Are There Male and Female Mourning Geckos?
| Sexing needed? | No — species is functionally all-female |
| True males | Extremely rare, non-reproductive |
Every gecko you keep is female
Unlike almost every other pet reptile, there's no sexing question to answer here in the usual sense — a healthy colony of mourning geckos is simply a group of genetically related (often genetically identical) females, and that's entirely normal for the species.
Occasional male-phenotype individuals
Very rare individuals with male sexual characteristics have been documented in both wild and captive populations, but they're considered a genetic rarity rather than a normal part of the breeding cycle, and are not known to sire viable offspring. Finding one doesn't change how you should house or care for a colony.
What this means for colony planning
Because there's no male to separate out or pair selectively, colony management is really about egg and hatchling planning instead — deciding in advance whether you want the colony to keep growing or whether you'll manage egg numbers.
See the full care guides guide, or browse all 299 info pages.
A single adult mourning gecko needs a minimum 12"x12"x18" front-opening, well-ventilated enclosure — taller matters more than wider since this species is highly arboreal — furnished with cork bark, branches, and dense foliage for climbing.
A complete mourning gecko setup needs a tall 18"+ front-opening enclosure, cork bark and branches for climbing, coco fibre/moss substrate, a misting routine to hold 60–80% humidity, and complete MRP powder — no heat lamp is required in most homes.
Hatchlings can start in a small (roughly 5"x5"x8") enclosure to make food easier to find, juveniles move up around a few months old, and adults need a minimum 12"x12"x18" vertical enclosure.
Mourning geckos generally do best at normal room temperature, roughly 75–82°F, and can suffer heat stress above about 82°F. Most homes need no basking bulb or heat mat at all — just monitoring during hot weather.
Low-level UVB (roughly 5–6% output) is increasingly recommended as good practice, though it isn't strictly mandatory for mourning geckos the way it is for a strongly basking desert species — their diet's built-in D3 from MRP covers much of the gap.
Mourning geckos need roughly 60–80% humidity, achieved through misting once or twice daily, with good ventilation to prevent the dampness from turning stagnant.