Rough Banded Knob-Tailed Gecko (Nephrurus wheeleri cinctus) Care Sheet

The rough banded knob-tailed gecko is a small, beautiful species that's easy to keep.

NAME

Nephrurus cinctus. Commonly known as the rough banded knob-tailed gecko, so named for its rough textured scales, bands, and characteristic knob tail. Once classified as a subspecies of Wheeler’s Knob-Tailed Gecko as Nephrurus wheeleri cinctus, they and their Southern counterparts, Nephrurus wheeleri wheeleri (the Southern Knob-Tailed Gecko), were re-assessed in 2020 and found have distinct enough populations to be classified as their own species, with the Northerns being re-classified as Nephrurus cinctus, and the Southerns as Nephrurus wheeleri.

COLORATION & PATTERN

Rough banded knob-tailed geckos are often red-orange to orange in color with dark brown to black bands. Most notable are the tubercle scales giving a textured or rough appearance, and the knob at the end of the tail.

HOUSING

Juveniles can be kept in a 12x12x12 enclosure. Adults should be provided a 24x18x12 terrarium. Males should never be housed together.

Fine-grain sand works well as a substrate, and can also be mixed with a small amount of clay, such as Zoo med Excavator Clay in order to hold their burrows better. Desert BioBedding with isopods (dwarf whites or dairy cows or giant canyons all work well), springtails, and succulents can be used to create a beautiful and bioactive arid enclosure!

Numerous hides should be provided; slate, cork flats, live oak bark, or even everyday items like overturned flower saucers work well. Low climbing materials like rocks, driftwood, cork bark, manzanita branches, and other rough surfaces can be added. These geckos love to dig, so any heavy items should be supported by the bottom of the enclosure instead of by the substrate.

TEMPERATURE

During the day, knob-tails should be kept at temperatures ranging from 75 to 80°. A basking spot of around 90 should be present and can be accomplished with an appropriate overhead heat bulb.

UV lighting is recommended. Not only will they synthesize D3 from ambient UVB radiation and incidental exposure, but they will also use the UVA wavelengths visible to all reptiles to properly inform basking behavior and circadian rhythm. If provided, UV lighting should be focused on their basking site, and should be no higher than Ferguson zone 1 levels of UV radiation. It is especially imperative that knob-tailed geckos are provided hides and other such places to escape from UV lighting, as their eyes can be sensitive to overhead lighting. However, when the enclosure is properly decorated, this is not an issue; the animal will self-regulate its own light exposure.

Temperature should be monitored with a digital thermometer, and the basking spot can be checked with an infrared thermometer or temperature gun.

HUMIDITY

Keep cinctus geckos at 30-40% humidity. Ambient humidity should be monitored with a digital hygrometer. It is important to provide a humid microclimate for these animals to shed properly; a humid hide works well, but a substrate that holds moisture in the underneath layers while drying out on top and maintaining proper ambient humidity is even better.

Mist these geckos two or three times a week to rehydrate the substrate and provide dew on enclosure walls and cage items from which they can drink. Enough ventilation should be provided to allow the surface areas of the enclosure to dry out within a few hours. A shallow water dish can be provided but is not necessary with regular misting.

SIZE

Rough banded knob-tailed geckos can reach around 4.5 inches from head to tail.

DIET

Rough banded knob-tailed geckos are insectivores, and you can buy all the feeders you’ll need right from Josh’s Frogs! Juveniles are large enough to take 1/4 inch crickets or roaches. Geckos at this size can also be occasionally offered small to medium black soldier fly larvae and small mealworms.

Adults should be fed a staple of 1/2 inch crickets or roaches and can be offered other feeder insects such as black soldier fly larvae, mealworms, and, as an occasional treat, waxworms, silkworms, or butterworms.

Offering insects in an escape-proof feeding bowl will minimize the number of bugs that escape and hide among the enclosure. Once weekly, feeder insects should be lightly dusted with a calcium and multivitamin supplement. Due to their sensitivity towards overdosing vitamin D3, knob-tails should only be given supplementation with very low levels of added D3, such as Repashy Calcium Plus LoD.

SEX

Adult male knob-tailed geckos exhibit a conspicuous hemipenal bulge at the base of the tail, and are shorter & leaner than their adult females.

BREEDING

A light brumation period in the winter or longer days in the summer will help incite breeding. Females lay pairs of eggs about once every 30-40 days. Eggs are buried in substrate and should be carefully removed and incubated to prevent desiccation or being dug out by inhabitants.