Tree Dtella - Gehyra variegata
Tree Dtella - Gehyra variegata

The Tree Dtella is a moderately sized species of gecko which is highly variable in colour and pattern. The background colour is usually a shade of brown, grey or blue grey with darker markings in a shade of brown forming a reticulated pattern. In some populations, the darker markings may predominate, leaving the animals with an appearance of having lighter spots or blotches on a darker background.

The Tree Dtella has a moderate build and usually grows to around 5cm SVL. Original tails are slender and often longer than the body, but the tail is readily broken and regrown tails are often shorter and much heavier than the originals. Occasionally when a tail is broken, two or more tails (sometimes up to seven!) are regrown at the same time.

This species has a large distribution (see diagram) and is often very abundant where it occurs. Reasonably dry forest or woodland habitat is preferred, but they may be found in a range of habitat types including coastal dunes, heaths and rocky outcrops. Tree Dtellas shelter under the bark of trees, under rocks, fallen timber and in rock and wood crevices. They will forage under cover during the day but are strongly nocturnal and come out when it is dark, particularly at dusk and in the early evening, often at surprisingly low temperatures and records exist of animals actively foraging with body temperatures as low as 11°C.


They eat small insects, spiders and other arthropods. Tree Dtellas are highly capable climbers and are highly arboreal, mostly foraging in trees or shrubs, but in some areas they have colonised rocky areas with minimal plant cover and in these circumstances they forage on the ground. Tree Dtellas have colonised human settlements in many areas, taking advantage of cover such as letter boxes, in brick piles, the insides of the walls of buildings and debris in peoples' yards.

Females lay hard shelled eggs in the spring and may produce two or more clutches per year. Eggs are laid under rocks or in rock or wood crevices. It is quite common for several females to share the same nesting site, which may result in dozens of eggs incubating together.

Because they can climb smooth surfaces such as glass and polished wood, and they are very fast moving, Tree Dtellas are not commonly kept in captivity, however, they are easy to care for. They feed readily on commercially produced insects such as crickets and feeder `roaches and they thrive in a very wide range of conditions, particularly in regard to temperature. This hardiness is probably due to their adaptations to the harsh conditions they often experience in the wild.