# Lizards > General Geckos >  Tokay Gecko

## Kom@tose

Hey all~

I keep a bunch of animals, have always sorta been into reptiles. About 2 days ago, one of my roomates came into my room asking me if one of my "creepy-crawlies" had gotten out, because she heard a strange noise in her room at 4 a.m.. I checked all my cages and said "nope, sorry." The next night, I was watching Jorge Arce(boxer) getting the crap kicked out of him, and I heard the noise. Now, I know what I Tokay Gecko sounds like, as I kept one a couple years back (I got rid of it because the little guy was just a liitle bit too vicious, I  don't mind DEFENSIVE herps, but not AGGRESSIVE ones...as in, I don't want to cuddle, I just want to clean your cage, please don't attack me for that...).


Anyways, long story semi-short, the noise annoyed us (her) to the point that I told her "ok, I'll catch it and relocate it". I go outside, follow the noise, and (with really really thick gloves) catch the little guy. Obviously, he/she didn't like the idea of being captured too much, and he dropped his tail. Kinda. It came 1/2 way off. So I felt kind of bad, and I put it in a spare 20 gallon that I had, with the intentions of making sure it was okay before I let it go. When I woke up the next morning, he had dropped the rest of the tail, and he seems to be okay, he's eating crickets and all that. The problem is I don't really have any expeierence with animals that have dropped their tails...it looks like an open wound, not at all sanitary.

So the million dollar question is:  Should I wait a bit for the tail to start to regrow before I let it go, or do you think it'd be okay now? I have toyed with the idea of keeping it, but I haven't forgotten what  a pain in the ass the 1st one I had was, and I'm pretty sure I don't have the patience to deal with another little spastic-chainsaw-gecko-from-hell, even though they are hands down the prettiest geckos I've ever seen.  So any ideas? Think it's cool to let him go now? BTW its about 9 inches without the tail, was prolly around a foot with it. 

Thanks!

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## ReptileMan27

Tokay are display animals, if your looking for something to hold then tokays are not for you. Their tails will not grow back like a leos would, so theirs no point is waiting for it to grow back. They are tuff critters, I personally would keep it but I love tokays.

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## PythonWallace

Where are you planning on "letting it go"? Letting Tokays loose in Miami is not smart. Hawaii is starting to have a problem with this non-native specie. Tokays will compete with everything for food and eat anything they can swallow.

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## Kom@tose

Well I mean, I know they aren't really native here, but they are all over, and this one came from the "wild" out here, and it needs to get out of my room as soon as possible. I'll grant that it doesn't seem to be making that annoying noise while it's locked up in a 20 gal, but I've had a Tokay before and I'm not really looking to go that route again. I do feel bad that he dropped his tail in the process of me catching him, but not bad enough that I feel like keeping him for the rest of his life just because he's not native here. I asked a friend of mine who breeds boas and has a small reptile store if he wants it to sell, but he wasn't really interested. 

I dunno, I guess I might call up the chick who took that 1st Tokay I had from me back in the day, I know for a fact she still has it, but I somehow doubt she wants another. I did a little looking and found the answer I was looking for, the tail will take a few weeks/couple months to grow back (sigh), so I guess in the meantime I'll add "0.0.1 Tokay Gecko" to my sig.

I'll get some pictures up soon. Thanks for the replies all~

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## steveo

damn if i lived in miami i would take it off ur hands , i love tokays there my favorite species of gecko i love the little buggers , but  im just slightly too far away from you  :Very Happy:

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## Kara

> Tokay are display animals, if your looking for something to hold then tokays are not for you. Their tails will not grow back like a leos would, so theirs no point is waiting for it to grow back. They are tuff critters, I personally would keep it but I love tokays.


Yep, they're all mean & nasty & don't tame down.  Can't hold 'em one bit.  




Time + patience + learning how to read them = you _can_ make friends with tokays.   :Smile:

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## JLC

Kara and her krazy Tokays!!!  :Love:  More! More!

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## ReptileMan27

> Yep, they're all mean & nasty & don't tame down. Can't hold 'em one bit. 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Time + patience + learning how to read them = you _can_ make friends with tokays.


I never said they cant be tamed down, but 98% of tokays availiable are WC and have nasty dispositions. I have seen a few WC tokays that were tamed down BUT in order to do that you are putting alot of stress on the tokay and for what?, so you can hold it?. I have kept tokays for many years and hate when I have to bother them for changing the cage, they get so stressed. A CB baby would be your best bet but this is off topic..

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## Kara

> I never said they cant be tamed down, but 98% of tokays availiable are WC and have nasty dispositions. I have seen a few WC tokays that were tamed down BUT in order to do that you are putting alot of stress on the tokay and for what?, so you can hold it?. I have kept tokays for many years and hate when I have to bother them for changing the cage, they get so stressed. A CB baby would be your best bet but this is off topic..


The two pictured are WC tokays that were very easy to tame through routine, gentle interaction.  No grabbing, no restraining, no undue stress, just a few minutes each day of establishing a rapport & now they're both extremely friendly as far as Tokays go. 

Excessively stressed animals don't thrive & breed & reproduce, so I'd imagine we're doing OK considering how prolific our tokay colony is.

We also have a large group of CBB tokays, and regular interaction with them since hatching has shown that they'll calm down fairly quickly if you learn their boundaries, NEVER manhandle them, and be content to keep initial handling sessions brief. 

Then again, what works in our collection/experience may not work for everyone, so do what works for YOU and your animals.   :Smile: 

K~

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## AzureN1ght

> The two pictured are WC tokays that were very easy to tame through routine, gentle interaction.  No grabbing, no restraining, no undue stress, just a few minutes each day of establishing a rapport & now they're both extremely friendly as far as Tokays go. 
> 
> Excessively stressed animals don't thrive & breed & reproduce, so I'd imagine we're doing OK considering how prolific our tokay colony is.
> 
> We also have a large group of CBB tokays, and regular interaction with them since hatching has shown that they'll calm down fairly quickly if you learn their boundaries, NEVER manhandle them, and be content to keep initial handling sessions brief. 
> 
> Then again, what works in our collection/experience may not work for everyone, so do what works for YOU and your animals.  
> 
> K~


You MUST introduce me to Iceman this weekend--I've fallen in lub with his photo  :Wink:

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## steveo

KLG :eek: GORGEUS tokays  :Very Happy:  how can anyone not love these guys  :Rock on:

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## Kom@tose

> how can anyone not love these guys



http://forums.bobclark.com/showthrea...t=31580&page=1

I hear retics aren't big fans of them either.

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## steveo

hehe yeah seen that pic before  :Smile:  poor retic but u gotta love those tokays!  :Rock on:

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## Kom@tose

Actually that picture is making me actually contemplate keeping the thing   :Smile:

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## ReptileMan27

> http://forums.bobclark.com/showthrea...t=31580&page=1
> 
> I hear retics aren't big fans of them either.


LMAO, never seen that before. Even the worlds largest snake isnt safe from tokays:eek:  :Cool:

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## Holbeird

never seen that pic, that's crazy! I had a Tokay latch onto my finger knuckle before and it wasn't pleasant, I still have a scar. 

I've never owned one though, maybe someday  :Smile:

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## x_gilmore_x

For the love of the tokays and me finding out more of the genetics BUMP BUMO :Taz:

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## Capt._Howdy

> never seen that pic, that's crazy! I had a Tokay latch onto my finger knuckle before and it wasn't pleasant, I still have a scar. 
> 
> I've never owned one though, maybe someday


lol thats nothing i had a  tokay and my room mate was wanting to hold it. Well  he thought it would be a good idea to give it a kiss lol lets just say he had my tokay stuck on his lip for 10 mins so i can find a his misting bottle one spray with that and he was off and in his tank  :Very Happy: .

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