Tokay gecko

About the species

The tokay gecko is one of the largest geckos in the world. Adults typically reach 25-35 cm including the tail, and males are larger than females, with a broader head and heavier jaws. The body is blue-grey, often with a turquoise sheen, and densely covered with orange or rust-red spots. The eyes are large and golden with a vertical pupil. Under the toes are lamellae with millions of microscopic hairs that cling to almost anything, even vertical glass.

The species was described by Linnaeus in 1758, and both the scientific and the common name imitate the male's call, a loud, repeated to-keh, which he uses at night to mark his territory. Two subspecies are recognised, Gekko gecko gecko and Gekko gecko azhari, but where the boundary lies, and whether more species are hiding under the name, is still debated.

The tokay gecko is one of the most defensive geckos in the trade. It hisses, gapes and bites, and the bite hurts and can draw blood. It holds on with its jaws, so you should not tear it loose, but wait until it lets go. Many animals grow calmer with time, but seldom truly tame. It is an animal you watch and look after with respect.

Many animals in the trade are caught in the wild and often arrive dehydrated, emaciated and full of parasites, so always buy captive-bred animals. Colour and pattern vary greatly, and breeders have produced colour forms with, for example, more black or more red in the spots.

Care

The enclosure

An adult needs a tall enclosure of at least 60 × 60 × 120 cm (length × width × height), and an especially large male should have 90 × 60 × 120 cm. A pair can live in the same enclosure, but then there must be room to keep out of each other's way and several hides at different heights. The tokay gecko is territorial and is best kept alone, and two males must never be kept together. Juveniles of equal size can live together for a time, but must be separated within the first few months.

Choose an enclosure of glass, PVC or wood with front-opening doors, which hold heat and humidity, and make sure there is good ventilation. Furnish with sturdy branches, cork tubes and cork panels, so that the animal can squeeze into narrow crevices. The hides should be easy to look into and roomy enough that you can get a hand in if it becomes necessary. Live plants such as pothos, or artificial plants, give cover.

As substrate, coconut fibre or a bioactive mixture with woodlice and springtails is a good choice. The substrate should be damp, but not wet. Remove droppings from the corners, and keep the doors locked, because the tokay gecko is lightning fast and easily slips out.

Temperature

The tokay gecko likes it warm. By day the enclosure should be 26-29 °C with a warm spot under a lamp of 30-35 °C. Around 32 °C at the warm spot suits most animals. At night the temperature may fall to 23-26 °C, and in most homes this requires a weak heat source without light, for example a ceramic heat emitter.

Always provide a temperature difference, so that the animal can choose between warm and cooler zones. Measure with a digital thermometer both at the top and at the bottom, and control all heat with a thermostat. Strong heat and low humidity dry the animal out. A gecko that sits with its mouth open or constantly hides in the coolest end is too hot.

Humidity and water

The humidity should be 60-80 %, measured in the middle of the enclosure. Mist thoroughly in the evening and lightly in the morning, so that the humidity rises at night and falls again during the day. Too low humidity causes stuck shed, while constantly wet conditions cause mould and skin problems, so the ventilation must be in order.

The tokay gecko drinks droplets from leaves and glass, but also put in a shallow bowl of fresh water, and change the water every day. A hygrometer shows whether the rhythm is holding.

Lighting and UVB

The species is nocturnal and can live without UVB when it receives D3 as a supplement, but most modern sources recommend a weak UVB light, and it is especially valuable for breeding females. Use a UVB tube suited to shade-dwelling species (Ferguson zone 1), for example a 5-7 % T5 or T8 tube, over the mesh lid on one side, so that the UV index is at most 1-2 at the uppermost branches. The rest of the enclosure should be shaded. Replace the tube every 12 months.

Keep the light on for 12 hours a day, ideally controlled by a timer. At night it should be dark.

Feeding

The tokay gecko is an insectivore. The staple diet is crickets and dubia roaches, supplemented with locusts and now and then waxworms, hornworms or morio worms for variety. The feeder animals should be smaller than the gecko's head and should have been fed well for a couple of days before being offered. Dust them with calcium, and give a multivitamin regularly.

Young animals are fed every day, adults every second to third day, with as much as they eat in about five minutes. A newborn mouse can be given as a treat, at most a couple of times a month. Males in particular easily become too fat, so keep an eye on weight and body shape.

Breeding females have a great need for calcium and D3. Give them extra, and follow their weight.

Behaviour and handling

The tokay gecko is fast, strong and defensive. It hisses, gapes and lunges when it feels threatened, and a bite can break the skin. Do not reach for it, and do not count on it becoming tame. Many animals learn with patience to take food from tweezers, and some settle down with time, but it is an animal to watch, not to hold in the hand.

The male's to-keh can be heard far away, especially at night, and that is worth bearing in mind if the enclosure is to stand in the bedroom. Two males must never be kept together, and females can also fight. A pair only works if the animals suit each other. A good sign is that they sleep in the same hide, and otherwise they should be separated.

New animals should have a couple of weeks' peace to settle in, and cleaning and feeding should be done calmly and without sudden movements.

Breeding

Sexual maturity and sexing

Males have a larger head, heavier jaws and a clear, V-shaped row of pores in front of the vent as well as a bulge at the base of the tail. In females the pores are small or indistinct, so the sex is most reliably seen in half-grown and adult animals. Sexual maturity is given as between 12 and 36 months, but it is the animal's size and condition that count. Females should not be bred until they are fully grown and in good condition, and preferably not before 18 months of age.

Mating

Put a healthy male together with a female when both are in good condition. Not all pairs suit each other, so keep an eye on them the first days, and separate them if one becomes aggressive. Never use two males, and remember that another female may eat the eggs.

In the wild the species breeds roughly from autumn to early summer, but in captivity it can breed all year round. The first clutch comes about a month after mating. Many breeders give the female a break after three to four clutches, so that she does not become worn out.

Egg-laying and clutches

The female lays two hard-shelled eggs at a time and sticks them to a vertical surface, often in a narrow crevice or between two panels. About a month passes between clutches, and this typically amounts to four to eight clutches in the season.

Give the female suitable places to lay, for example two flat pieces of cork bark or slate with 2-5 cm between them. The eggs are glued in place and should not be buried. Keep an eye on the female's weight and calcium reserves, and give plenty of calcium and insects throughout the season. Wild-caught females in particular can collapse from calcium deficiency.

Incubation

The eggs are stuck so firmly that they cannot be picked loose without breaking. Leave them where they are if temperature and humidity are in order, and protect them from the adults, or move the whole panel or hide with the eggs to an incubator. Keep them at 25-30 °C with high humidity, for example with damp vermiculite or coconut fibre nearby, but without them becoming wet. Below 24 °C and above 32 °C the embryos die more easily.

The incubation period varies greatly, from about 60 to 180 days, and most breeders reckon on 90-120 days. The warmer, the shorter the time. It is unresolved whether temperature affects the sex. Some breeders believe that low temperature gives mostly females and high temperature mostly males, while others consider the sex genetically determined. So do not count on being able to control the sex with temperature.

Rearing the young

The hatchlings are 5-8 cm long at hatching and eat their own skin at the first shed. Tokay geckos guard their eggs, and the parents often tolerate the young for the first couple of months, so some breeders let them stay together that long, while others move the hatchlings at once. By about six months of age at the latest they should each have their own enclosure, because otherwise they begin to fight.

Give small insects, no wider than the distance between the hatchling's eyes, for example small crickets and fruit flies, every day and dusted with calcium with D3. Keep the same temperature and humidity as for the adults, mist daily, and weigh the hatchlings regularly.

Health and common mistakes

The tokay gecko is hardy when kept properly. The typical problems are:

• Wild-caught animals are often dehydrated, emaciated and full of parasites. Buy captive-bred animals. If you have a wild-caught animal, make sure it drinks and eats before it is treated for parasites, and have a reptile vet examine a faecal sample.
• Too little calcium and D3, especially in breeding females, causes soft bones and cramps. Dust the food, and provide weak UVB.
• Too low humidity causes stuck shed on toes and tail, which can constrict and cut off a toe. Moisten and loosen it gently.
• Too wet conditions without ventilation cause mould, fungus and skin infections.
• Obesity, especially in males. Keep an eye on weight, and limit the fatty feeder animals.
• Bites and injuries after fights if the animals are not separated or there are too few hides.

See a vet experienced with reptiles if the animal loses weight, does not eat for several weeks, constantly sits with its mouth open or has difficulty shedding.