Other Geckos

Thick-Tailed Gecko Care


General Information

There are actually two physically distinct types of U. milii. The eastern and the southern localities. This care sheet is written with the southern locale in mind because it is the most abundant in herpetoculture today. The distribution of U. milii is from coast to coast, they can be found along the south of the country in a band that stretches from the east coast through to the west coast. Underwoodisaurus milii's common names are thick-tailed gecko and barking gecko. These names come from their extremely large tails and their defense cry which sounds like a bark.




Species Description

U. milii has grown in popularity as the species has become wider spread in the US and European nations. Underwoodisaurus milii is a medium to large sized terrestrial lizard, naturally inhabiting many areas and habitats of the Australian continent. In the wild U. milii have a brown colored body with yellow to white spots scattered across the back of the animal. Around the neck there is usually a thick band of spots that create a neat design.


Size and Weight

Females are usually larger than males in this species. Females are around 4 inches (about 10cm) excluding the tail, with the male coming in at 3.5 inches (about 9cm) excluding the tail. The weight varies depending on the size of the animal, however, above 30 grams is a healthy size for an adult.


Sexing

Adult U. milii are fairly easily sexable. Males generally have a thicker body structure, however the main way to sex them is a male will have hemi penal bulges at the base of the underside of the tail, and the females are lacking these bulges. Sexing juveniles is fairly difficult until they reach at least 6 months of age.


Longevity

In proper captivity and care, this gecko can live upwards of 8-10 years. Breeding females usually peak out at around 5 years.


Temperature

In captivity, a good temperature is around 84F (28.8C) degrees with a basking spot around 88F (31C). At night the temperatures may drop around 5 degrees.


Food

A wide variety of prey are accepted by this species. A staple diet of crickets or roaches is generally used because it is easily accepted by the gecko. To vary the diet, people offer wax worms, silk worms, and mealworms occasionally.
You don't ever see these geckos drinking from standing water. So, a good alternative is to mist their enclosure lightly every 2-3 days at night.


Housing

The captive environment of U. milii can be extravagantly creative or basic. A good substrate for U. milii is jurassic sand or a jurassic sand/peat moss mixture. This species does not burrow into the ground, hence, your substrate does not need to be more than one inch. Hides are important because this is a nocturnal species, like many geckos. The more the better, but a good rule of thumb is at least two per animal. A pair of U. milii can be housed in an enclosure that has at least 200 square inches of floor space. Something to note is this species is curious and loves to explore its habitat, the more care furniture the better.



Top