The Petrie's Gecko is a small and beautiful lizard that provides lots of viewing pleasure. In addition, their relative ease of care makes them a great pet for beginning lizard keepers.

The Petrie's Gecko is an active lizard. They are nocturnal and spend most of the day hiding.

The Petrie's Gecko is a small lizard, reaching a size of 2 to 3 inches at maturity. Their body has a golden to dark brown color. They also display spots and bands of darker brown. When walking, the Petrie's Gecko lifts its legs unusually high. Another interesting behavior the Petrie's Gecko exhibits, is the way it sleeps - usually on its side like a cat or dog.

The Petrie's Gecko is a desert dwelling gecko, and is native to the Middle Eastern part of the world.

The Petrie's Gecko is relatively easy to care for. One or two Petrie's Geckos can be housed in a terrarium as small as 10-gallons. Males tend to behave somewhat aggressively to each other, and the less dominant one may become stressed, so it is recommended that they not be housed together. Petrie's Geckos love to dig burrows in sand, so make sure they have a fairly deep substrate of soft sand to dig in. Petrie's Geckos should be kept at a temperature of about 80 degrees during the day with a basking area about 90 degrees. At night the temperature shoulkd be lowered to the low 70s. Their habitat should be misted to keep the sand soft. A water dish for drinking should be available to the Petrie's Gecko.

They should be fed insects that have been dusted with calcium powder. It is recommended that a multivitamin be used once or twice a week.

When handling the Petrie's Gecko be careful, as they are fragile animals and can be easily damaged.

The Petrie's Gecko is fairly easy to breed as long as they go through a slight cooling period. During this time feedings should be cut back, but water should be available. A temperature drop into the mid 70's Fahrenheit is good enough. After about a two month cooling period they should be warmed up and feedings should be increased. After a short time you may notice that the females are gravid. The eggs can be seen it is about 2-3 days before she lays them. Make sure the sand is deep so that she doesn't lay her eggs on the bottom of the tank where they can't be removed. Wax paper can also be placed on the bottom of the enclosure, which can be cut if the eggs are glued to it. Pea sized hard-shelled eggs are laid and will hatch in 78-80 days if incubated at 84 degrees fahrenheit. The average number of eggs are two. The babies are small and delicate when they hatch, but will readily feed on D. hydei and pin-head crickets.