This beautiful lizard is a GARGOYLE GECKO, a species which in the wild occurs on the islands of New Caledonia in the South Pacific ocean. This is the same location as the origin of my fabulous crested geckos, mossy geckos and New Caledonian giant geckos!

As in crested geckos, the skin colour (and overall colour intensity) of gargoyle geckos is able to change dramatically based on a number of factors including activity level, humidity and stress/excitement levels. When they are at their darkest or most colourful, as in the picture above, this is called being ‘fired up’. When the same gecko in the picture above is ‘fired down’, he looks like this – quite different as you can see! 

Gargoyle geckos get their common name from the bumps on their head which are said to resemble small horns, like the ones you might find on stone gargoyle statues on old churches or cathedrals. You can see them in this picture below:

Gargoyle geckos are extremely tiny and cute when they are babies, as you can see here!