Mourning Gecko Colour Variation Guide (Not True Morphs)
| True bred morphs? | No — species reproduces by cloning |
| Most common natural type | Mottled grey/brown |
Why there's no morph market here
Selective breeding for colour and pattern works by pairing two animals with desirable traits and combining their genetics in offspring. Since mourning geckos reproduce asexually, every offspring is a genetic clone of its single mother — there's no second parent's genetics to combine, so you can't 'breed for' a new colour the way keepers do with crested or leopard geckos.
Natural variation you will see
Individuals do vary — standard mottled grey-brown is most common, with gold/orange-toned, high-contrast banded, and finely speckled individuals also turning up. This variation tracks which of the species' many distinct clonal lineages (some diploid, some triploid) an individual descends from, not a purchasable bred trait.
What buying "for colour" actually means here
If you want a particular look, you're choosing an individual (or a group from the same clonal source) rather than a bred line — there's no guarantee that offspring from an established colony will resemble a specific colour pattern you liked, since colony members may descend from more than one lineage.
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.