Hainan Cave Gecko — Fact Sheet

Goniurosaurus hainanensis · Hainan Cave Gecko

Full care guide and sources

📋 At a glance

🏠 Enclosure

• Enclosure planning dimensions: 60 x 45 x 45 cm
• Substrate planning depth: 10 cm
• Housing: One animal per enclosure

🪨 Substrate and furnishings

The enclosure should be dense and shaded. A cave gecko crossing open ground feels exposed, so provide routes through cover.

Suitable substrate options include:

• Organic topsoil mixed with coconut fiber
• Tropical forest reptile substrate
• Sphagnum moss in humid areas
• Leaf litter over part of the enclosure
• Paper towel for quarantine or medical monitoring

💡 Lighting

Hainan cave geckos are nocturnal and prefer dim, sheltered conditions, but they still benefit from a regular day-night cycle. Provide about 12 hours of low to moderate daylight.

Low-output UVB can be useful if installed carefully, especially over part of the enclosure with many shaded retreats. A low UVI around the upper exposed area is enough; the gecko must be able to avoid the light completely.

For UV planning, treat this species as Ferguson Zone 1. Aim for about UVI 0.5-1.0 in the upper exposed area, while leaving retreats and a gradient down to shaded areas near zero UVI. This usually points to a low-output UVB tube such as a ShadeDweller-style or 2-7% T5, chosen for the enclosure height; measure with a Solarmeter 6.5 when possible, because reflector, mesh, distance, and lamp age change the real exposure.

🌡️ Temperature

• Basking spot: 27-28 °C

• Cool zone: 22-25 °C

• Night: 20-22 °C

• Clear gradient required; the animal must be able to move between warm, cool, and hidden zones

• Measure basking surfaces with an infrared thermometer and ambient zones with digital probes

• Avoid heat rocks and unguarded heat sources

💧 Humidity and water

Air humidity: 50–90%. Daily span, with the lower end during the day and the upper end after evening misting and at night. Measure near gecko height in the open area and separately inside the humid hide. The two readings need not match; daytime surface drying must not dry out the refuge.

Mist in the evening and, if needed, lightly in the morning. The enclosure should dry slightly between mistings while the deeper substrate and humid hide stay moist.

A humid hide with damp sphagnum moss, leaf litter, or moist substrate should always be available. Fresh water should be kept in a shallow dish, even if the gecko mostly drinks droplets after misting.

🪳 Feeding

Hainan cave geckos are insectivores. Offer a varied diet of appropriately sized live insects.

Suitable feeders include:

• Crickets
• Dubia or discoid roach nymphs
• Small locusts
• Black soldier fly larvae
• Silkworms
• Mealworms as part of variety
• Occasional hornworms

Juveniles usually eat daily or every other day. Adults often do well with feeding every other day or two to three times per week, adjusted to body condition and season.

Feeders should be gut-loaded and lightly dusted with calcium and multivitamins according to the UVB setup. Avoid overfeeding fatty larvae. A healthy cave gecko should be well-fleshed but not round or swollen.

🩺 Health — warning signs

Most problems come from overheating, low humidity, stagnant wetness, stress, poor supplementation, or parasites in animals of unclear origin.

Watch for:

• Stuck shed on toes, tail, eyes, or head
• Dehydration or wrinkled skin
• Refusing food outside normal seasonal changes
• Weight loss or a shrinking tail
• Lethargy during normal night activity hours
• Moldy enclosure, sour humid hide, or skin irritation
• Soft jaw, tremors, or weak limbs
• Abnormal droppings

Check temperatures first, especially for overheating. Then review humidity, airflow, hides, diet, and supplements. Persistent appetite loss, weight loss, bad sheds, wounds, or abnormal droppings require a reptile veterinarian.