Understanding the Fascinating Nephrurus Levis: The Desktop Pet

Last week, by chance, I got a few “little monsters”! They are not big, cute and bouncy, and have a hint of “evil”. They are the well-loved geckos – the Nephrurus Levis. There are three subspecies of Nephrurus Levis, and I got the most common subspecies in our country – the Pilbara knob-tail gecko Nephrurus Levis pilbarensis, abbreviated as Nlp.

Nlp’s “predecessors” live in distant Australia, hiding during the day and coming out to play and forage at night. To live in the dark, they must have a pair of bright eyes, which helps them better evade enemies, identify prey, and find mates. Their vertical pupils look like an angry little demon during the day. Occasionally, they lick their eyes with their tongues since they have no eyelids and can only rely on their tongues for cleaning.

The delicate and tight skin is just an appearance; if you touch it, you will find it feels like sandpaper, dry and rough, covered with small granules, which is completely inconsistent with its name. The skin is not delicate at all. Of course, this “fine skin” is actually in comparison to another type of knob-tail gecko.

Although their limbs look weak, they are very long and can run swiftly. At night, they must look quite funny running on the sand!

From the name, we can see that its characteristics are concentrated in the tail. Notice that this wide, fleshy tail has a small round ball at the tip, which occasionally wobbles. It stores a lot of nutrients and will not give it up unless absolutely necessary. Thus, we rarely see this gecko with a broken tail.

With a body size of about 12 centimeters and a small amount of food daily, they can grow from hatchlings to adults and become parents in just 10 months. They lay two eggs every 15-20 days, which are highly anticipated, and after a long wait of over 60 days in an environment of 29 degrees, the life cycle begins again.

These seemingly weak creatures can occasionally be “fierce”. If they are bullied, these little cuties will spread their limbs and make a “chattering” sound. The first time I saw this, I was quite startled and almost got bitten. But there is no need to worry; they are usually very gentle.

These guys’ previous owner was a lady who cared for them a lot; the geckos lived in luxury, eating and sleeping well, and their weight skyrocketed. At that time, I also “snatched” the little paper with their recorded weights; although I bought a small electronic scale, I don’t know if I can keep recording it.

I hope you can soon multiply in my home and have a lot of offspring. Wish me success! Speaking of which, do you know why there is a red one among them?

Understanding the Fascinating Nephrurus Levis: The Desktop Pet

“Earth Memory Studio” was established in July 2014. Upholding the concept of “Continuing Earth’s Memory and Protecting the Natural Environment”, we have extensively collaborated with many museums, schools, and enterprises in natural education. We focus on cultivating young people’s interest in nature and inspiring scientific wisdom. The studio systematically collects over ten thousand specimens and tens of thousands of ecological images of plants and animals for research and educational activities.

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