Marbled Gecko Christinus marmoratus

Lizards of Victoria series

Identification

The Marbled Gecko, Christinus marmoratus, can be distinguished by its large finger and toe pads and flat body, often with orange coloured specks on the tail. It has a snout vent length of up to 70 mm.

Marbled Gecko
Source: Michael Kearney

Distribution and habitat

The Marbled Gecko is widely distributed throughout western and northern Victoria. It is common in Melbourne, but may have moved here after white settlement due to the transport of granite rocks from its natural habitats. It is an arboreal species and hides under the bark of trees, fallen timber or logs during the day.

Biology

Marbled Geckos mate in late summer to early autumn. The females retain sperm until fertilisation, which occurs in the late spring to early summer. They produce one clutch annually, containing two eggs.

Your comments

good pic

A marbled gecko has taken up residence in our letter box in suburban Melbourne and enjoys chewing our mail.

I am delighted that a family lives in my garden

cooooooooooooolllllllllllllllllll!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

marbled gecko is like wicked

we have a whole family of mabled geckos in our wood shed. :)

I has a pet marbled gecko and i love her! she may lay eggs!

we have a batch of eggs we hope the hatch

My partner just found one in the car port in eltham! awesome

i had one pre awesome lil thingg :) but it kinda left :\

we have a family that come out at night near the windows (four adults)

Surprised to see what appears to be a Marbled Gecko inside unit in Mentone. I always thought Geckos were a tropical reptile but then I'm only in my 50's

I saw a dark chocolate gecko in suburban Werribee recently, a colour that I haven't seen before in any mainland gecko. It had a lighter barred pattern along its spine and tail, again not one that I have seen before. Can anyone throw any light on this? Les Harris

I absolutely love geckos and one just dropped off my sliding door inside my house and my cat seen it. The gecko went under my lounge, didnt want to leave him.accidently hurt him while moving lounge cant believe it so sad:(:(

Hi Ian, unfortunately we cannot confirm an identification without a photograph or specimen, our Herpetologist informs us that the Marbled Gecko is the only native species of gecko in the Melbourne/Werribee region.

We just had one dash into our house in Reservoir. I'm now trying to usher it out, so it doesn't get patted or squeezed to death by my enthusiastic 5 year old. It already shed it's tail when he moved something to get a closer look... :-(

I've just seen a marbled gecko in my garden in Ashburton. I saw one a few years ago on the roof of my deck. I was amazed that Geckos can live in Melbourne - before I looked it up.

I have 3 marbled geckos as pets. I never thought I'd find them in my garage and keep them as pets. They love to eat crickets.

We have just found a Marbled Gecko living in a cardboard box in our Garage in Croydon South Victoria.

Hey, my Mum recently found what I believe to be a marbled gecko in her backyard. She lives in Knoxfield, Vic. She was so excited.

Just found a pair of Marbled geckos on my front verandah in Albert Park. We had some in nearby St Vincent gardens a few years ago, under a seat, so they seem reasonably well established around here.

I have painted a picture of one. It is at http://www.flickr.com/photos/tram_painter/6417141159

could someone please advise the best thing to put on tne bottom of an enclosure to house a marbled gecko. I was told sand was no good, but how about rocks or regular soil or tree bark?

We have found one in our letter box and one outside under a gum tree. It ran up Mum's arm when she picked it up and tried to move it off the lawn onto the garden.

Hi Jo, we have asked the Live Exhibits Team and it seems that many reptile keepers house Marbled Geckos in sand and this has always been successful for breeding. The only possible problem with sand is the threat of impaction but this has never been observed by Museum staff and we haven’t heard of a case like this in Marbled Geckos. Remember that one end of the enclosure should be misted about every second or third day.

I thought I saw a gippsland water dragon down by the Yarra near Eltham. Could they be so close to Melbourne?

Have had two Marbled Gecko's in as many days living inside our house. In over 20 years of living in Altona Meadows have never seen them here before. One poor thing was in my ironing basket and I discovered it just in time before I put the iron on that item of clothing. Beautiful little things!!!!

Will, concerning the possibility of a sighting of a Gippsland Water Dragon close to the Yarra River at Eltham.

In a publication called Melbourne’s Wild Life published by Museum Victoria , and which may be available at your local library, on pp 161 it mentions under Water Dragon that....

“The Eastern(physignathus l. Lesueurii) and the Gippsland Water Dragon (Phyignathus i. Howitti) ...have been introduced into the Melbourne area, and visible populations have become established on the Yarra River, including sightings of Eastern Water Dragons at Studley Park and Gippsland Water Dragons from the Yarra in Warrandyte.”

We would say that your sighting near Eltham would be a distinct possibility.

i've got a marbled gecko behind my hot water system what should i do?

Hi Sean - you probably don't need to do anything. You can most likely leave it be; they are pretty resourceful and come and go as they please in areas that suit them for food, shelter and temperature.

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