The Giant gecko originates from the South Pacific Island of New Caledonia and smaller surrounding islands. New Caledonian Giant geckos are the largest species of gecko in the world by weight! Previously split into two subspecies, these are no longer recognised, and they are simply referred to by their locality (the region within New Caledonia they originate from). They are a close relative to the ever popular crested gecko and its care is almost identical when scaled up to account for its larger size. As they mature, they tend to show a preference for fruit and artificial diets like Repashy, Pangea and Blue river diets rather than livefood. Mature adults have sometimes been known to take defrosted baby rodents and chicks along with raw egg but not all individuals will.  A major consideration when rearing them is that young and juveniles can show some cannibalistic tendencies so must be reared individually. This species is often also referred to as a “Leachie” due to its Latin name of Rhacodactylus leachianus. If handled when young they are normally quite tame as adults but they can vocalise and let out a series of warning chirps and nasal squeaking noises if they are unhappy being handled. When breeding they will often also communicate with one another using deep rumbling noises reminiscent of a crocodile’s rumble. Interestingly they form pair bonds and the same pair will normally bond for multiple years and many breeding seasons rejecting the opportunity to mate with other individuals. When adults have paired for breeding purposes, they can sometimes get considerably more territorial and less tolerant of handling, unpaired individuals don’t go through this personality shift and remain tame as adults. This is undoubtedly a good thing as this is a large species with a powerful bite.

Pine Island is the second largest island In New Caledonia after Grande Terre, The Giant Geckos From here tend to stay slightly smaller but have more colourful markings.