Mediterranean House Geckos

[Hoomi]

I realize that in the realm of the geckos, the Mediterranean House Geckos are kind of the "plain jane". They don't get very big or colorful, and for the most part are completely nocturnal.

On the other hand, I probably have hundreds of them living around the outside of my house here in Tucson. One of my "sure signs of spring" is when I spot the first gecko hanging around the front porch light, waiting for bugs to scarf down. One night, we pulled into the driveway and my wife and I sat in the truck for a few minutes watching and counting the geckos near the porch light. We stopped counting after 22, and that was just those we could see at THAT porch light. We've uncovered gecko nests with hatched egg remains on numerous occasions. If I had a phobia of them, I'd be in hell for certain.

I'm considering building a tall enclosure especially for keeping a few House Geckos in as pets. I'm thinking of something maybe 3 to 4 feet tall, probably 2 foot wide, and around 8 to 12 inches deep. Since the geckos seem to prefer the vertical surfaces to hang out on rather than flat horizontal surfaces, I think it would be cool to make them something along those lines, with a convenient hide built onto the back wall, a nice basking light (remarkably like a porch light) and a glass front that we can sit back and watch their antics through.

Anyone ever try something like this for climbing geckos before? About the biggest drawback I can think of is difficulty in cleaning, but I think with a little thought, I can work around that without too much trouble.

[CTReptileRescue]

We have kept them in a nice big terrarium. they were captive bred and wonderfull to watch (when you can see them ) we like to build naturalistic enclosures, so of course we gave them a billion places to hide and then never saw them..lol But during dusk they would come out.
it was alot of fun
my husband has been hinting around at setting up another enclosure. So we'll see what happens. If you do set something up, post soem pics. i accually really like house geckos. Even thou I guess they are the "plain Jane's" of the gecko world..lol
Thanks
Rusty

[ptmn20]

I have kept lots of mediterraneans, since they are also everywhre in scottsdale. I have not made natural setups like that, but I find that they love plants to climb on, I have silk plants in my baby cage, and they only leave them to eat.

[BallKingdom]

Jeff, my hommie, has kept boat loads of them. I'll be sure to show him this thread.

[Wizill]

just a question not important enough to make a new thread for...... how bad is a gecko bite?

[Mike]

from thelittle geckos shes talkin about (if they are what i tink they are...) if it could get its mouth around your finger it might tickle a little. but one from a tokay would prolly hurt a little (a lot) more.

[Hoomi]

Yeah, I think about the only place a Mediterranean House Gecko could bite a person might be the fold of skin between the fingers, or someplace similar. They're not very large lizards, probably not even as large as the Carolina or Bahama Anoles.

I'm not sure if the larger geckos could actually break the skin, though even if they could, I doubt their bite could be worse that a ball python bite. If they do break the skin, clean it well and put some neosporin or similar anti-biotic cream on it.

[Jeff]

Jeff, my hommie, has kept boat loads of them. I'll be sure to show him this thread.

lol..

yea, I've kept a lot of house geckos, but never any Mediterraneans. The Indo-Pacific (Hemidactylus garnotii) has taken over the Med population. I'd say that large cage Hoomi wants to build would be perfect for them. If you'd like to breed house geckos, I'd suggest finding some Indos. They are very interesting to watch breed, seeing as how they are an all-female species. Sometimes you'll catch two females "going at it" but that's only to stimulate the other females fertilization. When the eggs hatches, it's 100% of the time a female.

Oh yes, if you plan on wanting to watch your house geckos, good luck. lol. they are always hiding. I only saw my indos probably once a week.

[CROWLEY]

question on the mediterranean geckos?i live in phoenix and man oh man theres a couple times a year everywhere you turn theres a gecko, but im not sure there the same as hoomi's talking about tho, these wild "house" geckos are colorfull, i would say the're main body is white with tan,pink,yellowish colors all on them. is this the same as you hoomi?

[Hoomi]

Yep, that's them. I think I may have a picture or two of them on one of the computers, so I'll look later.

We have a gecko species that is native to the Tucson area, but which are primarily a ground dwelling gecko. The Mediterranean House Geckos are getting established in numerous areas of the country, including many parts of Texas. Apparently, because of the way they live, they really don't compete too much with the native lizard species, as I've never noticed much in the way of our local lizards hanging out high on the walls near the porch lights.

What I'm wondering for watching the geckos is if having a light inside the enclosure, with the area outside dark, will inhibit the ability for them to see out of the enclosure well, allowing us to sit and watch. The light will tend to reflect on the glass making it harder to see out through it. We've watched the wild geckos by sitting in one of the vehicles and letting them go about their business (voracious appetites!)