Uroplatus phantasticus geckos as pets

Uroplatus phantasticus, also known as the Satanic Leaf-tailed Gecko – or just “Phant” to the community – is a cryptically colored, patterned, and shaped gecko from Madagascar. The phant’s first line of defense is to look like something not good to eat. While some animals flash warning red color, phants make themselves look like dead leaves. And they take this to amazing extremes. Not only do they have cryptic coloration (cryptic =mysterious/obscure/camouflaged) over their body, their tails literally have chunks taken out of them as if they were a decaying leaf. To round it out, phants will hang in unnatural positions to look like they are just a batch of twigs and dead leaves that got stuck in some branches on their way down to the ground. The body coloration and patterning is highly variable. If you know the lineage you can imagine you see traits from the parents, but, when it gets down to it, each baby is a unique work of art.

Uroplatus phantasticus makes for a striking first impression and becomes instantly desirable. And if a living piece of art is what you want, phants definitely deliver! But it is important to recognize what phants are not. They are not animals to be held. Although holding them for inspection or to transfer them to another cage is not an issue, these are not geckos that tolerate being played with. If you have a desire to hold your pet as a common interaction, this gecko is not a good candidate. Phants excel at being part of a beautiful, naturalistic display cage. And it is quite fun to show guests your terrarium with lush plant life…and then point out that the dead leaves are actually alive! The effect is always dramatic! But with the ever present danger of losing their tails and having them be trampled as they suddenly leap into space, handling should be a rare occurrence.

So, if you can’t play with them,  why are these geckos so popular? Because they are a connection to how incredible and wonderful nature is. In our sanitized cubicles and subdivisions we lose this connection. But by recreating a small slice of nature in our homes with a fantastic keeper of the forest, we can reclaim that child-like wonder we had when we were less concerned with numbers. And if there is any doubt how much we need this in our lives, merely bring over friends and family and show them this vivarium. You will see the kid come out in them too. And realize that this is more than you showing off your new pet. By exposing people to the wonders of Madagascar and the world you generate interest. We save what we love. And with the deforestation and decimation of natural areas in Madagascar, that island needs as much attention as possible.

The easiest cage set-up for Uroplatus phantasticus, is the common terrariums by Exo-Terra or ZooMed. Because we would like to maintain humidities above what is commonly found inside the standard human home, solid side cages are useful. I encourage you to take a look at our cage build guide where you will be shown step by step how to set up one of these glass vivariums. As for size of cage, the bigger the better. Phants are very active and will use any amount of space to jump around all night. Please do not judge their activity level by watching them sleep during the day! This is not a sedentary gecko!

I recommend a 36″ tall vivarium and as wide as you can find. The bigger the cage you get the more you can create that slice of nature and all the environmental conditions necessary to have a happy phant.

Satanic Leaf-tailed Geckos have low overt intra-species aggression, but, over the years, I have noticed unmistakeable stress when phants are kept together. Thus, after years of experimenting with singles, pairs, and trios, I now keep all our geckos individually. They come together only for breeding.  As phants do not gain any psychological or physical benefit from cohabitation, keeping them individually eliminates any potential interaction stress. We even go as far as to put up visual dividers between cages. Cohabitation strategies have been shown to be able work long term but this arrangement is for the benefit of the breeder, not the geckos. I have to side with the geckos and say I will not cohabitate my geckos until there is a benefit to the geckos that outweighs the drawbacks and risks.

If you have a Uroplatus phantasticus, you will have bugs in your home. They will be contained, but you will be feeding your insects to make sure they are healthy and nutritious for your gecko. So, yes, you will be having pet insects as well! Make sure that you are okay with interacting with insects.

Phants can eat anything that can fit in their mouth. Ours have an affection for crickets. We continue to offer them a wide variety of options, but crickets remain their favorite. Crickets are widely available and are easy to gutload.

We do supplement our crickets with a calcium based powder. Presently, we are having good results using Arcadia EarthPro-A.

For more information on nutrition please check out our page Nutrition.

Phants are watered by misting down the leaves and surfaces in their cage once the lights go out for the night. This can be done by hand misters or automatic misting systems. Remember that they are nocturnal so your overlap for care will be after their lights go off and before you go to bed.

Uroplatus phantasticus enjoys cooler weather and we keep ours in the lower 70s. At night we let it go down into the low 60s F. Once the temperatures get into the 80s F, we start to be concerned for heat stress. This is a major consideration as you make purchase decisions. Glass terrariums allow you to easily increase temperature, but decreasing is not as simple.

We wet the cage at night and encourage high humidity until the morning lights come one.  We then let the cage dry out during the day. Nighttime humidity is 70-100% with daytime down to 50%. The increase in humidity can be raised to this level by well timed misters and foggers.

Tear Drop: The white markings under the eye are often male. Not all males will have this and some females will have tear drops. This is not a definitive mark, but it is a general clue.

Jagged Tail: The jagged tails are often found on males. Not all males will have this and some females will have jagged tails. This is not a definitive mark, but it is a general clue.

Hemipenal bulge:  The definitive sign of a male is the presence of hemipenes. That bulge at the base of the tail is the male organs. This is the one reliable sign of gender.

Absence of Tear Drop: The absence of white markings under the eye are often female. Not all males will have this and some females will have tear drops. This is not a definitive mark, but it is a general clue.

Smooth Tail: The smooth tails are often found on females. Some males will have smooth tails and some females will have jagged tails. This is not a definitive mark, but it is a general clue.

No Hemipenal bulge:  The definitive sign of a female is the absence of hemipenes. That smooth taper at the base of the tail is a sign of a female. This is the one reliable sign of gender.

In the end, Uroplatus phantasticus is a wonderful addition to the home of someone who is dedicated to creating a living environment and having a little dragon living within it. It is absolutely a specialty gecko and not for the general public. But if you have read this far you are probably not the general public. Read on and learn about this amazing creature!