A Colony That Never Stops Surprising You
Mourning geckos are tiny, social, all-female lizards that reproduce without mating, which means a healthy group keeps producing eggs and hatchlings on its own schedule, holidays included. They are also among the great escape artists of the reptile hobby, small enough as youngsters to slip through gaps that look purely decorative. Both facts belong at the top of your sitter briefing. Boarding is a poor option for a colony wired into its own planted enclosure, so arrange daily visits at home from someone meticulous and gentle, and accept that their job description includes sealing, misting, feeding, and possibly reporting a brand-new gecko smaller than a paperclip.
Escape-Proofing Is the First Instruction
Walk the sitter around the enclosure and point at every seam, cable hole, door edge, and ventilation gap as if you were the size of a mourning gecko, because from a hatchling's perspective several of them are doors. Show how each opening is blocked or covered, how the doors should meet when closed, and insist the sitter checks the seals at every single visit, especially after opening up to feed or mist. Openings are kept brief, one door at a time, with a hand ready to discourage climbers heading for the gap. If a gecko does get out, the sitter closes the room door, leaves a small dish of fruit diet near the enclosure as a lure, and phones you rather than chasing a two-inch lizard around skirting boards with a net.
Misting, Warmth, and Places to Hide
Mourning geckos thrive in warm, humid, densely planted enclosures with cork tubes, bamboo, and leafy cover at every height. Put heat and light on timers, and make misting a daily ritual: a thorough spray that wets the foliage, lifts the humidity back into its usual range, and leaves droplets the geckos will drink as they emerge toward evening. This species chirps and clicks to each other as activity rises at dusk, so an evening visit that hears a quiet enclosure is worth a note, though not an alarm on its own. Ask the sitter to confirm the smallest geckos are appearing at feeding spots, because in a colony the bold adults can monopolise a single food dish while juveniles go short; a second dish, placed low, is a simple fix to arrange before you go.
Two Foods, Both Scheduled
Brief the sitter on the full menu. Mourning geckos lap prepared fruit-based gecko diet, which you can portion and leave with mixing instructions, refreshed on the schedule you specify rather than left to crust in the cup. They also hunt tiny live insects, which give the juveniles in particular the protein that fruit diet alone does not cover, so leave sized feeders and clear counts for insect days. Dusting with supplements follows your normal pattern and gets written down, not remembered. Because the colony's numbers may change mid-trip, tell the sitter to feed for the group they see plus a margin for the ones hiding, and never to ration because the tub looks like it is running low; your supplier's details and money for more belong in the handover.
Eggs, Hatchlings, and Hands-Off Rules
Show the sitter where your geckos glue their hard-shelled eggs: inside bamboo, behind cork, on the glass in hidden corners. The instruction is simple: eggs stay exactly where they are, nothing gets scraped off or moved, and a photograph sent to you records the spot. A hatchling appearing during the trip is good news, not a problem; it stays in the enclosure with the colony, and the sitter just notes the date and where it was seen. Handling is banned at every size, since these geckos are fast, fragile, and prone to dropping tails, and any gecko that looks injured or is found on the floor gets a call to you and your reptile veterinarian rather than first aid from a sitter. All of this, from the seal checks to the egg map, sits neatly in KinsLe Care Pass so your sitter's temporary instructions match the colony's real life.