Electric Blue Gecko

Names: Electric Blue Gecko or Turquoise Dwarf Gecko or William’s Dwarf Gecko (Lygodactylus williamsi). 

Size: Said to grow up to 3½ inches – about as long as a computer mouse.

Communication method: Just as humans dress according to their mood, these inquisitive, friendly lizards show how they’re feeling through colour. Full grown alpha males are brilliant blue, although they turn darker when they’re stressed and feeling threatened. Females are naturally greener – a colour they share with younger males. 

Favourite snack: Yummy little insects and – for those refined individuals who yearn for sweetness – nectar. 

Love language: Bright blue males are flamboyant, territorial studs who court their paler gals with head bobbing and puffed out throats. Not everyone’s cup of tea, but for those ladies who go on to pop out one or two eggs, ‘Phwoar!’ It works. 

If you see them: Do not think, ‘Cool pet!’

Pet peeves: Anyone who discovers one in a pet shop and believes the fairy story that they were captive bred. Plus, chainsaws and other mechanical stuff that destroys their beloved screw pines. 

Growth: Gecko mamas are said to glue their eggs in hard-to-find places – under leaves, say – to keep them safe. Sixty to 90 days later, tiny baby geckos emerge. 

Facts: Imagine being Spiderman and being able to stick to almost any surface. Electric blue geckos can! Like other dwarf geckos, their feet are covered with hundreds of hairs that allow them to stick to smooth surfaces, like screw pine leaves. They’ve got the same hairs under the tips of their tails.

Personality type? The Curious One (aka Sticky Lizzie!)?

How at risk is it? Critically Endangered (CR).