Banana gecko.

[vipervenom]

Hi. I was in the local exotic petstore the other day and noticed a very cool looking gecko. It was called a banana gecko and it was fairly large.

Does anybody have any caresheets on them or know anything about them?

Is $100 dollars too expensive (Canadian) for a maybe 4-5 inche one?

Can it live in a 10 gallon tank alone?

Thanks.

[Wuntu Menny]

If its the same banana gecko I keep, (Gehyra vorax), $100 is pretty good for retail and no, a 10 gal is too small. For a 4-5 inch juvie a 10 would do great, but within a year that gecko will be more than twice that size.

I have a caresheet that I've written and can copy/paste it through a PM or send you the file intact through conventional email. What city did you find this gecko in?

WM

[vipervenom]

Um, to tell you the truth I forget what the city is. But it's not that far away.

[vipervenom]

I've gone on google.com to look for pics of the Banana gecko and it looked completly different than what I saw in the store! I will have to go back and see.

[Wuntu Menny]

Ok, maybe I didn't word that right. Where are you?

The reason I ask is because I breed G. vorax and, depending on your locale, there is a very good possibility that you were looking at one of my babies.

A Google search won't help very much as the term"banana gecko" is used to describe any one of a dozen different species from all over the tropics. Try another search using Gehyra vorax or Halmahera giant gecko and see what comes up. If the price was $100 I can't see it being one of the more common species.

WM

[vipervenom]

I live around an hour and 15 mins from Toronto and I don't recall but I am pretty sure the guy said it was WC.

[DragnDrop]

I bought CB 2 hatchlings for $180 each, so your $100 for a WC is pretty good. What I'm wondering about is if it's really WC, since one that (relatively) small would have had a heck of a trip from 'back home' until it got to the store. If it really is WC, check it over carefully, since he might be in worse shape than he looks. Adults can survive a trip from the south Pacific area a lot better, more food reserves than a young one, but maybe I'm just being overly cautious.

[vipervenom]

This one was DEFINITELY an adult. He was huge and when I saw him he was in mint condition. I asked the guy how much it ate and he said 5 crickets a day so I know he's eating. Um, how are htey for handling. I have a cham and know all the precautions of handling and it isn't good for theem but I am just curious.

[Wuntu Menny]

Have we established then that this is G. vorax? It sure sounds like it. My adults are more likely to eat 15 crix a day.

They aren't very good for handling. Certain individuals are exceptional and will tolerate it, even becoming almost tame. Their skin tears easily and will slough like a Phelsuma if handled roughly or restrained. Their bite is like no other gecko I've encountered including tokays, and their tails will drop fairly easily if they feel threatened. Other than that they're great!

I've been keeping and breeding them for about three years and still enjoy them. One or two of mine are handleable when they're in the mood.

WM

[vipervenom]

I am looking to find pics of the gecko I saw but don't their tails only fall off if tugged and they bite REALLY hard?

[Wuntu Menny]

Yes and yes. See previous post. Check out Sundial Reptiles site as they have some nice shots of vorax.

[geckoguy157]

http://ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/1241DSC00300-med.JPG

here's a picture of a baby gherya vorax(from DNA reptiles) is this what you saw in the pet store

[vipervenom]

Yep. I'm pretty sure that's the one! Thanx! Do you know or have any caresheets on them?

[vipervenom]

I can't find ANYTHING on these guys! Nothing comes up int he search engines.

[Wuntu Menny]

Funny, I get about four pages worth from a Google search

Oops, I just checked. Make that six pages

[vipervenom]

Lol, gotta link handy?!

[Wuntu Menny]

google.com

[vipervenom]

lol, thanx! I have tried that, got a link to a specific page? lol.

[JeffT]

http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/gehyra/g._vorax$narrative.html

http://www.proexotics.com/care_halmahera.html

I found these two in about 3 minutes when I looked up Halmahera Giant Gecko.

[Blackwidow69]

:cool: Hey Wuntu Menny, i havent been on this board in awhile but my G. Vorax are doing great and my female is very very tame and handable, she loves coomin out of the cage and being held, but the male on the other hand, well forget it he hates being held.. Now my Q to you is my female just started laying eggs, whats the best way to take care of them so they can hatch?? And yes my pair has been living together with no probs for months now. Both extremly healthy and huge... To bad everyone is in Canada, im selling this pair for only $80.00 Anyways i just need to know the best way to care for the eggs and how long it takes for them to hatch... Thanks tons!! Sorry about the pic being small and also it being dark didnt want to bother her with the flash.. Both gex are around 11 inches..

[Wuntu Menny]

I incubate at 75-79F and 95%+ humidity on vermiculite. They usually hatch in around 180 days.

Good to hear they're doing well but why are you selling them? That female looks great! I can't believe she laid on carpet, I never would have thought they'd do that. I guess that'll be the one thing I learned today!

I'm still trying to find the time to tame a couple of mine down. I have one that is absolutely mental when I try to go near him. I usually have a tough time catching him because I'm laughing so hard at all his hollering and threat displays.

WM

[vipervenom]

Okay, now I'm confused, is g. vorax a Banana gecko? And um, what other kind are you talking about? I am very confused right now.

[DragnDrop]

Originally posted by vipervenom
Okay, now I'm confused, is g. vorax a Banana gecko? And um, what other kind are you talking about? I am very confused right now.

Gehyra vorax is sometimes call the Halmahera Island Giant Banana Gecko. All told, there are over 30 species of Gehyra. Any and all of them have been sold as Banana Geckos, but the name is generally accepted to be G vorax. You can also find G. oceanica sold as G. vorax quite often, and G. marginata almost as often.
I've also seen some of the 'larger' Hemidactylus sold as Banana Geckos, since they can look like small vorax at first glance.

You can find out more info on the Banana Geckos/Gehyra complex at Gekkonidae (http://www.embl-heidelberg.de/~uetz/families/Gekkonidae.html)

[Wuntu Menny]

Don't forget goldens (Gekko ulikovskii)

[DragnDrop]

Originally posted by Wuntu Menny
Don't forget goldens (Gekko ulikovskii)

Yup.. them too. Almost any of the fruit eating non-green coloured geckos have a fair chance of being sold as Banana Geckos. I've even seen a grey marbled female Rhacodactylus auriculatus sold as a WC baby G. vorax!! Naturally, I had to buy that one, couldn't pass up such a bargoon for $50 CDN ;)
One of the first clues that it's a real vorax is the toe nails. Not many geckos have nails as big as coat hooks. Their eye colour isn't quite unique, but somewhat rare, so combine that with the toe nails and you can eliminate a lot of other species right off the bat in the store.

[vipervenom]

Thank you sooooo much for your help, but then how do I find out for sure what species it is? Maybe my best bet is to buy it and then take a pic of it and post it.

[JeffT]

Actually thats not a good thing to do at all, buy something not knowing what it is nor how to care for it. I think you should look of different pictures of Gehyra Vorax and see if it identifies what you saw at the store. Then study up on care sheets, educate yourself and THEN when you think you have enough information and knowledge consider buying it.

[vipervenom]

I know what your saying. I don't know why I even posted doing that, I should have known. But aren't there different colour morphs of some gecko's or patterns of the same species?