Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i bought a tokay gecko from Leaping Lizards Day Geckos at a show and I managed to completely tame him in a total of three days!! The first two days I had to hold him firmly in a glove to keep him from thrashing around. The third day he apparently lost all his fear of me....he would just sit on my hand and crawl through my fingers. Now, when I open his cage and put my hand in, he will jump to me and just stick to my hand....it's really cool!!

Wow, I have to say I'm sort of suprised he didn't drop his tail. After one of my crested dropped (wasn't even touching him), I've been walking on eggshells around my geckos. That must be a really cool tokay!

I wish my crested was that tame. The little weirdo is still jumpy (literally) when I get him out and I've had him since January.

Doesn't Leaping Lizards breed their tokays specifically to be tame? If you don't mind me asking, how much was he? Tokays are cool looking but their attitude and the availability (or lack thereof) of CB specimens turned me away.

i'm not sure if they breed for tameness or not ,but he was $40 and well worth the money.

kevin

Just a word of caution. Sometimes an animal that appears "tame" is really just stressed out. It's a response to constant fear. It usually manifests itself in a reduced activity level.

actually, I didn't try to hold him until I had him for about a month. during that period I would try to "pet" him and he would run off...now, he will even eat out of my hand.

kevin

Kevin:

Congradulations on your tame tokay. I am glad he is doing well. Real tamed tokay are not stressed or in fear. They have simply overcome their fear of "the owner." I say "owner" because our tamed tokays are "fearless" around us yet often they get worried when a stranger tries to pick it up.

Keep holding him on a regular basis. He will be your friend for life.

When will a tamed tokay not be tamed? When she is laying eggs, When there are eggs in the enclosure, when protecting newly hatched babies, when defending its territory and its girlfriends. Our tamest tokay will turn into a beast when it feels that any thing of "his" is threatened. We are always cautious when removing males from their enclosure. Once removed they tend to revert to their tamed self.

Leann
Leaping Lizards Day Geckos

Same case with my guy. I actually got him to eat wax worms out of my hand and now he even crawls up onto it if I hold it out long enough for him to inspect it. Doesnt seem to mind when I pick him up except on some days in which case I just leave him alone. Pretty cool guy overall.......eats like mad! Oh and I'm not squeezing him in the picture like it seems.....hes just kinda crawlin around....they hate being restrained in any way. I've actually got him to lay on his back on my hand. He only does it for about a minute or two and turns back around but its pretty funny while hes doing it.

i've always admired the tokay. i really want one more than any other kind but am affraid of its vicious bite. well not affraid but i like free hand handling by gecko. u lucky son of a gun!

I am wondering if this isn't your tokays Daddy? LOL!