Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Is it common for tokays to bite during courtship and mating? The two are commonly seen together so I am sure some kind of mating might be occuring. The possible bite is on the males rear leg...see post about Naming the Ailment...From what I can tell I do not see any tearing of the skin. Perhaps the swelling in the leg is caused from bruising from the pressure of the bite. This is why I am wondering if Tokay's bite as ritual. I've never bred Tokay's before so I am unsure. I have seen biting in other lizard species during mating rituals so I know it occurs.

I like to learn as much as I can. Thanks for your help.
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14 Leopard Gackos 5.9.0
2 Tokay Geckos 1.1.0
1 Graybanded Kingsnake 1.0.0 (on vacation in my house)
1 Baird's Rat Snake (Thanks Vadoni!) 1.0.0
1 Trachemys scripta elegans 0.0.1
coming soon...
Corn Snake, Green Anoles, crested geckos, and Yellow Rat Snakes.

The males will bite the female and hold onto her by the neck during mating, this usually doesnt cause injury unless the female is unwilling. when a female is unwilling or not ready she will bite back to defend herself against a agressive male. I found a small wound with a drip of blood coming from it on my male breeder once around his shoulder area. only thing I fiquired was one of the females bit him while he attempted to mate with her cause normally they get along fine. Theres a pic of mating Tokays in my photo gallery.
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My posts and replies are my experiences only
1.2.15 Tokays
1.4.10 Leos(13 albino)
1.2.0 AFT's(amel male)
0.2.0 Stenodactylus Petrii(Dune Geckos)

I don't konw if that is normal for mating or what--but you should keep an eye on her. When I purchased my tokay over 4 years ago, she had a broken leg because the others were biting her, and she was skinny because the others were hogging all the food. In addition her snout was wounded from biting. The leg is mended but is permanently crooked; still she can walk on it just fine.

Now she is a fat, healthy tokay-living by herself in a totally stress free environment. obviously grateful, she lets me pet her; even hold her...without threatening much less biting. and makes absolutely NO attempt to escape her terrarium, even when I accidently leave the top open!

Keep an eye on your tokay that was bitten-make sure she's not injured, and also theorize she may be bullied by the others. If there is a pattern of that tokay being attacked, then by all means get her a new home.

Jade_fox