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On this page, I’ll explain the method I’ve used to care for my “lesbocertole” since 2022, which has worked very well for me. I advise readers not to view this document as an official guide, but rather as a perspective that they might use as a model for their own care of these charming geckos.
As always, you’ll find the sources I’ve relied on over the years at the bottom of the page.
L. lugubris are gregarious, arboreal microgeckos belonging to the family Gekkonidae; as adults, they reach a maximum size of 10 cm. This species, commonly called the “mourning gecko” because of the vocalizations it typically makes, consists mainly of females. Males are rarely born and are almost always sterile. Female lugubris reproduce via parthenogenesis by simulating mating and then laying eggs, almost always during the warm season. Their eggs will hatch into more females whose genetic makeup is identical to that of their mother. All lugubris are, therefore, essentially small clones.
They live for up to 10 years and, like many other species, they also undergo “fire-up” (when their colors brighten) and “fire-down” (when they appear “dull”) depending on their metabolic activity.
Habitat, humidity, temperature and lighting
Lugubris are now found across a large portion of the globe, including the islands of the South Pacific, Central and South America, and Hawaii. It’s therefore clear that they need a tropical and temperate environment to thrive.
To create a suitable habitat, you’ll first need a terrarium (whether it’s glass or a simple plastic box doesn’t matter) with adequate ventilation to prevent excessive moisture buildup and that leaves not even a millimeter of space for escape: these geckos love to escape, and catching them is nearly impossible.
Personally, I keep a group of five adult lugubris in a 40 cm x 40 cm x 60 cm (h) terrarium, and I find it to be the perfect size: they have enough space to move around, interact with one another, but also have opportunities to be alone.
You can never have too much space for these animals, as they love to climb and explore, and I’d recommend similar dimensions even for just a pair if you plan to keep their future offspring. If, on the other hand, you want to increase the number of geckos, you’ll need to make the terrarium larger as well.
Keeping these geckos in pairs or groups is essential, as they are social animals, but it’s also crucial to provide the necessary space and hiding spots so that any dominance disputes that may arise don’t have disastrous consequences. The absence of either of these two elements would lead to stress from overcrowding, and it’s a very short step from stress to biting!
(I’ve never personally witnessed a fatal fight, but when establishing a “matriarch,” lugubris geckos vocalize, bite each other, and monopolize food. Finding one of your geckos without a tail is therefore very common, but don’t worry—it’s a natural occurrence. Plus, lugubris geckos can regrow their tails.)
Once you’ve chosen your terrarium, all that’s left is to set it up. Personally, I recommend creating a bioactive environment with organic all-purpose potting mix, springtails, isopods, branches, and plenty of plants so the geckos can climb and hide. Bromeliads are particularly popular; lugubris geckos tend to sleep and lay eggs among the leaves and use the small pool of water as a drinking spot. The initial cost will certainly be daunting, but this way you can keep maintenance to a minimum and ensure a perfect environment for your pets.
Lugubris need a humidity level that remains consistently at 60% and peaks at up to 80%; having live plants in the terrarium will make it easier to maintain this range even during the hottest months. Fluctuations in humidity are very important because they prevent respiratory diseases from developing. A good practice is to mist the terrarium with a spray bottle in the evening, wetting all the plants and walls, and then leave the terrarium undisturbed for the following day. This way, the terrarium will alternate between being wet and humid, and so on. Extremes—such as a constantly wet or constantly dry environment—are harmful and must be avoided at all costs.
Heating mats or heating cables are not necessary for this species because, in the wild, it lives at temperatures between 18°C and 29°C; therefore, it can be kept at room temperature within this range.
Lighting is essential, as it is for many other forms of life, but UVB lighting is not necessary since these animals are crepuscular and tend to hide in the foliage during the day. I recommend using 5% UVB lamps, placed outside the terrarium and resting on a mesh opening, only in cases of calcium malabsorption. This can usually be avoided as long as you properly supplement their diet with vitamin D3. It is sufficient to provide a day-night cycle using natural light (without direct sunlight hitting the terrarium!) or LED lamps if the setup is bioactive.
Diet and water intake
Since lugubris geckos are omnivores, they need to eat both fruit and insects to stay in top health.
To supplement their fruit intake, I use Nekton brand powdered food mixes, which are conveniently fortified with all the vitamins and minerals geckos need. There are many other brands, such as Exotic Sustain, Repashy, or Pangea, that are equally suitable, although I’ve noticed they’re harder to find. Occasionally, you can offer pureed or mashed fruit (mango, fig, banana, kiwi).
There aren’t many insects suitable for such a small species: the easiest to find and feed are definitely Drosophila melanogaster or hydei, but be careful—they’re very low in nutrients. They do fill the geckos up, of course, and allow them to survive, but you cannot keep a lugubris healthy by feeding it exclusively on Drosophila. The growth of the juveniles would be extremely slow, and the adults would soon become obese. The ideal approach, however, is to feed them mainly crickets and micro lateralis, Paraplecta minutissima, bean weevils, and occasionally Drosophila. Isopods and springtails themselves can be a good, calcium-rich alternative in the event of a sudden shortage of feed insects. Micro mealworms are an excellent source of fat but, as such, should be offered very rarely to adults, while they are extremely helpful for supporting young geckos during their first months of life. At every meal, the insects should be dusted with calcium alternating with calcium with D3.
Many people decide to buy insect meal and mix it into their gecko’s food so they don’t have to deal with flies or other crawling insects. Honestly, I don’t recommend this—hunting is a fundamental part of a gecko’s life and breaks up the monotony that a terrarium unfortunately tends to create. If dealing with live insects bothers you, I advise against adopting a gecko.
Here’s the feeding schedule I use, which has always worked well for me:
Babies 0–4 months: I feed them every other day. During the first week of life, I offer only lateralis or micro crickets. Only then do I begin to supplement their diet with fruit.
Sub-adults 5–8 months: I feed them twice a week—one meal of fruit and one of live insects.
Adults (9+ months): I feed them twice a week—one hearty meal of fruit and one hearty meal of live insects.
Adults (12+ months): I feed them once a week, alternating between fruit and live insects.
All meals must be supplemented with pure calcium. One of the weekly meals, however, should be supplemented with calcium + D3 (avoid this if UVB lighting is present)
Regarding hydration, it is said that these geckos drink only from the condensation they find on plants and walls, but I have repeatedly observed lugubris geckos using the water dish in their terrarium, so I strongly recommend including one, making sure it isn’t too deep. Alternatively, to make the environment as natural as possible, you can add bromeliads, which, thanks to their hollow structure, naturally collect water from daily misting.
Brumation and winter rest
I haven’t found any verified information about the Bruma lugubris, so in this section I’ll share my humble experience.
I only put individuals that are at least eight months old into winter dormancy. I keep them year-round without any kind of heating. This way, temperatures rise naturally in the spring, reaching their peak in the summer, and then gradually drop.
In winter, I tend to keep these geckos at room temperature. The temperature in my home never drops below 19°C, but if it were to, I would immediately turn on a heating pad on one side of the enclosure, setting it to 20°C, to avoid any risk. As for care, I continue to mist the enclosure once a day and feed the adults once or twice a week as usual.
Over the years, I’ve observed that lugubris behave like other geckos when it comes to seasonal cycles: they slow down their metabolism in cold temperatures, to the point where they move and feed very little. With the arrival of the first warm weather, they resume vocalizing, exploring, and feeding, and once they’ve regained their strength, breeding resumes in full swing.
I firmly believe that the lugubris’s winter dormancy has only positive effects, and I will continue to allow them to experience it to the fullest.
Breeding
L. lugubris reach sexual maturity around 8 months of age, which means they will begin to simulate mating, leading them to lay pairs of eggs on a monthly basis. First-time lugubris females may lay one egg at a time along with some “slugs” (eggs without embryos that are destined to rot), and this is completely normal—there is nothing to worry about.
Freshly laid eggs are covered with a sticky coating that allows the mothers to attach them to surfaces, even smooth, vertical ones like terrarium walls. Once they harden, they’ll be firmly attached to that surface and virtually impossible to remove.
In my experience, I’ve only been able to peel lugubris eggs off plastic and plant leaves because, in both cases, the surfaces were slightly pliable. I assure you that if you were to try to peel eggs off a glass pane, they would shatter in your hand.
Allowing the eggs to hatch naturally in the mothers’ terrarium is by far the most convenient option, although when hungry, adult lugubris tend to eat their young, so you’ll need to take this into account and create an environment rich in hiding spots.
Personally, I always try to remove as many eggs as possible and incubate them separately to avoid any risk. To do this, I place them in a small box lined with damp paper towels as a substrate, which I then place in an incubator set to 27°C. At this temperature, it will take about two months for the young to hatch; however, if kept at lower temperatures, it can take anywhere from three to six months.
Baby care
Newly hatched babies are really tiny.
If they hatched in their mothers’ terrariums, you just need to make sure they always have food available. I recommend keeping the adults well-fed to prevent midnight snacking.
If, on the other hand, like me, you incubate the eggs separately, you’ll need to transfer the geckos to a separate enclosure, making sure it has no gaps. Using transparent, airtight boxes and covering the ventilation holes with very fine-mesh netting is the safest option.
I keep up to five babies at a time in a box measuring 20 cm x 15 cm x 15 cm (h), suitably furnished with branches and perches.
At two months of age, I transfer them to a larger box measuring 30 cm x 25 cm x 25 cm (h), and by around four to five months, there will no longer be any risk in transferring the young together with their mothers, as they will be too large to be swallowed.
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