---
title: "Tropical House Gecko"
description: "Hemidactylus mabouia — Reptiles. The tropical house gecko (Hemidactylus mabouia), also called the cosmopolitan house gecko, is a species of lizard in the family Gekkonidae."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/animal/tropical-house-gecko
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Tropical House Gecko

> Hemidactylus mabouia — Reptiles. The tropical house gecko (Hemidactylus mabouia), also called the cosmopolitan house gecko, is a species of lizard in the family Gekkonidae.

- Scientific name: *Hemidactylus mabouia*
- Category: `reptiles` (Reptiles)
- Habitats: `urban` (Towns & gardens)
- iNaturalist observations: 33562
- Wikidata: [Q2703241](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2703241)
- iNaturalist taxon: [68492](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/68492)

## Names

- en: Tropical House Gecko
- de: Hausgecko
- es: Geco casero tropical
- fr: Hémidactyle mabouia
- nl: Afrikaanse huisgekko
- pt: Lagartixa-doméstica-tropical

## Countries with the most observations

US (11801), BR (6876), ZA (4056), PR (621), BO (527), DO (382), PE (357), MZ (301), CU (296), AR (255), JM (246), KE (246)

## Summary

The tropical house gecko (Hemidactylus mabouia), also called the cosmopolitan house gecko, is a species of lizard in the family Gekkonidae. The species is native to sub-Saharan Africa. However, it is also found in North, Central and South America and the Caribbean, where it has been inadvertently introduced by humans.

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropical_house_gecko

## Photo

![Tropical House Gecko](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/tropical-house-gecko/medium.jpg)

Photo: natalie · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/99642535

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/tropical-house-gecko?lang=en` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).