Male Tokay guarding eggs!

[Anthony Caponetto]

Thought you guys & girls might like this one.

FYI - Male tokays will guard the eggs almost constantly if they're left in the cage. As you can see, there are three eggs here...the females will use the same laying site repeatedly. When the babies hatch, they don't hide from the adults like you would think. Instead, they'll basically live together at the laying site with mom and dad, who will also protect the babies.

My jaw about dropped when I learned all of this...I figured they were tokays and as such, they'd eat anything they could fit in their mouths. lol

 

[Riyo]

What a great picture and what an awesome animal. Thank you for sharing!

 

[BioWorkZ]

Cool pic.

 

[Retribution Reptiles]

Nice looking out Anthony. So you just leave the eggs in their enclosure until they hatch out? Do you transport them into a different enclosure at some point or are they adults and hatchlings pretty cool with each other?

 

[thestack510]

Very cool Anthony. I like the Powder Blue Tokays a lot.

 

[Anthony Caponetto]

Thanks guys!

I'm pretty partial to the powder blues too...so much more attractive than the white blotchy stuff. (Not really a piebald ball python fan either, so I'm probably a lil' weird).

Nice looking out Anthony. So you just leave the eggs in their enclosure until they hatch out? Do you transport them into a different enclosure at some point or are they adults and hatchlings pretty cool with each other?

We actually have a little incubator that we put the PVC tubes in. lol

Egg gluers definitely require problem-solving skills. :main_angry:

We just decided to try leaving some in the cage to see if that would result in more eggs being laid...and I think it has. A few people I've talked to have theorized that it may provide a psychological benefit (which may result in more eggs) if the female feels that her eggs are safe there.

Now it's getting cold and I'm afraid to leave them in there. lol

Tokay eggs seem to take forever (or longer) to hatch....I don't think dropping the incubation temps into the low 70's this winter will help.

 

[THE WHISPERER]

Very nice :main_thumbsup:

 

[Retribution Reptiles]

hmmm that is very interesting. I wish you all the best Anthony on your collection and breeding.

 

[bro paul]

Very cool Anthony. Thanks for sharing. I just started working with tokays and I'm super impressed with their intelligence. I love how they protect their young.
You're right about the "problem solving" skills involved.
Have you had much success hand taming yours or do you mainly treat them as display geckos?

 

[laughing dog]

im interested in the taming and intelligence too. ???

 

[emmagecko]

I think this tokay doesn't look as scary as the normal's he's actually kinda cute

 

[Anthony Caponetto]

Very cool Anthony. Thanks for sharing. I just started working with tokays and I'm super impressed with their intelligence. I love how they protect their young.
You're right about the "problem solving" skills involved.
Have you had much success hand taming yours or do you mainly treat them as display geckos?

Hey Paul,

I really haven't tried to tame them...at least not seriously. I have tried briefly with CB babies in the past (with no luck). All of the Tokays we have now are wild caught except for the few (15-20) we've produced thus far.

That said, we do have that one big female that's a total sweet heart, although she will squalk at you (just a little) if she has eggs nearby. I think I posted Big Mama on here a while back. She's a WC adult girl that has been tame since we got her. I have no idea why...thought she was sick at first, but she's fine. Apparently someone forgot to inform her that she's supposed to hate people. lol

I know some breeders really push the fact that they can be tamed and such, and I know they can be, but it takes a lot of time...probably more time than most people would want to spend. Plus, if someone's that worried about getting bitten, they're probably not going to make it through the taming process.

Tokays have plenty of redeeming qualities that more than make up for the demeanor...but if someone comes to me and wants a gecko that they can handle, I'm going to be honest. lol

Personally speaking, I tend to think more along the lines where tokays are meant for intermediate to advanced hobbyist types who want a terrarium subject that's intriguing enough just to watch (and listen to). The real selling point for breeders is that they come in a multitude of morphs.

:bulb2: Just an interesting random thought...as far as I know, there are already more proven tokay mutations than there are leopard gecko mutations...and I know of several unproven projects that almost have to be genetic.

Anyways...don't get me wrong, handling a big tame tokay is one of the coolest things ever (I still handle Big Mama all the time - even when it's just me and I'm not showing her off). It's just probably not worth the effort for most people to tame an entire collection of them.

 

[Anthony Caponetto]

I think this tokay doesn't look as scary as the normal's he's actually kinda cute

Oh yeah? Well I dare you to say that to his face. lol