My Tokay gecko.

RTTB

RTTB

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I was enamored by Tokays as a kid and had several of them growing up. I recall them being bitey snappy ornery and grouchy and I loved them for that.
 
dragonfire1577

dragonfire1577

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basin79 said:
It breaks my heart when I see a tame Tokay. They should be little buggers.
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In all fairness I have a good friend with a tame tokay and it's not like he hurt the gecko taming it down he got it as a cb baby and just worked with it very gently since it was very young for a very very long time, doing things like gently prodding it and having it skitter onto his hand and offering insects out of his hands and moving very slowly around it. He then slowly painstakingly increasing how much he moved his hands around the gecko and how intrusive he was in the enclosure and if he freaked it out he'd give it a while to calm down and he continued this for quite a while until he gradually got to the point it allowed him to actually just reach in and pick it up. I actually found the amount of work he put in to gain it's trust without stressing the animal very much quite admirable but that's just my opinion.
 
basin79

basin79

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dragonfire1577 said:
In all fairness I have a good friend with a tame tokay and it's not like he hurt the gecko taming it down he got it as a cb baby and just worked with it very gently since it was very young for a very very long time, doing things like gently prodding it and having it skitter onto his hand and offering insects out of his hands and moving very slowly around it. He then slowly painstakingly increasing how much he moved his hands around the gecko and how intrusive he was in the enclosure and if he freaked it out he'd give it a while to calm down and he continued this for quite a while until he gradually got to the point it allowed him to actually just reach in and pick it up. I actually found the amount of work he put in to gain it's trust without stressing the animal very much quite admirable but that's just my opinion.
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It's all down to choice at the end of the day. I just prefer Tokay's to be themselves. And in typing that I appreciate it makes little sense but I know what I mean.

If I wanted a tame gecko I'd have bought a Leo.

And I'm not saying/typing those that spend the time to quiet down their Tokay's are wrong to do so. It's just something I'd never want to do.
 
dragonfire1577

dragonfire1577

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basin79 said:
It's all down to choice at the end of the day. I just prefer Tokay's to be themselves. And in typing that I appreciate it makes little sense but I know what I mean.

If I wanted a tame gecko I'd have bought a Leo.

And I'm not saying/typing those that spend the time to quiet down their Tokay's are wrong to do so. It's just something I'd never want to do.
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Yep I get what you mean you just like them to act 100% naturally including fear of humans and that makes sense I just made my comment because you said tame tokay's are heartbreaking but I just didn't see a problem there provided the gecko was worked with gently until it gains your trust and is not pushed too hard until it gives in.
 
Tleilaxu

Tleilaxu

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I'm not understanding why a tamed tokay is a heartbreaking sight... In my opinion an animal that fears it's owner is even more so.

And yes I'm aware that some animals just won't settle down and need special accommodations as a result, but it's worth a shot to at least develop a "relationship" where the animal tolerates your intrusion/presence.

Taming as I see it is a way to make a more pleasant life for the animals as well, as getting stressed every time they see or come into contact with humans can't be healthy either. Especially since they share the same space, having an animal at least conditioned not to go into flight or fight mode is mutually beneficial.

I can't imagine letting my snapping turtle "be itself" without taming and then trying to move it for cage maintenance or health check ups. Mine tolerates handling, for which I am grateful, since an irate specimen, wc or captive bred is a potential medical hazard, and a sight to behold.
 
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schmiggle

schmiggle

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Tleilaxu said:
I'm not understanding why a tamed tokay is a heartbreaking sight... In my opinion an animal that fears it's owner is even more so.

And yes I'm aware that some animals just won't settle down and need special accommodations as a result, but it's worth a shot to at least develop a "relationship" where the animal tolerates your intrusion/presence.

Taming as I see it is a way to make a more pleasant life for the animals as well, as getting stressed every time they see or come into contact with humans can't be healthy either. Especially since they share the same space, having an animal at least conditioned not to go into flight or fight mode is mutually beneficial.

I can't imagine letting my snapping turtle "be itself" without taming and then trying to move it for cage maintenance or health check ups. Mine tolerates handling, for which I am grateful, since an irate specimen, wc or captive bred is a potential medical hazard, and a sight to behold.
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Aren't Tokays naturally aggressive either way? So they could be used to you and not afraid of you but still be highly territorial. They'll only become tame if they figure out that you're a convenient source of food.
 
Tleilaxu

Tleilaxu

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schmiggle said:
Aren't Tokays naturally aggressive either way? So they could be used to you and not afraid of you but still be highly territorial. They'll only become tame if they figure out that you're a convenient source of food.
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They are reputed to have a strong personality yes, whether it's born out of fear or territorial tendacies is the main issue, I brought up in the post. Since I'm sure both postures used in defense of life and territory are very similar especially to the untrained eye.

And yes food bribes are certainly a way to an animals heart.
 
basin79

basin79

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Tleilaxu said:
I'm not understanding why a tamed tokay is a heartbreaking sight... In my opinion an animal that fears it's owner is even more so.

And yes I'm aware that some animals just won't settle down and need special accommodations as a result, but it's worth a shot to at least develop a "relationship" where the animal tolerates your intrusion/presence.

Taming as I see it is a way to make a more pleasant life for the animals as well, as getting stressed every time they see or come into contact with humans can't be healthy either. Especially since they share the same space, having an animal at least conditioned not to go into flight or fight mode is mutually beneficial.

I can't imagine letting my snapping turtle "be itself" without taming and then trying to move it for cage maintenance or health check ups. Mine tolerates handling, for which I am grateful, since an irate specimen, wc or captive bred is a potential medical hazard, and a sight to behold.
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I get this a lot. There's absolutely no benefit to Zeus of being tame. He isn't messed with. I change his water during the day whilst he's asleep and feed him 99% of the time at night where we don't get close to each other.

I prefer to see him as a free spirit (ironic I know seeing he's essentially a prisoner) and I don't want to take that away from him.

If he'd ever have to go to the vet he'd obviously become very stressed at having to be handled but I'm sure they'd get stressed at some point whilst being "tamed".

Now don't get me wrong. My 2 reticulated pythons got tap trained. As I had to interact with them more and it was obviously a lot safer to have a switched off snake.

That typed one of them still bit me twice. One my fault the other I'm laying firmly on her.

That's my take on it. I'll NEVER change my mind and my heart will always sink when I see a tame Tokay. It's just how my head is.
 
basin79

basin79

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Finally managed to get a few pics of Zeus. Couldn't get full body shots but I'm not bothered. I'm just chuffed to get some of the handsome fella.


 
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