Tokay Gecko Questions

[shadowdragon619]

I have a few questions about Tokay Geckos that havent been able to find the answers to yet. i've searched the forums here, and still need help.

1. UTH or heat lamp? all the care sheets ive read are 50/50 on this

2. How noisy are they really?

3. what would a basic set up be for one of them?

4. i read they can be fed crickets and roaches....so what do i dust them with? The few mentions were a multivitamin, but since they are nocturnal, dont they need calcium too?

um, i thinks thats it for now. thanks!

 

[T-ReXx]

I have a few questions about Tokay Geckos that havent been able to find the answers to yet. i've searched the forums here, and still need help.

1. UTH or heat lamp? all the care sheets ive read are 50/50 on this

2. How noisy are they really?

3. what would a basic set up be for one of them?

4. i read they can be fed crickets and roaches....so what do i dust them with? The few mentions were a multivitamin, but since they are nocturnal, dont they need calcium too?

um, i thinks thats it for now. thanks!

I believe I can help you.
1) IMO, heat lamps work better. For one thing, tokays spend nearly 0 time on the ground. For another, they have rather sensitive feet, so most uth's get too hot and risk burning the gecko. If you do use a heat pad(or tape, as I do in some of my cages) place it on the side of the cage about half way up and regulate it with a dimmer switch or thermostat. Tokays do best with an ambient temp in the 80s (mine are at 85) with a 90-100F hot spot. Lamps work quite well to achieve this in most cages. Use a red or blue bulb, and they are nocturnal.

2) Females make virtually no noise unless they are pissed off. Males, on the other hand can be quite loud. My tokays are kept in my herp room with the door closed and I can still hear them at the other end of the house when they are calling. It's not a constant thing though, most males don't call unless they feel the need to breed or sense a female near by.

3) Basics for a single adult: 20 gal high tank(or bigger, these guys are active, and some males get very large) paper towel, news paper, cocofiber or mulch substrate(I prefer cocofiber) branches and/or cork bark. LOTS of plants(tokays like clutter) heat source, food dish, water dish, calcium dish, and hides. You can use bamboo sections, PVC sections, cork rounds, or plain plastic hide boxes for adults. They like a tight fit, so a 2in section of pvc or bamboo works better than something wider. I provide two hides, an elevated one near the heat source and a ground hide. Most use the elevated one or just hang out behind some plants. Daily misting is required, as they rarely use water dishes.

Here's some pics of my tokays and my setups:

http://geckoforums.net/showthread.php?t=62713

4) I feed all my tokays roaches. They will also eat crickets, moths, pinkies(occasional) and most other bugs, except super or mealworms, most don't like those. All prey should be gutloaded. I dust every third feeding with Osteo-form(every feeding for breeding females) and Vionate. They do need calcium, they are geckos, and pretty much all geckos have high calcium requirements.

Any other questions, just drop me a PM. Hope that helps.

-T.

 

[thegeckoguy23]

(1) Heat lamp works best.

(2) Some nights they can be pretty noisy for the most part they are not noisy.

(3) A 20 gallon is the min for one tokey gecko. And plants to climb on (they like to climb) and fresh water,and ya know just like warm/cool side thing on ground and for plants, Any substrate that holds humidty well and is not dusty.


(4) And yes they must have calcuem and vitman's and your leos are nocturnl.

 

[shadowdragon619]

Holy crap T-ReXx, you have a TON of geckos in your house! Thanks for all the info! i cant really get another gecko until august because thats the next show i will be able to go to. so i have two months to research these "demons" lol. they look like fun even though they are terrors.

does anyone know a site or could tell me about the tokay morphs? i cant find any good info about thier morphs.

 

[Ga_herps]

Here is one of the places I frequent. It should help you out.
http://www.tokay-gecko.com/