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Smooth Knob Tail Gecko (Nephrurus levis levis) Care Sheet
Smooth Knob tail geckos are a terrestrial desert species from Australia and are wonderfully interesting animals. However, they are known to be skittish in comparison to other popular geckos (i.e. Leopard geckos, crested geckos, etc.) and therefore should not be purchased if you are looking for a handle able pet.
**NOTE-We no longer work with this species but have started a new project with N. milii!
Lifespan: 10 years
Size: 3-4.5 inches nose to tail tip; also females (22-25 grams) are larger than males (14-20 grams).
Appearance: These adorable little alien butterballs generally come in two color variations (red or brown); though as time and selective breeding continue more variations are sure to become available. They have oversized eyes on a small stout framed body with a short but thick wide tail and a small “knob” on the tip. The dorsal color on their bodies ranges from brown to red, their bellies are white. Their skin is very soft and delicate, so any stuck shed skin should not be pulled off (increase humidity and provide a rough surface like a rock for the gecko to rub against). They are terrestrial and do not have the lamella which allow many gecko species to climb on surfaces like glass.
Captive Care:
Cage- A 12”x12” ground area can comfortably fit one adult. You can use anything from a glass tank to a plastic Tupperware container. We prefer the Tupperware containers because the geckos do not utilize vertical space; so much more than a few inches is a waste. But if you want plants or are going to try the more decorative approach, you may want the height of a classic style tank. We are hoping to make a realistic setup for ours in the future because we personally love desert style vivaria, but in the meantime ours are kept and bred in these plastic containers.
Décor- Typical cage furniture consists of small lightweight rocks along with two hide containers. You’ll want one hide container on the hot side and one on the cold to ensure the animals can hide comfortably in whatever temperature is optimal for them at the time. The best hide containers for these animals will be low and/or narrow, and have one entrance/exit hole. They like it dark and snug, and will frequently use the sand in their cages to close up the entrance hole to the hide container. Bamboo halves make a good shelter for a hatchling, small black plastic containers work well for juveniles to adults.
Temp- 70-75*F on the cool side, 85-90*F on the hot side. The geckos will move around the tank as they wish, automatically thermo regulating their bodies. Under-tank heaters are the best way to create this heat gradient, but spotlights can be used as well. Ceramic heat bulbs are a good option for avoiding the light issue but providing heat from a different source if you do not like the under-tank heaters.
Lighting- These geckos are a nocturnal species, and do not require basking or daytime lights. If you do choose to keep them in a lighted environment keep in mind that they are nocturnal and allow them to have sufficient area to hide well from the light.
Substrate- 2-4” of non-silica sand or sand and soil mixture to allow burrowing.
Water- Mist the cool side of the cage every 2-3 days. Standing water can be provided but most animals will kick sand into the dish. Closely monitor your cage’s humidity to make sure the cool hide has moist sand, but the entire cage is not dripping with water.
Feeding- In nature these geckos come out of their burrows at dusk to hunt insects, therefore the best time to feed them is just after dusk. They are fairly timid animals and should not be offered more than 2 prey items per animal at a time. Most will eat up to 6 prey items per feeding. They should be offered food five times a week in the spring and summer, 4 times in the fall before hibernation preparations. You may try to feed them from tweezers, which may take some time for them to get use to but they will do it if you are patient. If you have a shy or young animal, to prevent stress, you should place the prey items in their cage on the opposite side where they can see them moving around but won’t get bumped into. Then close the tank and leave the animals alone for at least 15 minutes. If when you come back all the prey is gone, try a few more for the next 15 minutes until the animals stop eating. Good prey items to offer are no larger than ¾ the size of the animal’s head: Crickets, dubia roaches, wax worms, meal worms, lobster roaches. As a caution to those feeding crickets, it is best to “de-hopper” (remove hind jumping legs) on all crickets offered as it is thought the spurs on these legs may puncture the digestive tract potentially causing death.
Breeding- This species of gecko needs to go through a hibernation period to be able to breed. You should not consider breeding until you have a healthy adult pair with your male being no less than 14 grams, and your female no less than 20 grams. HATCHLINGS SHOULD NEVER BE HIBERNATED! All animals being put into hibernation should be healthy adults. Young, unprepared geckos that are put through hibernation are likely to starve to death, and be stunted if they survive to reach adulthood. Hibernation should last a minimum of 2 months, maximum of 4, and should be started in the end of the fall. First, separate your animals into their own containers to help prevent stress and keep males away from females. Next, stop feeding your animals and watch carefully to see when they stop defecating. It is important that they empty their bowls before hibernation because it can cause impaction and will not be properly digested by the animal while it rests and can kill the animal. It normally takes two weeks after you have stopped feeding them for them to stop defecating. While you have discontinued their food intake you should leave their heat stable, but if you are using any lighting that is visible to the animals you should gradually drop it over the next two weeks from 12 hours of light to 8 hours. Next, slowly begin cooling the animals cage and bring the ambient temperature down to 60*F, and continue to mist one side of the cage very lightly once a week. The animals will remain in their hibernate state for 2-4 months, or until you bring them out of it. To bring them out of hibernation you will slowly reverse the steps you took to put them into hibernation. First you will raise the temperature, then increase the lighting and begin normal feeding and watering. Just as preparing them for hibernation required a slow decrease of food, it will often take a week or two for their appetites to return. After the animals have been out of hibernation and eating regularly for at least 2 weeks you may introduce your pair and breeding will begin. Receptive females display a submissive behavior when males approach and bite them, though it sometimes takes a month for the male to win her over. If they begin to fight, separate them for a few weeks and try again. The female will lay her eggs within a month of mating and will attempt to burry her eggs in the moist substrate. Two eggs are laid in each clutch and females have been reported to lay up to 6 clutches a year but less is more common, her first year a female may only lay one fertile clutch. You will want to retrieve the eggs as soon as possible as wet sand can kill an egg very quickly. It may also be a good idea to take the female out of the male’s cage after successful breeding or gravidity has been noticed to make egg finding easier. Very carefully remove the eggs without rotating them into a small incubator with 1:1 weight ratio of perlite to water. Incubate between 80 and 85*F, the eggs will hatch in 50-80 days. Hatchling care is identical to adult care, and they are best kept singly to prevent stress and potential tail loss.
**NOTE-We no longer work with this species but have started a new project with N. milii!
Lifespan: 10 years
Size: 3-4.5 inches nose to tail tip; also females (22-25 grams) are larger than males (14-20 grams).
Appearance: These adorable little alien butterballs generally come in two color variations (red or brown); though as time and selective breeding continue more variations are sure to become available. They have oversized eyes on a small stout framed body with a short but thick wide tail and a small “knob” on the tip. The dorsal color on their bodies ranges from brown to red, their bellies are white. Their skin is very soft and delicate, so any stuck shed skin should not be pulled off (increase humidity and provide a rough surface like a rock for the gecko to rub against). They are terrestrial and do not have the lamella which allow many gecko species to climb on surfaces like glass.
Captive Care:
Cage- A 12”x12” ground area can comfortably fit one adult. You can use anything from a glass tank to a plastic Tupperware container. We prefer the Tupperware containers because the geckos do not utilize vertical space; so much more than a few inches is a waste. But if you want plants or are going to try the more decorative approach, you may want the height of a classic style tank. We are hoping to make a realistic setup for ours in the future because we personally love desert style vivaria, but in the meantime ours are kept and bred in these plastic containers.
Décor- Typical cage furniture consists of small lightweight rocks along with two hide containers. You’ll want one hide container on the hot side and one on the cold to ensure the animals can hide comfortably in whatever temperature is optimal for them at the time. The best hide containers for these animals will be low and/or narrow, and have one entrance/exit hole. They like it dark and snug, and will frequently use the sand in their cages to close up the entrance hole to the hide container. Bamboo halves make a good shelter for a hatchling, small black plastic containers work well for juveniles to adults.
Temp- 70-75*F on the cool side, 85-90*F on the hot side. The geckos will move around the tank as they wish, automatically thermo regulating their bodies. Under-tank heaters are the best way to create this heat gradient, but spotlights can be used as well. Ceramic heat bulbs are a good option for avoiding the light issue but providing heat from a different source if you do not like the under-tank heaters.
Lighting- These geckos are a nocturnal species, and do not require basking or daytime lights. If you do choose to keep them in a lighted environment keep in mind that they are nocturnal and allow them to have sufficient area to hide well from the light.
Substrate- 2-4” of non-silica sand or sand and soil mixture to allow burrowing.
Water- Mist the cool side of the cage every 2-3 days. Standing water can be provided but most animals will kick sand into the dish. Closely monitor your cage’s humidity to make sure the cool hide has moist sand, but the entire cage is not dripping with water.
Feeding- In nature these geckos come out of their burrows at dusk to hunt insects, therefore the best time to feed them is just after dusk. They are fairly timid animals and should not be offered more than 2 prey items per animal at a time. Most will eat up to 6 prey items per feeding. They should be offered food five times a week in the spring and summer, 4 times in the fall before hibernation preparations. You may try to feed them from tweezers, which may take some time for them to get use to but they will do it if you are patient. If you have a shy or young animal, to prevent stress, you should place the prey items in their cage on the opposite side where they can see them moving around but won’t get bumped into. Then close the tank and leave the animals alone for at least 15 minutes. If when you come back all the prey is gone, try a few more for the next 15 minutes until the animals stop eating. Good prey items to offer are no larger than ¾ the size of the animal’s head: Crickets, dubia roaches, wax worms, meal worms, lobster roaches. As a caution to those feeding crickets, it is best to “de-hopper” (remove hind jumping legs) on all crickets offered as it is thought the spurs on these legs may puncture the digestive tract potentially causing death.
Breeding- This species of gecko needs to go through a hibernation period to be able to breed. You should not consider breeding until you have a healthy adult pair with your male being no less than 14 grams, and your female no less than 20 grams. HATCHLINGS SHOULD NEVER BE HIBERNATED! All animals being put into hibernation should be healthy adults. Young, unprepared geckos that are put through hibernation are likely to starve to death, and be stunted if they survive to reach adulthood. Hibernation should last a minimum of 2 months, maximum of 4, and should be started in the end of the fall. First, separate your animals into their own containers to help prevent stress and keep males away from females. Next, stop feeding your animals and watch carefully to see when they stop defecating. It is important that they empty their bowls before hibernation because it can cause impaction and will not be properly digested by the animal while it rests and can kill the animal. It normally takes two weeks after you have stopped feeding them for them to stop defecating. While you have discontinued their food intake you should leave their heat stable, but if you are using any lighting that is visible to the animals you should gradually drop it over the next two weeks from 12 hours of light to 8 hours. Next, slowly begin cooling the animals cage and bring the ambient temperature down to 60*F, and continue to mist one side of the cage very lightly once a week. The animals will remain in their hibernate state for 2-4 months, or until you bring them out of it. To bring them out of hibernation you will slowly reverse the steps you took to put them into hibernation. First you will raise the temperature, then increase the lighting and begin normal feeding and watering. Just as preparing them for hibernation required a slow decrease of food, it will often take a week or two for their appetites to return. After the animals have been out of hibernation and eating regularly for at least 2 weeks you may introduce your pair and breeding will begin. Receptive females display a submissive behavior when males approach and bite them, though it sometimes takes a month for the male to win her over. If they begin to fight, separate them for a few weeks and try again. The female will lay her eggs within a month of mating and will attempt to burry her eggs in the moist substrate. Two eggs are laid in each clutch and females have been reported to lay up to 6 clutches a year but less is more common, her first year a female may only lay one fertile clutch. You will want to retrieve the eggs as soon as possible as wet sand can kill an egg very quickly. It may also be a good idea to take the female out of the male’s cage after successful breeding or gravidity has been noticed to make egg finding easier. Very carefully remove the eggs without rotating them into a small incubator with 1:1 weight ratio of perlite to water. Incubate between 80 and 85*F, the eggs will hatch in 50-80 days. Hatchling care is identical to adult care, and they are best kept singly to prevent stress and potential tail loss.