Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I bought my tokay about a week ago, hes a baby, but is starting to grow. To get an idea of his size I feed him med. size crickets. My first question is with regard to feeding. Should I give him some wax worms to help growth or is that just a way of getting him fattened up? If yes, about how many? I try to give him a small wax worm every other night. Ones that are too long I spare him.

My next question is about handling. I know they are aggressive and handling causes stress, but does anyone suggest handling him while he's young? Could this help tame him or just stress him out? Also, if I do, any handling advice? (where to hold, how to go about grabbing him, will he be able to wiggle loose and get away)?

Thanks in advance.

Don't feed it waxworms... sometimes you can give them as a VERY occasional treat. Otherwise they are to be used in very small amounts to help fatten up a skinny gecko.

If you want to work on taming it down, I would suggest handling it some while it's young. You don't want to handle it too much though or you'll end up with a dead gecko from stress. Give it time to get used to you just taking care of it (with little to no handling) and then start working on trying to handle it. It's prolly gonna bite you regardless of how careful you are. Also, I personally feel that flat out grabbing your gecko just freaks it out and will never work in the taming process. I just reach down and get my hand in front of it and work it underneath (usually while being barked at) and then once it's in my hand I grip it VERY loosely. Mostly the gripping is just to cover it up and make it feel more secure while transporting it out of its cage. That's how I hold them when I get them out. Make sure you are in an area where it can't run behind, under, or inside anything (including doors) that you won't be able to retrieve it from. I can assure you that it will probably take off across the room quite frequently and it REALLY sucks when you have to spend 2 hours trying to find/capture it. My 1st baby tokay I had got loose while I was taking it out of it's shipping container to see it (at my uncle's house). We had to lift their couch with a pullout bed and dig around in there trying to find the gecko. The 2nd baby I had got loose and went underneath the frame of my waterbed. It took me 2 days of leaving a bowl of mealworms and a shelter on the floor before I finally caught it. I also had one of my tokays decide to run up the vent in one of my good stereo speakers and I had to tear it all apart to get the gecko out.

Have fun with your tokay though... they are great reptiles, just very under-appreciated. Unfortunately something happened to my last tokay the other day and I had to put her down. I had just made the decision to get a savannah monitor and I had gotten rid of all my reptiles and amphibs except her. I guess she didn't like the idea of being in the same house as a sav...

Josh
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Then it comes to be that the soothing light at the end of your tunnel was just a freight train coming your way...

I begin handling when my hatchlings are very young. Mostly I get them on my hand and let them roam around on my hands and arms. I dont pet them, this causes reactions, but they do very good otherwise. They usually take a few minutes of trying to jump away and then get comfortable to stay on my hands and arms. I do this once or twice a week and can really tell the difference in them trusting me. Today neither of my 4 month olds even barked at me when removing them from the viv, also neither appeared to want to get off my hand when returning them home.
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My posts and replies are my experiences only
1.2.5 Tokays
1.4.1 Leos(4 albino)
0.0.2 AFT's

Also, I've found the best way for me to catch them including my adults is use a small hand towel, dish rag, etc. I lower the towel over the gecko, this way it doesnt see your hands coming at it, and then use my other hand to grab the Tokay around the neck sides with 2 fingers and around its body with the rest. All this with the towel between the Tokay and your hand. Remove it from the surface very gently and then you can work the towel out so its in your hands only. I hold the head loosely for a few minutes and eventually let go. I dont pet but always put my fingers in front of the tokay and get them to climb on them so they get used to your hands. They seem alot calmer this way than trying to catch them with a glove on thats hard to feel thru and very stressful to the tokay. Hope this helps.
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My posts and replies are my experiences only
1.2.5 Tokays
1.4.1 Leos(4 albino)
0.0.2 AFT's

Thanks, both posts helped. I just was wondering what you do to prevent them from jumping away in the first few minutes?

Be very fast. When they jump they ususally hit the floor which is carpeted. I stay away from anything they can get under quickly. When they hit the floor they kind of take a moment to fiquire out whats going on and by then I have my hands cupped around them. Also you learn what they do just before they jump, their posture, and I can usually catch them with the hand their not in.
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My posts and replies are my experiences only
1.2.5 Tokays
1.4.1 Leos(4 albino)
0.0.2 AFT's