Only God knows how a little House Gecko ended up in a glue trap in the lunchroom of a automotive prototype shop located near Detroit. On Tuesday this week, a co-worker found it stuck tight to a glue trap. The right side of its head was deep in the glue. Twice I had released birds that would wander into the plant, try to eat bugs stuck to the traps and get stuck themselves. This was my first lizard rescue. I don't know much, if anything, about reptiles. It's new learning experience for me.
Apparently I'm the unofficial designated animal control person at my work because I volunteer at my local animal shelter. Occasionally we get an opossum or raccoon visitor at the shop that will leave their calling cards on work benches and tool boxes. But mostly it's kittens found in junk cars.
I want to share my experience to anyone who may find themselves in a similar situation.
I read in another forum, and was told by an exterminator, that cooking oil will help release an unintended victim. That works fine for a cat or dog, however, oil would not be good for bird's feathers and I don't think it would be easy to control from getting into parts of a lizard you don't want it to, like the nose, eyes and those little holes on the side of their head. Instead I used sand. Dust, sawdust, flour or anything safe and dry like that will work.
You may need help of another person to hold the trap down.
Start by gently lifting the body (or the head if that's stuck) up slightly with a round tooth pick or something sturdy like that. With another pick, pull the glue away from the body. If you twirl the pulling pick between your fingers in a direction away from the victim, you'll notice it pulls more glue away and it puts less stress on the part you're trying to free. You don't want to play tug o' war, especially with their limbs. Try to pull or cut the glue apart between the tooth pick supporting the body and the trap. Some glue will remain on the body. Be very gentle and take your time. If you have a pair magnifying goggles to wear, that would be a great help to see what you're doing, especially when dealing with the feet.
It's not necessary to remove the glue completely from the body at this point, you just want to separate them from the trap. Once an area of the body is free, cover the glue under that section with sand or dust. The purpose is to prevent the critter from re-sticking itself to the trap. Move on to another section. This can take hours, so be patient and don't give up. Take it one area at a time.
Once the critter is free from the trap, set it on a paper towel, then you can continue removing glue from the body. They'll be so weak and exhausted you can easily work on them. If glue is covering an eye, Don't try to pick glue off the eye with a tooth pick. I found a 1/2" wide strip of masking tape lightly dabbed on the glue will eventually gently pull it off without putting pressure on the eye.
Well, that's how I rescued Stucko DeGecko. I'm sure that's a name will stick.
Now I just wish he would eat.
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and I got to work with some cooking oil and toothpicks. Five minutes more and the little fellas were back under the redtip bush in my front yard, trying to figure out what had just happened. I do fear that the chemicals and stress they encountered will take a toll, but I am grateful they are no longer struggling or suffering. They actually looked pretty good! Glue traps - forever banned from my premises for ANY reason. Thanks.