okay I got a Tokay need experienced help

yager_ps · 03-25-04, 08:51 AM

Hi everyone,
I need everyones help who have experience with Tokay's. I just got him and could you let me know what I have done right / wrong...

20 gal tank
UV light
Basking spot
Under tank heater

Also he is very nasty... Are you able to tame them? He is approx. 4 inches long or so.

I don't think I forgot anything
Thanks

lostwithin · 03-25-04, 09:37 AM

Hey, everything sounds good, bit of over kill maybe, you don’t need the UV, but it wont hurt at all, and the under tank wont do anything for him though, I've only ever seem mind come down too the ground once, plus they don’t need allot of heat a basking red light on all the time will be plenty, but again it wont do any harm. The one thing they do need is hides, this is best done with lots of fake plants, unless you want too go through the trouble of hooking some sort of hide too the side of the wall. But they should be able too hide without going too the ground,. As for taming them there’s always those people who some how did manage too tame them, but my experiences tell me its not very likely, you wouldn’t have too spend ALOT of time handling him before he’d stop biting and they have one of the nastiest bites in the gecko world lol. if you do attempt it, be prepared too be bitten, and if he/she does bite a hold of you, don’t pull it off, you have too coax them off, last bite i saw took 15 mins before the thing let go of the finger. And if you attempt too force them off you can do damage too them. But if you do tame it you’ll have too let me know your secrete, any way, good luck with the new tokay, they are beautiful animals, just not the friendliest.
Devon

yager_ps · 03-25-04, 01:30 PM

I also forgot to say that I have a peat moss mix with wood chip type stuff on the bottom. In the way of feeding, do they eat at night or durning the day?

lostwithin · 03-25-04, 02:28 PM

The substrate your using will work fine, I've used Peat, Bark, and Astroturf. so long as the bark mixed in isn’t small enough for the gecko too accidentally swallow, . I find Astroturf easier which I use now because its very easy too clean, But its the least natural looking. As for feeding, they do tend too eat more at night or as dusk because they are nocturnal, but they do love food, and mine tend too eat any time if it happens too be near them.
Devon

nguyen_inc · 03-25-04, 08:13 PM

congrats! I love tokays....If he/she bites you just put your hand or what ever it's biting in the tank, this helped when my tokays were untame. Well, my male tokay was hand tamed by me when he was a juvie and also my female. They havn't bit me probably about a year now. Good luck with him/her!

pikachu · 04-01-04, 02:11 PM

tokays are great! i raised mine from a day old hatchling, he's 3 years old and huge, he still barks at me when i put my hand in the tank! very loud calls.he will eat from my hand and sometimes climb up my arm when im cleaning his tank, grabbing him for transport is a whole different story, who knew geckos mouths could open that wide! a true escape artist also, never strays far from the tank. i have found any low percentage u.v helps bring out the colors more in nocturnal lizards, a higher percentage for diurnal obviously.
b-e-a-utiful lizards.