Hey, what's a normal lifespan for a crestie?

I don't think there is a reliable estimate, because they are relatively recent in the hobby.
Allen Repashy states somewhere on his site that they could easily live at least 20 years.

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Yup, it's as rbl says. But they have been known to live 20 years or better.

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http://dragcave.net/user/manhirwen

That sounds like a high-ball estimate to me, considering every crestie I've encountered (be it well taken care of or not) has not exceeded 5 years. What's the average age for other Rhacodactylus? How about others in the gekkonidae, such as Tokays, flyings and marbles? I'm excluding things like Leopard Geckos and AFTs, they are in a different part of the gecko family.

Then something wasn't right, either in their care, husbandry or blood lines. They should live longer as reported by a lot of other crested "old time" breeders.
I'm not saying they all will live 20 years but in average they should live at least 10, not 5.

What's the relevance of the lifespan of those other species?

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5 years?! The females reach sexual maturity between 12-18 months! Usually if an animal takes that long to reach sexual maturity they also have a pretty good life span, or so that's what I've read about reptiles. I think husbandry has a lot to do with they're "average" lifespan also.

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As said Crested Geckos are new to the hobby. When Iguanas were first kept 5-6 years was an average lifespan even though they too can live for 20-30 years.
There may just be something we haven't figured out yet.

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

Well, for starters comparing geckos of the same family (from the same region to boot) can actually say something. If they all have low lifespans, odds are that Crested Geckos would too. If they are all high, same thing. Uniformitarianism, just modified...same logic though.

Also I'd like to note that smaller animals tend to have smaller lifespans, generally.

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You won't gather reliable data using that method.
For example, not all turtles live to 150-170 years like the Galapagos turtles do and not all small animals live short lives. Some bats live 30 years whereas most don't and some birds like the Cockatoo live 50 years and others in the same family and region live 15.

Comparing the crested gecko with their rhacodactylus cousins, even the ones that share the same habitat will point to wrong conclusions: just look at cresteds, gargoyles and leachies.

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