tokay gecko - Feet, As pets

A large gecko (Gekko gekko) (length, almost 30 cm/12 in), native to India and SE Asia; mottled coloration; nocturnal; eats insects and small vertebrates; common in houses; male calls ‘gekk-ho’ loudly (all geckos named after this call); also known as common gecko.

The Tokay Gecko (Gekko gecko), is a nocturnal arboreal gecko native to southeast Asia and the Indo-Australian Archipelago. Tokay geckos are aggressive carnivores which will eat a variety of insects and even small mice. Their aggressive behaviour can lead to attacks on other male Tokays, other gecko species, and also human handlers.

Tokays are the second largest gecko species, attaining lengths of about 30-40cm (males), 20-30cm (females) and weights of 150-300g. Their mating call, a loud croak, is variously described as sounding like tokeh or gekk-gekk, whence both the common and the scientific name (deriving from onomatopoeic names in Malay, Sundanese or Javanese), as well as the family name Gekkonidae and the generic term gecko.

The bite of a large tokay, while unlikely to cause lasting damage to a human, is painful and can easily draw blood. Furthermore, a tokay gecko, once having bitten, will not readily let go.

Feet

Tokays have been used extensively to study the selectively adhesive properties of gecko feet, and indeed most of our knowledge about these properties stems from studies of Tokays. These studies have shown that geckos can cling upside down to polished glass, and the method by which the Tokay Gecko accomplishes this is hidden in its feet.

As pets

While Tokay Geckos are frequently seen in the pet trade, they are often seen as an undesirable animal to own because of their aggressive temperament. Tokay Geckos can be very attractive display animals, but very few can be handled by their keepers. Some owners report that they have "tamed" their tokays to the point that they can handle them, but for the most part these lizards do not take well to being handled, unlike (for instance) the more popular Leopard gecko and Crested gecko.

Pet shop owners in New York City have been known to recommend the tokay gecko to apartment dwellers as a means of keeping the perennial cockroach problem under control. ^ "Wild Facts Tokay Gecko", BBC-Science and Nature, June 1, 2006. "Tokay Gecko", Care and Information Sheet, Western New York Herpetological Society