A 10-to-15-year gecko that keeps multiplying
Mourning geckos usually live about 10 to 15 years in captivity. That alone would make them a solid long-term pet, but their lifespan comes with the most unusual twist in the gecko hobby: all mourning geckos are female, and they reproduce by parthenogenesis, laying fertile eggs without ever meeting a male. The offspring are essentially clones of their mother.
So the real lifespan question is not how long one gecko lives but how long you want to run a small, self-renewing colony. A single gecko bought today can be the ancestor of dozens of geckos, and responsible choosing means deciding in advance what happens to the young.
The colony is the pet
Mourning geckos are small, soft-toned geckos from coastal regions around the Pacific and Indian oceans, social by gecko standards and vocal, communicating in soft chirps and clicks. In a group they establish a hierarchy, display to one another, and divide the enclosure between them, which makes a planted colony tank a genuinely lively display.
Eggs are laid in pairs and glued firmly to a surface — a leaf, a piece of bark, the glass itself — and cannot be moved without damage, so they hatch where they were laid after a couple of months, depending on warmth. Hatchlings are tiny enough to escape through gaps an adult cannot, and small enough to be at risk from the adults, so experienced keepers either design the enclosure so babies can hide and feed safely or move youngsters to a separate rearing setup once they emerge. Fruit-based gecko diet and very small insects suit the whole colony, with prey size matched to the smallest mouths.
Everyday care for a long-lived colony
The enclosure should be tall, planted, and humid, with bark, bamboo-style tubes, and dense foliage giving every gecko hiding and egg-laying choices at several heights. Warmth should be gentle — normal warm room conditions with a mild gradient rather than an intense basking spot — and daily misting maintains humidity and provides drinking droplets.
Feeding centres on a quality fruit-based gecko diet offered in small dishes placed at height, refreshed regularly, alongside small live insects dusted with supplements for hunting and nutrition. Because the colony spans sizes, put food in more than one spot so hatchlings feed without competing with adults.
Escape-proofing deserves unusual attention. Adults squeeze through modest gaps and hatchlings through astonishing ones, so vents, door seams, and cable ports all need checking — an escaped mourning gecko colony establishing itself in a warm home is a real, if charmingly small, problem.
Health, numbers, and the keeper's responsibility
A healthy colony shows steady feeding, clean sheds, firm tiny eggs appearing regularly, and geckos of all sizes holding weight. Thin tails, retained shed, a gecko being persistently chased and excluded from food, or a sudden stop in egg-laying across the group suggest crowding, food access, or humidity problems to correct, and a reptile veterinarian can help with an individual that stays thin or weak. The standing responsibility is population: line up homes for young, sell or rehome responsibly, or choose not to incubate by keeping conditions in mind — but never release geckos outdoors, where this adaptable species can establish itself where it does not belong.
Choosing mourning geckos with the colony in mind
Buy a small starter group from a keeper who can tell you honestly how fast their colony grows, and start with an enclosure sized for more geckos than you bring home. If the thought of rehoming youngsters regularly sounds like a burden rather than a pleasure, a different gecko species will suit you better — and recognising that before buying is the kindest outcome for everyone, geckos included.
A colony's knowledge is cumulative: how fast it grows, what it eats, where the eggs appear, how the hatchlings are raised. KinsLe Transferrable Profiles hold that colony record in one place, so whoever takes the geckos on receives their feeding stations, growth pattern, and baby routine ready to follow from day one.