Reptiles that eat insects all their lives?

[LHP]

I am surprised at that as well. Seems like here in the states they come in waves maybe a couple of times a year. You won't see any for a while and then the kingsnake.com classifieds are filled with them...usually about $40. Hope you have better luck in the future finding one...they're great! Very entertaining...always up to something. The one I deal with at work can get picky at times though.

Lindsey

 

[Crotalus]

Few people breeds them and its illegal to collect WC in Europe. Thats why they are not common in Europe

 

[Thoth]

I'm suprised noone mentioned tokay geckos they can put away the food (have a large female once ate 2 doz. crickets in one sitting). I had an escapee survive without feeding or watering for 3 months before I caught him again (admittedly he was rather scrawny when I did catch him) So one week with some roaches in the enclosure with it, should be fine.

Don't know how sunny it is in your part of the world but with a magnifying glass you can have hours of fun thinning you colony.

Or use them in an elaborate protection scheme with various restraunts, threating them to get the board of health to shut them down due to roach infestation unless the paid or fed you (or combination thereof)

 

[Cirith Ungol]

I'm suprised noone mentioned tokay geckos they can put away the food (have a large female once ate 2 doz. crickets in one sitting). I had an escapee survive without feeding or watering for 3 months before I caught him again (admittedly he was rather scrawny when I did catch him) So one week with some roaches in the enclosure with it, should be fine.

Don't know how sunny it is in your part of the world but with a magnifying glass you can have hours of fun thinning you colony.

Or use them in an elaborate protection scheme with various restraunts, threating them to get the board of health to shut them down due to roach infestation unless the paid or fed you (or combination thereof)

Also a very interesting sollution to my problem... I checked it out, seemingly they like fingers and hands as much as insects but I'll keep them in mind because in case I don't find any other animal I will go with these

I guess I'll check out all the gecko family again before deciding, afterall I'm only at the beginning of my research into legged reptiles.

Sun?... I'd proberbly be better off throwing them into the snow one by one

 

[Beardo]

I also say go with a Tokay Gecko. They are lots of fun and can eat just about anything. I had an adult female which would occasionally eat fully grown Hissers!

 

[Cirith Ungol]

What about crested geckos? Arn't they easier to keep than Tokays? Crested geckos even regonize standing water and they're half tollerant of being handled (when nessessary)...

Are they easier to keep?

 

[Thoth]

I think they're about the same in terms of difficulty to keep, though crested eat fruit in addition to just insects so that is a possible drawback. With my tokays I just have a bottle with a small hole or valve drip into a shallows dish in the enclosure and they drink from it. The only significant difference between the two is you'd use a heat lamp with the tokays and nothing with the cresteds, depending on how warm your home is.

It is said that if you get young tokays you can acclimatize them to being handled, i've seen people handle them and still have all their fingers . On drawback with crested is that if they lose their tails it does not grow back. Also cresteds won't eat as much as a tokay.

Personally I think the colors on the tokay are prettier.

 

[Thoth]

Also there is the skunk or lined gecko (Gekko vittatus), gaining popularity here in the States. Almost as big as tokays, similiar care and nicer disposition (or so I've heard).

 

[Ewok]

yeah tokays would definantly keep your roach colony in check. I have one that is about 8 in.. it escaped on to my screened porch and has lived there for years, its big and fat. I live in a warm climate so it does really well living off roaches and small mice that run in.

 

[Cirith Ungol]

I'm swaying back and forth all the time between what I'd rather like. But my original premise was that I would get an eating machine. If I want something else then i should get it as an extra.

Is there any difference in how tollerant females are in comparison to males?
Will thick all arround welding gloves keep the teeth out of my fingers?

Edit
How loud is the call and does a single Tokay call?

Edit edit:
If they can store fat in their tails for several months why does every caresheet say I should feed an adult every other day?

If I turned down the temp to the lowest temp allowed and went away for a week, would the tokay be in serious danger, provided it had water? I need to know these things, because there are several occasions during the year where I'll be gone for that long and if the Tokay would be harmed by it I would obvioulsy not act with responsibility..

 

[Ewok]

I'm swaying back and forth all the time between what I'd rather like. But my original premise was that I would get an eating machine. If I want something else then i should get it as an extra.

Is there any difference in how tollerant females are in comparison to males?
Will thick all arround welding gloves keep the teeth out of my fingers?

Edit
How loud is the call and does a single Tokay call?

Mine made a croaking sound before when I tried to catch it, but it wasn't real loud. Yeah welding gloves would keep thier teeth from hurting you. One time I caught mine with leather yard working gloves, it bit the glove but I didn't feel any teeth penetrating through it. It was a strong bite though, and he didn't let go right away either.

 

[Randolph XX()]

Savannah monitors and several other small monitors?

 

[xelda]

How loud is the call and does a single Tokay call?

You can hear samples of what Tokay calls sound like here: link
You have to scroll down a little bit to hear the male mating call. Their calls are loud, but they're among the coolest sounds you'll ever hear a reptile make.

Personally, I think if you're wanting an animal that can help put away roaches, you'll want something that's large enough to eat your excess adult male roaches. From my experience, the larger Gekko spp. aren't that nuts about roaches although the tokays will take them. Chameleons eat large roaches like candy, but that's more of a high maintenance animal than what you seem to be looking for. Adult leopard geckos can take on adult B. dubia, but I wouldn't try to feed them more than two at a time. And a baby alligator seemed intimidated eating a roach that was the size of his head. I think it took him a couple of hours just to get it down since he couldn't tear it up.

(I've tested all this on my friend's collection, by the way. He's kept over 100 species of herps.)

So that leaves what I think are the best choices: dwarf monitors or bearded dragons. I'm not sure what kind of roaches you keep, but the only feeder roaches that seem problematic for the dwarf monitors were lobster roaches. They were too flat and awkward for the monitors to eat. Meatier species like discoids and orange heads work really well though. I wouldn't feed the monitors strictly insects though; they need mice, which shouldn't be a problem if you keep snakes too.

I personally would go with a bearded dragon. Unlike monitors, they actually seem to relish eating roaches. I produce enough excess males to feed my bearded and my friend's beardeds, and I'm actually planning on getting another bearded. The issue with salads isn't a big deal if you already buy vegetables to feed your bugs, and an adult bearded dragon can still eat a lot of roaches in addition to a daily salad. The only drawback is that it costs money to set beardeds up with expensive bulbs and a large cage, and ideally you should feed them everyday because going a few days without food can set them back quite a bit. You mentioned wanting an animal that can go for long periods without food or care, but I think that defeats your purpose of wanting it around. A reptile that eats a lot most likely NEEDS to eat a lot. Otherwise, it's not going to make much of a dent in keeping your roach colonies down, though it is a pretty good excuse for getting another animal.

 

[Cirith Ungol]

You mentioned wanting an animal that can go for long periods without food or care, but I think that defeats your purpose of wanting it around. A reptile that eats a lot most likely NEEDS to eat a lot. Otherwise, it's not going to make much of a dent in keeping your roach colonies down, though it is a pretty good excuse for getting another animal.

The thing is, I know that I'm going to be away from home a few times during a year and it will approach a week that I'll be gone and there might be nobody who'll help me out during that time. And if I can't be away like I said without the animal still being in good health then I rather not have the reptile and throw the excess roaches in the garbage. I'm just trying to find an animal that will do ok eventhough I'll have to be gone a few times a year. I'm just trying to be responsible.

So the rest of the year I'll be at home, feeding my new friend and cutting down on the colonies

I have B.dubia and S.tartara.. the tartaras are as large as crickets and they breed like mutants! I'm keeping both colonies on the cold side at the moment so the dubias have slowed down considerably... the tartaras though, went from 30 individuals to proberbly 1500+ in about 6-8 weeks

Bearded dragon would be fun too and I have even a friend who's kept one for many years. I like that one too, but won't a bearded dragon switch to 100% plantfood at some point? Or do even the oldest ones eat a large number of roaches? What is the ratio in an old indiviual?

 

[Dom]

One good thing about cresteds is that they don't really need as much heat as other herps. I keep mine at room temp (70F) with a heat cable for a hot spot. Most of the time they are on the cool end of their cages. I've also had them down to the low 60's and they were fine. They don't like it above the low 80's though. I'm finding them hardier than most species I've worked with.

 

[Cirith Ungol]

I've checked prices for Tokays today... I can get one for about $40! Pretty cheap IMHO!

For that price I might even consider getting two. What tank size would two need? Would 50W x 50H x 130L cm be enough?

Also, can they see red light? Because I wanna see 'em as much as possible...
Though it's possible I might get to see them quite a lot anyhow depending on how shy they are, because I have pretty little lighting in my flat anyway....

 

[Thoth]

That tank is more than enough for a pair of tokays (with 60 X 30 X 30 cms is the suggested tank size for a pair) so you have enough room for even a third (a second female) or more. From the dimensions of the tank you suggest it about the size of a 75 gal., I've read people keeping 6 in a 55 gallon tank.

I don't believe they can see red light. My female is always out and about, my male if he sees any quick motion outside the tank quickly hides. If possible set your tank on end as an arboreal setup with a lot of branches to climb.

 

[Cirith Ungol]

That tank is more than enough for a pair of tokays (with 60 X 30 X 30 cms is the suggested tank size for a pair) so you have enough room for even a third (a second female) or more. From the dimensions of the tank you suggest it about the size of a 75 gal., I've read people keeping 6 in a 55 gallon tank.

I don't believe they can see red light. My female is always out and about, my male if he sees any quick motion outside the tank quickly hides. If possible set your tank on end as an arboreal setup with a lot of branches to climb.

Ok thanks Thoth! Good to know that I'll be giving them enough space.

I won't be able to set them on end because I'll already have one corn snake tank beneath (same dimentions) which will be standing on 3ft from the ground

 

[Thoth]

Ok thanks Thoth! Good to know that I'll be giving them enough space.

I won't be able to set them on end because I'll already have one corn snake tank beneath (same dimentions) which will be standing on 3ft from the ground

Thats okay becuase my tokay setup isn't either, its one of those I wish I thought of it sooner situations, just make sure there are plenty of branches for them to climb on.

Oh yeah, I use cypress mulch as the substrate helps keep the humidity up and easy to spot clean. I don't know if its available in Sweden but other substrates can used like peat, moss, soil, bark bits, etc.

 

[Cirith Ungol]

Thats okay becuase my tokay setup isn't either, its one of those I wish I thought of it sooner situations, just make sure there are plenty of branches for them to climb on.

Oh yeah, I use cypress mulch as the substrate helps keep the humidity up and easy to spot clean. I don't know if its available in Sweden but other substrates can used like peat, moss, soil, bark bits, etc.

Wow, cypress mulch! Never heard of it as a substrate! I'd love to check out a bag just to see what texture it has and such!

I'm not sure yet of what I'll use as a substrate really.... I might go with peat or maybe an artificial kind, like a green grass rug (dunno what they are called but they're pretty ugly, though said to be practical). I would also like to use the same substrate as for my corns but I'm not 100% the geckos can take it: pine bark shavings. I'll anyway give them some kind of hide (on the bottom floor) where I'll put vermiculite that I'll keep moist at all times, just for shedding skins.

Do you have any other not yet mentioned advice regarding Tokays? Stuff I have to look out for perhaps?