Reptile & Amphibian Forums

on doing so would be greatly appreciated and would help me decide whether or not i'm going to tame him or not. as i said any help is greatly appreciated! thanx in advance!

How big is it? Wild caught or captive bred? Just trying to figure out if you should even try......Bigger it is the worse it usually is for you and your gecko.

n/p

I've responded several times as to how to tame a tokay so perhaps, in the longer form, this can help. I've tamed up to thirty, and sold even more than that that have been "pre-handled." I caution everyone up-front: tame at your own risk. Do not let young people tame tokays. The bite of an adult male tokay feels like having your finger caught in a car door.

Do not plunge a tokay with a "hold" on a finger or hand in water, neither hit it or slam it into an object. If you treat a gecko who is merely following his instincts by attempting to protect itself by abusing it then you are not the right person to tame a tokay. Tokays let go when they are ready to let go (and that can be five or so minutes later). This is why we wear gloves.

It takes time, two to three months -- very few tokays tame down in just a few days. Those that do have probably been handled at their previous homes (as do many of the young ones that I sell). There are some that will never be truly tamed. They will just refuse to become "pets" and nothing you can do short of sacrificing several fingers will change anything.

Old and young tokays can be tamed, wild caught and captive bred tokays can become tamed. Young ones take longer because of their natural juvenile instinct to survive. About their ninth months that instinct can be replaced with a more trusting behavior.

Always start with gloves. Only those people willing to loose skin, feeling in fingers or have a deep desire for scars will do otherwise. You will keep those gloves for the rest of the tokay's life.

Holding the tokay, three to four times a week for an hour to three hours is necessary. Gently hold and watch TV (they prefer action to romance). Weeks to a month later there will be an attitude change and they will be less inclined to take off. Eventually they will sit quietly with only the most gentle hold on their back. Soon they will be no need to hold them at all for they will learn that you are about 98.5ºF and that suits them just fine.

They will bite, even after being tamed. Their enclosure is their territory and it is very possible that one day they will decide that you are trespassing. If a female is laying eggs she will viscously attack you. If a male is close by he will come to her defense. If there are hatchlings, watch out as tokays are very protective. These are times when gloves come in very handy. I always use my gloves to remove even the tamed tokay from its enclosure. Why, you ask? Because every one of my tamed tokays has at one point or another bitten me -- usually it is my fault for not paying attention or doing something real silly like putting my finger in front of its mouth (fingers do look like food).

Tokays are naturally aggressive. Respect that. They are like pit bulls in that you just can't expect them to go completely against their nature.

Tokays eat anything that can fit into their mouths. If they are hungry and it is within reach they will eat other geckos. If a gecko is in a tokay's territory, it will be attacked. Any bug is fair game. Not all tokays will get along with other tokays.

My tamed tokays:
http://www.daygecko.com/html/tokay_geckos.html
Oh, the tokays biting me (glove and shirt) are my tamest male tokays. Deo didn't want out of his enclosure on that particular evening, and Bester just decided to take a bite out of my shirt when I picked him up for a visit.

and i will try to tame my tokay by the end of the summer, (hopefully) and if not as soon as possible.

OK, it has been almost 3 months since you told us you would try and tame Killer. How is it going??? I am considering adding a Tokay to my home and want to know about your challenges that you faced over the summer!