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Squamata · GekkonidaeEntry 15,238 of 21,572
Gold dust day gecko, Phelsuma laticauda

Reptilia · Squamata

Phelsuma laticaudaBoettger, 1880

Gold dust day gecko

Photograph by Daniel S. Katz, CC BY, via iNaturalist

A tree-dwelling, day-active, omnivorous gecko from the Madagascan region, reaching 65 mm snout to vent.

Also called Broad-tailed Day Gecko.

Reptilia › Squamata › Gekkonidae › Phelsuma

Grows to
65mm
greatest recorded
Eats
Omnivorous
Active
Diurnal
Lives up to
8.7years
Body length across Gekkonidae

Longer than 58% of all geckos anyone has measured.

58% of 1,580 species are smaller42% larger
23 mmthe whole family, smallest to largest220 mm

The bar is the rank itself: its length is the share of the family this animal exceeds. The chart below is the family’s real spread, on a logarithmic scale because body length here runs from 23 to 220 mm. The solid rule is this animal. Every bar is a count of real species, and nothing on this figure is estimated.

What is known

40 sourced facts, each taken from a named scientific dataset. How to read these.

Cited from a dataset unless a row is marked otherwise.

Standing in the world

Still living
Extant
Conservation status
Least Concern
Status assessed · the year the Red List last looked
2011
Population trend
Stable

The animal itself

Limbs
Four legs
Venomous
No
Fangs
None
Longest recorded life
8.7years

Carey and Judge 2000, De Magalhaes & Costa 2009, Hallmann and Griebeler 2015: 8.7; " these geckos can easily live 10 years or more in captivity." (https://www.lllreptile.com/articles/23-gold-dust-day-gecko/)

Body temperature when active · measured in the wild
22.3°C72 °F

mean body temperature of active individuals in nature

Body temp in the wild · mean, when active
22.3°C

body temperature of active animals in nature

Size

Length snout to vent · greatest recorded
65mm2.5 in

max 65 (e.g., Augros 2019)

Length snout to vent · adult female mean
45.3mm1.75 in
Largest female · snout to vent
45.3mm1.75 in

snout-vent length; the source column mixes this with straight carapace length

Body mass · greatestcomputed
5.8g0.2 oz

computed from length by a family-level allometric equation, not weighed

Body mass · a typical adult
2.9g0.1 oz

AnAge rates this record "acceptable"

How it lives

Diet
Omnivorous

Insects (e.g., Dubos et al. 2020)/ insects and fruit (Schonecker 2008, Probst 1999), juvenile Hemidactylus (Augros 2019)

Active
Diurnal

(e.g., Probst 1999, Krysko et al. 2019)/ also cathemeral under artificial lighting in Hawaii (Seifan et al. 2010) and the Indian Ocean (Dubos et al. 2020), see also Augros 2019

Where it lives
Arboreal

e.g., Krysko et al. 2019

Habitat
Forest, Shrubland
Biome
Tropical & Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests
Active season · months of the year
12months
Region
Madagascan
Mainland or island
Found only on islands
Highest it lives · above sea level
350m

max 300 (Hallmann and Griebeler 2015), coast to 350 (Probst 1999)

Range size
39,094km²

Breeding

Reproduction
Oviparous
Sex decided by
Temperature
Average clutch
2eggs
Eggs or young per clutch
1–2eggs

2 (Hallmann and Griebeler 2015), usually 2 (Probst 1999)

Mean clutch
2eggs

(Hallmann and Griebeler 2015), usually 2 (Probst 1999)

Clutches in a year
5per year
Clutches a year
3–5per year
First breeds at
6–12months

Naming and history

Suborder
Sauria
Infraorder
Gekkota
Subspecies
Phelsuma laticauda laticauda (BOETTGER 1880) Phelsuma laticauda angularis MERTENS 1964
Described by
Boettger
Moved to another genus · since it was first described
Yes
Described in
1880
Type locality
Madagascar

Keeping one

10 in × 6.5 in × 10 in(26 × 16 × 26 cm)

Minimum length × width × height, for one animal. Bigger is always better.

The standard sizes climbing species at 4 × 2.5 × 4 times snout-vent length.

Lives in vegetation, so height and climbing structure matter more than floor space.

Mindestanforderungen an die Haltung von Reptilien (Sachverständigengutachten), German Federal Ministry for Nutrition, Agriculture and Forestry, Animal Welfare Division, 10 January 1997. The standard states these floor areas are recommendations rather than binding limits.

From this animal’s own snout-vent length of 2.5 in (65 mm), at 4 × 2.5 × 4 times it, following the German federal welfare standard — how this is worked out.

Active animals measured in the wild averaged 72 °F (22.3 °C).

Mean body temperature of active individuals measured in nature. A measurement of the animal, not a setting for a thermostat.

Feeding

A prey item should be no wider than the space between the animal's eyes.

Widely used across reptile husbandry references. The stated reason is that the gap approximates the width of the throat, so wider prey is associated with impaction. This is established practice, not a measurement.

1kJ per day

Worked out for an animal of 6 g, the heaviest recorded for Gold dust day gecko — so it is the top of the range, not a figure for a particular animal. Weigh yours and the number will be lower.

An upper estimate, not a feeding target, and not veterinary advice. The equation covers only what an animal burns staying alive, so a growing, gravid or recovering animal needs more — and it was measured on wild animals, which move far more than one in an enclosure. Body condition and a vet who knows the species are what a feeding decision should rest on. Where this comes from.

What nobody knows

These are not gaps in our research. No scientific dataset records them for this species — and saying so is information you cannot get from a reference that simply leaves a field out.

  • — Length snout to vent · adult male mean
  • — Length snout to vent · adult mean
  • — Length nose to tail · greatest recorded
  • — Female length · mean, nose to tail
  • — Length nose to tail · adult male mean
  • — Length nose to tail · adult mean
  • — Largest male · snout to vent
  • — Largest female · shell length
  • — Largest male · shell length
  • — Hatchling length · snout to vent
  • — Hatchling length · nose to tail
  • — Largest juvenile · snout to vent
  • — Largest juvenile · shell length
  • — Egg length
  • — Egg width
  • — Body mass · adult female, mean
  • — Body mass at hatching
  • — Preferred body temperature · chosen in a laboratory gradient
  • — Eats arthropods
  • — Eats vertebrates
  • — Eats plant matter
  • — How it hunts
  • — How the young develop
  • — Gestation or incubation
  • — Hatchling length · smallest recorded
  • — Hatchling length · largest recorded
  • — Age at first breeding · female
  • — Mature from · youngest recorded
  • — Mature by · oldest recorded
  • — Size at maturity · smallest recorded
  • — Size at maturity · largest recorded
  • — Colour on the back
  • — Pattern on the back
  • — Pupil
  • — Red List criteria
  • — Density · lowest recorded
  • — Density · highest recorded
  • — Home range · largest recorded
  • — Active in
  • — Lowest it lives · above sea level

Others in Gekkonidae

Take this data

Everything on this page is available as data under CC BY 4.0 — use it freely, credit it, no permission needed.

This species as JSON · the whole dataset

Cite this page

The Reptile & Amphibian Encyclopedia (2026). Phelsuma laticauda. Retrieved 2026-09-08, from https://www.allanglescreatures.com/species/phelsuma-laticauda

@misc{phelsuma_laticauda_2026,
  title  = {Phelsuma laticauda},
  author = {{The Reptile & Amphibian Encyclopedia}},
  year   = {2026},
  url    = {https://www.allanglescreatures.com/species/phelsuma-laticauda}
}

Sources

  1. Meiri, S. (2024). SquamBase — a database of squamate (Reptilia: Squamata) traits. Global Ecology and Biogeography. Public domain (CC0).
  2. Oskyrko, O. et al. (2024). ReptTraits: a comprehensive dataset of ecological traits in reptiles. Scientific Data. Used under CC BY 4.0.
  3. Catalogue of Life (dataset 3LR), used under CC BY.
  4. AnAge, Human Ageing Genomic Resources (de Magalhães et al.), used under CC BY 3.0.