Tokay's Barking?

[reptiguy]

Hello,
Was looking into getting a tokay. I am aware of their less than friendly temperment. The only thing I am wondering about is the "barking" and trilling they do. Was wondering if it is only a territorial thing that the males do or if both sexes do it. Also, are the females as brilliantly colored as the males?
Any help would greatly aid me in making my decision about getting a tokay and whether to get male or female.
Thanks,
-Raptiguy-

[KristenM]

Hey,

The barking or calling that you are referring to is produced by the male to attract females for mating. It is extremely loud, and since they are nocturnal you may have trouble sleeping if you get a male and house it near where you sleep. My male wakes everyone in my house up at night. Both of the sexes make noise, but only the males make that distinct call. Females and males will both bark if you pick them up. It is said that males are more brightly coloured, but in my opinion thats not true, both my male and female are brightly coloured. Coloration is not a good method of sexing. It can be very challenging to sex young Tokays, I have difficulty sexing adults too. The best way is to locate all the pores (preanal etc) and note their position on the body. Another sure way to sex is by the calling. These Geckos can be "friendly" if they are constantly held and tamed down, from a hatching, and as they grow. They are an animal that is easily stressed out and for the most part they are animals to look at not hold. Although the males are loud, I love hearing mine call its a really cool call espically since it comes from a Gecko.

Hope this helps