XCEPTIONAL REPTILES Geckos are colorful creatures Some live on the ground Others live in trees Special toes help them climb Many lack eyelids Geckos seem quiet and gentle But they are skilled hunters Gecko Basics Geckos are reptiles But they do not have scales Their skin is soft and bumpy Like all reptiles geckos rely on their surroundings to control their body temperature One source of warmth is from the sun called brilles protect their eyes Geckos lick their eyes to clean them As geckos grow they shed their skin Old dry skin falls off every two to four weeks This reveals new skin Shedding is a natural part of gecko growth It helps them get rid of parasites Many geckos have large eyes Clear scales 5
WORLDWIDE GECKOS Geckos live on every continent except Antarctica There are more than 1,500 different kinds of geckos NORTH AMERICA DAY GECKOS Day geckos are brighter colors than those that are active at night SOUTH AMERICA NEW CALEDONIAN GECKOS New Caledonian geckos are about 14 inches 35 6 cm long They weigh less than a pound 1 6 kg 6
HOUSE GECKOS House geckos often find their way indoors ASIA EUROPE FISH-SCALE GECKOS Fish-scale geckos are found on Madagascar and the Comoros Islands AFRICA COMOROS MADAGASCAR AUSTRALIA JARAGUA DWARF GECKOS Jaragua dwarf geckos grow up to 0 7 inch 1 8 cm long They weigh less than a single M M candy 7 gecko range
