New Tokay

[The Juice]

I just got her/him yesterday from a local petstore. I'm not sure of the sex. I've been watching it for several months making sure it was healthy before I bought it. When they guy was trying to catch her she escaped into the store and under rack it took about 25min to finally get her/him. I heard these are fast but I didn't htink that fast. She was only $14.99, most places I've seen sell them for $20. If all goes well I plan to start breeding a few. She was alot brighter & Prettier when she was in the store but darkened up when I got her home, but she is starting to get brighter again.

 

[chris73]

Nice lizard. Tokays are pretty cool. Looks to me like a boy. If I zoom in on the top pic I think I can see the femoral pores.

 

[Beardo]

Nice Tokay...I can't really tell from the pic, but I don't see any obvious hemipene bulges.

Also....you know they don't drink standing water right? You have to mist them in order to hydrate them. The gecko will lick the water off its own body or the cage furniture.

 

[The Juice]

I hope it is a male. I was told that some will drink from standing water, so I was giving it a try to seeif he will drink form it.

 

[atavuss]

I had a tokay that would readily drink from a water dish. these lizards are eating machines! mine would eat just about anything it could get down. incuding rat pups, pink mice, etc.

 

[The Juice]

I currently have my Tokay in a 10gal tank for quarantine. I was wondering what is the best cage to keep these in since they are so fast. I am always scared that it will dart out when I open the lid so I crack it enough to drop the crix in. I was looking at a 13.5 x 13.5 x 25" chameleon screened cage and mist it once or twice a day or a 15gal long aquarium on it's side. I'm more scared of my tokay getting loose in the house then my Cobalt. Also Mine is pretty shy, I haven't seem him eat once yet. I know he is eating because all the crix & roaches are gone in the morning. Do they usually get use to you after a while? Anyone ever kept a Golden Gecko with a Tokay? The petstore had a communal tank for a while, I didn't notice any problems.

 

[Beardo]

Mixing species is a bad idea. Pet Stores do it because they are ignorant and don't care about their livestock. I keep my Tokay in a 29 high. Its alot of room, but I would say a 20 gallon would be sufficient. Stay away from the screen cages....they can get their sticky pads caught in the screen and its almost impossible to keep proper humidity levels in them.

 

[The Juice]

The screened cages seemed like they would be easier to work with. Since aquariums open from the top and thats where tokays usually hang out and screened cages unzip from the bottom. I just want to keep from spooking my tokay and having it dart out the top of the aquarium. If it gets out I know it is going to be a b**ch to catch it & I won't be able to get a good nights sleep until It's caught. I wake up every morning thinking dam I hope that mothersucker is still in the cage. Was yours pretty shy when you first got it, not eating in front of you? I bought it a fuzzy today but it hasn't touched it yet. Maybe it just likes Crix & Roaches.

 

[Beardo]

You should be more concerned with proper husbandry than with the animal escaping (which shouldn't happen if you are careful). Mine is shy and has never attempted to escape, but if cornered she will gladly gape her mouth and try to bite. She is definitely not a shy eater though....she puts away 10-12 Superworms a night, lol.

 

[Mandi]

if your tokay escapes it isnt a big deal, theyre extremely territorial and probably wont leave the room even. You can find it high on your wall at night time looking for food.

I had one escape in my back yard (i brought it out for uv) and It lived on the side of my house for a bout a month before I finally caught it.

 

[SaturnoAscensao]

I'm no expert on geckos, but I've kept many lizard species before... but, correct me if I'm wrong, it looks to be female. There are no obvious hemipenal bulges or femoral pores. You could always take it to a vet or someone qualified to have it properly sexed before breeding... you don't want to accidentally put a male in with a male!

About mixing species... if sufficient room is given they should be fine, although it is generally looked down upon. My buddy who owns an exotic reptile/arachnid store has kept a tokay with a marbled gecko together in a 50 gallon tank for four or five years with absolutely no problems, and I bet the same would go for a golden gecko.

If you DO decide to keep two different species together, I would suggest getting a very large enclosure (50 gallon minimum) to put them in, and make sure they have plenty of hides so they will feel secure. They should also be the same size and of different sexes.

I'd say 29 gallons is adequate for a tokay but they really do need large enclosures. 29 is minimum... if you can, do more. The 10 gallon you have him in now for quarantine is way too small for a tokay.

Seeing as they are really not aggressive at all (they are just extremely defensive... they will only bite if you put your hand near them; they won't jump accross the tank and try to attack you), you don't have to worry if he/she escapes. A cobalt loose in my house would freak me out to no end. I wouldn't worry about a tokay at all (the only thing I'd worry about is her getting hurt).

Good luck with your new pet, and a good place to post reptile related stuff is www.reptileforums.com

 

[The Juice]

the 10gal is just 4 quarintine, One petstore down here had 2 tokays in a 2.5gal for a while This is not permanent, I'm not sure if Tokay's are like Leopard geckos and can get crypto but if they can I don't want to put the tokay in a 29gal right off the back and it ends up having crypto and I have to trash the 29gal.... that crypto is some nasty stuff & hard to get rid of.

I am concerned with the tokay's proper husbandry thats why I am asking questions, I just don't want it getting out it's cage and get hurt or scaring me.

Thanks 4 the link

 

[SaturnoAscensao]

the 10gal is just 4 quarintine, One petstore down here had 2 tokays in a 2.5gal for a while This is not permanent, I'm not sure if Tokay's are like Leopard geckos and can get crypto but if they can I don't want to put the tokay in a 29gal right off the back and it ends up having crypto and I have to trash the 29gal.... that crypto is some nasty stuff & hard to get rid of.

I am concerned with the tokay's proper husbandry thats why I am asking questions, I just don't want it getting out it's cage and get hurt or scaring me.

Thanks 4 the link

I understand the 10 gallon is just for quarantine... but quarantine should last 2-3 months, and that is too long for a tokay to be in IMHO.

If you are concerned with your tokay's proper husbandry I would suggest moving him to a bigger enclosure. You're asking us questions and I'm giving you my advice, take it or leave it.

 

[atavuss]

I kept my Tokay in a 20 gallon regular screened top for years. it had a fake rock type background and was heavily planted for many different hiding places. the tokay would always hide during the daylight hours when I did enclosure maintenance so I never had to worry about it running out. I had 3/4 of the top screen covered to keep humidity up.

 

[mo_2]

I have kept tokays with other species from asia. Tokays will rip a chunk out of a human in about a heartbeat but I have never seen them even TRY an agressive move to anouther gecko. I don't think that keeping geckos that share the same environment together is so bad. I did rescue a leopard gecko though with severe metabolic bone disease that had to live in the communal gecko cage and once he got better HE killed three golden geckos in a night. I guess the tokay was too big lol. he is since moved but I would never worry about a tokay. my local zoo even keeps tokays communally with whites tree frogs and crested geckos.

 

[Beardo]

I did rescue a leopard gecko though with severe metabolic bone disease that had to live in the communal gecko cage and once he got better

And why in the heck did you house a Leopard Gecko with Goldens and a Tokay?? Leos need completely different care requirements than Tokays and Goldens...doesn't sound like much of a rescue.

my local zoo even keeps tokays communally with whites tree frogs and crested geckos.

Your local zoo is stupid. None of those animals even occur on the same CONTINENT. Mixing species that would never meet in the wild is a HUGE disaster waiting to happen. Not to mention the differences in husbandry (Cresteds need it much cooler than Tokays) but there is also the issue of microbial chemistry. These animals have evolved on different areas of the planet and thus have also evolved different internal microbial structures. Exposing them to microbes and gut flora that they are not adapted to deal with is A-not very smart to begin with and B-dangerous for the animal's well-being.

 

[Hoosier]

Can you take those out and handle them?

 

[baldy34]

cages

im using a very nice exo terra cage its 18x18x24 opens at the front and a removable top works great.have a waterfall in it that the 3 tokays drink out of have a male and 2 females