Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm planning a trip to the Atlanta Reptile show at the end of this month, and I've been thinking about getting a pair or trio of Golden Geckos.I'm pretty new to the Gekko genus (just got a 1.1 pair of Tokays about a month ago. Are Goldens as interesting to watch as the Tokays? I have heard that breeding is often unsuccessful in captivity, is this generally true? I've also heard that it's hard to find females - will I have difficulty finding one or two at a show? How large of an enclosure do you recommend for a pair? What about a trio? Any other info or tips would be greatly appreciated. Can anyone recommend another enjoyable Gekko species that I might find at th show? Thanks for all the help!

Right now I have what I think is 1.1 pair of Goldens. Fresh imports are real skittish and will run ( faster than you think ) whenever they see you. Once they have been in captivity for 8 or so months they start to settle down and you can reach into thier enclosure with out them flipping out. I find they are very inquisitive animals. IMO they are kind of like a nocturnal Day Gecko. Goldens are very unlike thier Tokay cousins. Every now and then I find them out in the open during the day. I would say around 90-95% of Goldens in captivity are males. I've noticed my male is more bold and outgoing than the female, but that could just be individual personality. In regards to enclosure size, the bigger the better, but I wouldn't go smaller than a 25g tall. Just make sure they have alot of secure hiding places, as that will aid in acclimation. Also, maximize your enclosure space by using every square inch you can. These guys are not for everybody, but hopefully captive breeding will help solve that. Also, they love Mango baby food!

Female goldens live a much more secretive live than males. Thats why 99% or more of the imports are males. Juvenile and inferior males do mimic females to avoid agression of the big males and then they VERY much look like females. So many specimens in the pet shop do look like females but later turn out to be males.
I know people who have been looking for females for many years and aquired a lot of female looking specimens. MOST of these later turned out to be males.
Differences between sexes are slight and only obvious in fully mature well nurrished animals. Heads of males are broader and preanal pores more pronounced. A well supplemented female has visible calcium sacs at her cheeks, but sadly such females hardly ever appear in the trade.
Goldens are calm, semidiurnal lizards. But intraspecific agression sadly is high. Even if you find a female, you may be unable to keep her together with the male. Manyx males tend to dominate the females strongly and prevent them from eating. So the female produce some clutches (and the breeder is happy and thinks all goes fine)and then die from lack of minerals and food. Hence a pair which is kept together needs very close observation.
For the same reasons, I would not recommend trios or larger groups. Best way to keep them is a single animals which are introduced to each other every other month for two weeks. This gives enough time to mate but normally is too short to stress and starve the females too much.
If you are lucky enough to have eggs, incubation and raising of the babies is as easy as for tokays. Also parents do normally not eat their babies.
For a single animal I would recfommend a tank of 2 x 1,5 x 3 ft, preferably bigger . A heigth of 3 ft should be the minimum. In significantly larger cages you may try to keep a pair together-if you find one. Goldens are much more diurnal if the lights of the tank are relatively dim. Bright metal halides normally lead to strictly nocturnal goldens. If the cage is furnished with only fluorescent bulbs, you will see the gex much more often at daytime . They also love to bask under mild lights.

Hope that helps

Ingo

Thank you both for the help. Okay, so now that I've decided to do this, what is the best way to go about it? I'm going to keep all the animals I purchase in separate caging for at least a few months while they get acclimated and so that I can determine sex. Should I just buy 3 Goldens that appear female, bring them home, fatten them up, and pray someone stays female? I would buy more, but space is already at a premium in my house and I'll have to buy a brand new 65 gallon reptarium for every animal I bring home. Does anyone have good sexing pics available of a mature male and female? How long will it take for the female imposters to show their true colors and turn visibly male after I bring them home? Thank you all so much for sharing your experience...

Hmmm the chance is higher if you buy 50 goldens

But thats the way to go.
For most semiadult to adult specimens you will find out within a few weeks or even days if they are in fact males.
Some doubtful specimens may take longer-sadly this often gives hope and still ends with "male".
Anyhow, reptariums are not the best choice : They neither hold humidity well, nor is themesh a climbing surface which geckos would like.