Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I love Tokay Geckos. I think they are one of the most beautiful and interesting geckos that exist. I have had several but mine don't seem to live very long and I don't know why. They have large enclosures, proper food and humidity, lots of hide areas and are kept either alone or in female pairs. I don't even breed them. They only live about 3 years for me though. Consistently. What could be wrong. My last beautiful tokay died last night. I knew he wasn't eating as much lately, but he was calling alot and I thought it was due to his "search" for a mate. I thought maybe I was getting older, wild caught adults, but this last one I bought was a CB juvenile. He appeared fat (healthy fat, not obese), healthy and beautiful. I didn't weigh him because I didn't want to stress him by handling him.

What could I be doing wrong to shorten my tokay's life span. I want another, but I don't want to buy any more until I find out what I am doing to cause them to die so young.

Any ideas are welcome!
Lisa

The pic is of my first tokay. She loved to be held, but I don't "tame" them for handling anymore for fear that it will stress them out and shorten their life span.

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2.2.20 Bearded Dragons
1.0.0 Giant Day Gecko
0.1.0 Golden Gecko
1.0.0 Henkle's Leaf Tail
1.0.0 Tokay Gecko
1.0.0 African Fat Tail
1.0.0 Crocodile Gecko
0.1.0 Blue Spiny Gecko
4.10.0 Leopard Geckos
1.0.0 Frilled Dragon
1.0.0 Veiled Chameleon
1.0.0 Bijon Frise Dog
RIP Tazzie & Red - my beloved beardies

Ive had several Tokays as well, and about five years seems to be the longest one has lasted, even when raised from babies. My suspicion is that parasites eventually build up in thier bodies, despite the fact that tokays,like leopard gecks,will choose a particular defecation site away from their resting and hunting areas.Tokays carry a fair amount of coccidia,and every time they visit the "potty place" they may be reinfecting themselves and eventually it builds up to a level thats harmful to them,just not as quickly as with lizards who are not as specific about where they poo.Its also possible that a tapeworm grows to a size to be dangerous over the course of time,and eventually begins to steal nutrients from the gecko. It would be interesting to have a necropsy done somtime to see what,if anything,contributes to thier early demise.

It hard say what could be causing their death without looking at how they are being kept. Mine is in a large enclosure also...a 29 gallon. I hope mine will longer than both of yours. This post kindda scare me. The best thing is to have an nacropsy done.

I hear chronic dehydration is a major problem in captive reptile, especially one that doesn't drink from a bowl like tokays. How did you give water to him?

Another problem i see with large enclosure is that they don't get enough heat. Not enough heat and high humidity can can cause respiratory infection.

I don't know I'm going out on a limb, here. But so sorry for your lost!

I'm very sorry you lost your TOKAY. It's very hard to say what caused it's early demise; other than captivity is not a normal thing. Even captive bred ones can get infected.

I keep mine in a 55 gallon tank. But even so it could die like yours (and it was hatched as an egg and I bought it newborn). I had it about 2 years now. Tame, yes-but I only let it on me if it wants to go on me. (She jumps on me only sometimes otherwise I won't hold it).

My TOKAY is heafty sized--I think I feed it too much. Yeah it could die young.

I'm sorry your died and I know you did what you could and I know you gave it a good home.

Maybe some are just BORN WEAK. I keep tarantulas, and sometiems you get one that lives for years and years (I had one live 16 years), but when you buy a tiny tarantula sometiems you get a weak one and it won't make it to adult. NO fault of yours--it was just BORN WEAK.

NORMALLY in the wild, like most wild animals, they simply die of disease or preditors--those fully sized ones in the wild, for each fully grown adult represents perhaps several hundred that died.

Or maybe Tokays just aren't really suitable for captivity.