, they benefit greatly from having a humid hide within the enclosure, using something like sphagnum moss as a substrate to retain moisture. Ambient humidity can range from 40-60%. This species should be misted around three or four times a week with the intention of providing water droplets on the enclosure walls, from which the geckos can drink.The enclosure should have enough ventilation that it dries out within a few hours of misting. A shallow water dish can also be provided but is not necessary with regular misting. Both temperature and humidity can be monitored with a thermometer/hygrometer. For the climate I looked up the average high and low temps for Western Texas and how many days get rain.
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To create a basking area for your banded gecko, you will need a halogen flood heat bulbs like the 50w Arcadia Halogen Heat Lamp (optimum wattage may vary) and a ~5.5” dome lamp fixture like the Arcadia heat dome. If the warm hide gets too warm, you can plug the lamp into a thermosat to help control the temperature. We do not recommend using heat pads with this species as the amount of substrate used makes them fairly ineffective.
Lighting
Banded geckos are nocturnal, which means that they are primarily active at night. This means that they can survive without exposure to UVB radiation, but doesn’t necessarily mean they don’t benefit from it. In fact, current research indicates that nocturnal reptiles are likely to benefit when it is provided. Reptiles use UVB light to create the vitamin D that their body needs, as well as to strengthen their immune system, and stimulate production of endorphins. The Arcadia ShadeDweller UVB Kit is likely to work best for banded geckos. The lamp should be placed on the same side as the heat sources, and the basking platform should be 8-13” below the lamp. This is because the strength of a UVB bulb’s output changes with distance. Your UVB bulb must be replaced every 12 months to maintain its output. Resist the temptation to use other brands - when it comes to UVB, brand matters! Because this is a bioactive setup, you will also need a plant light to encourage healthy plant growth. We recommend the Bio Dude Solar Grow LED for this purpose. Western banded geckos require no special lighting.
Breeding
First, you have to know how to sex them. These guys are obvious. The males have big hemipenal bulges that are clearly visible. They also have two enlarged spurs at the base of the tail. Western banded geckos are easy to sex. Males will exhibit bulges at the base of their tail. No winter cooldown is necessary. A brumation period in the winter is recommended to incite breeding. If you have a male and a female, and you put them together, you shouldn’t have any problems at all. They are very aggressive breeders and it amazes me how productive they are. Within two to four week of mating, the female should lay. You should provide an egg laying box. Makes sense, right? Females lay two or more clutches of soft eggs with each clutch usually containing 2 eggs. Eggs hatch typically in six weeks and the sex of the eggs is genetic not temperature dependent. Incubation should occur at 80-82 degrees Fahrenheit for 45-65 days. Females will lay pairs of eggs in the substrate. They will often deposit their eggs in a humid hide if one is provided. The eggs can be carefully removed and incubated.
Handling
While leopard geckos are fairly handleable, banded geckos are a bit too small and skittish to be handled regularly - although each animal is its own individual, and some may be more tolerant of humans than others. If handled too roughly they can drop their tails and sometimes squeak.
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