Origin: parts of Africa, Madagascar
Length: The Madagascar giant day gecko reaches a total body length of about 28 centimeters, including the tail.
Age: It is estimated that the wildlife can live to be around 25 years old.
Experience: Beginner/Intermediate Reptile Owner
Food: Insects (mainly crickets) curling flies and buffalo worms)
Feeding adults: Feed a number of food animals every other day
Feeding young: Small-sized crickets every day
Water bowl: Yes
Water change: Daily

Nutrition
Madagascar giant day geckos mainly eat animal feed, such as crickets, curling flies and buffalo worms. This diet can possibly be supplemented with mealworms or wax moths. The food should be smaller than the gecko's head. You should first feed the food animals that you give to your gecko with specially available food or, for example, cat food or fish food. In this way, the nutritional value of the food animals is optimal. Alternate the food so that the Madagascar giant day gecko gets all the nutrients it needs.
Madagascar giant day geckos also need extra calcium and vitamins. You can give this by always dusting the food animals with a so-called calcium and vitamin preparation for reptiles. Fresh drinking water should always be available.

Water
Sometimes the Madagascar giant day gecko do not drink from the drinking bowl, so make sure that spray water is also left on plants and other furnishing elements in the enclosure, so that they can also drink from it.

Cleaning
It is important to clean the terrarium well. Therefore, remove uneaten food animals and excrement every day before feeding the gecko again. Replace the bedding material once a month or a few times a year and then immediately clean the rest of the terrarium (including the interior). If you use cleaning agents, it is important to rinse everything well afterwards. Always wash your hands well after you have been in contact with the animals or the terrarium, because reptiles can transmit salmonella.

Handling
the Madagascar giant day gecko is very fast and is therefore more difficult to handle in contrast to, for example, an eyelash gecko. If you do pick up the gecko, be careful never to grab it by the tail as it will repel it. The skin of the Asian house gecko is very sensitive.

Housing
Minimum size stay for this animal: 60x40x80cm
Day temperature: 25-35C
Night temperature: 18-21oC
Hours of light: 12-14 hours of UV light
Humidity: 50-60% during the day and 80-90% at night
Ground cover: Cocopeat, non-fertilized garden soil, beech chips, kitchen roll, newspaper

Design
For your Madagascar Giant Day Gecko, choose a terrarium that is taller than it is wide. For a pair of Madagascar Giant Day Gecko you need a terrarium of at least 70*50*100. Male geckos can be aggressive to each other, so never put them together. If you are taking a larger group, take one male with several females. A larger terrarium with a larger group is of course necessary.
Make sure there are no gaps in the terrarium, as these geckos are really good at escaping and they can flatten themselves. The Madagascar giant day gecko likes moisture. Therefore choose a ground cover that retains moisture (examples of this can be found under 'Show ground cover'). To achieve this high humidity, the terrarium must be sprayed regularly. Decorate the terrarium with climbing branches, flat stones and shelters in the form of bark or plants. A container filled with moist vermiculite or peat moss (sphagnum) is useful to help the animals molt.
The residence must offer different temperatures. There should be both warmer and colder areas for the animals to choose. Although the Madagascar giant day gecko is a nocturnal animal, a UV-b lamp must still be hung. In this way the animals can build up sufficient calcium in their bodies. Without this relief, they can become very ill. Use incandescent lamps, energy-saving lamps or possibly daylight lamps and leave the light on for twelve hours a day. Also provide a shallow drinking bowl that the geckos cannot drown in. To be on the safe side, you can place some small stones in the drinking bowl to reduce this risk.

Behaviour
Diet: Carnivore
Lifestyle: Twilight and Night Active

Character
Madagascar giant day geckos are very active once it starts to get dark. They can also be housed in groups and will therefore show a different kind of behavior (some territorial, for example).

Points of attention
Madagascar giant day geckos are masters of escape, so make sure that your terrarium/enclosure does not offer any opportunities for the gecko to escape.

Cost and Purchase
Legislation: Owning this gecko requires CITES II or transfer papers. One-off costs: This includes the costs for accommodation, lighting, heating, water bowl, plants and other decorations. This can cost a few hundred euros in total. The final amount depends on the quality and size of the products.
Fixed costs: Fixed costs include the costs for the feed, which is several tens of euros per year.
Unexpected costs: Costs have been incurred when your gecko happens to get sick or your equipment breaks down.