Reptile Forum, Reptile Classifieds - CaptiveBred

kiriak · Posted: Tue Feb 28, 2006 12:39 am Post subject: Tokay Geckos

Hi all,

A friend of mine had a couple of Tokay Geckos several years ago and although I wanted some myself, never had the room. I have recently returned from Thailand where I fell in love with them all over again. Could you please tell me where I can find out as much about these as possible before I go any further. Books, owners, breeders, web sites etc.

I want to know all housing, feeding and care information to make sure that I can provide the very best for them before taking them on.

PM me, or my email addy is: kirkamatthews@hotmail.com

I live in the south east but would be prepared to travel to get the info that I need and to buy from the right person/people.

Many thanks for your time and trouble.

Kirk Matthews

Peter Parrot · Posted: Tue Feb 28, 2006 12:57 am Post subject:

Hi Kirk, I`m afraid that I am no expert but there are a couple of Gecko fanatics on this forum and once they see your post I am sure they`ll help you out. Tokays were one of the first Lizards I ever kept as a child, and they havr the dubious diatindtion of being the first ever captivr reptile to bite me too! Laughing

They are a much misunderstood and neglected species but I for one love them and was thinking of having a few again. I saw two females in a shop near me today actually, they were around the £20 mark each. From what I can remember they liked it pretty cool and thrived on an insectivorous diet as well as the occasional pinky. No doubt they would take smaller lizards in the wild. If you get some, go for the red heat bulb set up as this allows you to sit and watch them at night when they are active without bothering them. I found them pretty undemanding captives and would definately have them again.
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kiriak · Posted: Tue Feb 28, 2006 1:20 am Post subject:

Hi Pete,

Would not the blue moonlight bulbs be a more natural light with which to view these nocturnal lizards?

Kirk

Peter Parrot · Posted: Tue Feb 28, 2006 1:52 am Post subject:

Never tried them Kirk, but as a rule nocturnal animals don`t see red light which is why I use red Heat bulbs connected to a thermostat and in a cage for all my pythons as they too are nocturnal and go about their buisness as if I wasn`t there at night, but I can see them clearly in the red light. So the same should go for Tokays
_________________
YSBRYDOLI POBL, GWELLA LLEOEDD
INSPIRING PEOPLE, IMPROVING PLACES
www.btcv.org
Visit our website - Gwelwch ein Gwefan
www.btcvcymru.org
Llinell Gymorth / Helpline: 08702 40 48 41

Jackie · Posted: Tue Feb 28, 2006 5:44 pm Post subject:

Hi Kirk

I've replied to your PM, but thought I would post what I said on here too.

Okey dokey a bit of our experiences with keeping Tokays...

We have kept (and have bred) Tokays for a few years and have found they only bite when they feel threatened. In our experience they are far from the aggressive geckos they have been portrayed to be. Of course if you try to handle them they will bark and puff themselves up, but we have found it is only if they feel they have got nowhere to escape that they will bite. Undeniably when they bite they bite hard and will draw lots of blood. I would say they are a beautiful species to watch rather than handle like a leopard gecko.

If you are wanting to tame one the best way to start is by not to make eye contact with them. If you don't (make eye contact that it) they do stay put for longer, giving you the chance to work more closely with them without them feeling threatened.

If you eventually intend on breeding them (if you get the chance you should rearing baby Tokays is great), make sure you provide lots of calcium for the females. They can deteriorate very quickly from loss of calcium. If you are lucky enough to get eggs, leave them alone as they will hatch in the viv and I have found the parents protect them. At one point we had both parents and five youngsters of varying ages in the viv at once, with no problems what-so-ever.

They require a higher than average humidity - I spray twice a day. Just make sure you provide plenty of hidey-holes.

This is the best caresheet I found on the species. It takes a bit of getting used to the navigation but it's worth persevering.

http://www.stormpages.com/tokay/navigate.htm

If possible buy a Captive bred animal. Wild caught Tokays tend to come with lots of problems (mainly parasites).

Hope this helps.
Jackie
Very Happy

_________________
Best wishes, Jackie

3:4 Eublepharis macularius
1:0 Gekko gecko
3:4:1 R. auriculatus
1:3 R. ciliatus
1:1 R. chahoua
1:1 R. leachianus henkeli

kiriak · Posted: Tue Feb 28, 2006 7:01 pm Post subject:

Many thanks Jackie.

I've now printed it all off, so gonna have a good read!.

Kirk