Tokay Gecko Vs. Chams?

Marc10edora

Avid Member
Does anyone own a Tokay Gecko? I'm thinking about getting one. How do they compare to owning a cham? Please let me know so I can weigh the pros and cons. Also if anyone knows of a good forum for Tokay Geckos please let me know. Thanks.
 
Does anyone own a Tokay Gecko? I'm thinking about getting one. How do they compare to owning a cham? Please let me know so I can weigh the pros and cons. Also if anyone knows of a good forum for Tokay Geckos please let me know. Thanks.

Tokays are evil and pretty and mostly WC. I had one named Jin ("demon") for a while. They are loud at night sometimes and very attractive display animals but will not hesitate to eat you. They are very "look, don't touch" and are pretty simple in care.

I don't know of any forums for them; sorry! FateX has a group, though. You may want to ask him.
 
MY experience with them....well lets just say after dealing with them i became alot more aware how much i valued fingers... they have a wicked bite, and awful attitude, you don't mess with em, they get about 13"s and are monstrously mean.
 
I've been aware that they have a vicious bite. How fast are they? Hopefully if I get one I'll be faster than him...lol. Nah, but I would keep it as a display animal. Besides Tokay's what is a good gecko that you can handle? Cresteds maybe? I think I'll go with something less aggressive.
 
tokays are big and fast, they are quick to react, and very vigilant of your movements, getting one unsuspectedly will be damn near impossible.

crested are much better.
 
I too will have to agree. That is one nasty species of geckos!! I used to work for a pet store and I swear that was the first thing they warned me about, but being me and raised around everything I did not believe it until I went to take care of there cage and they literally tried to attack me as soon as I opened the cage! lol!
 
I've been aware that they have a vicious bite. How fast are they? Hopefully if I get one I'll be faster than him...lol. Nah, but I would keep it as a display animal. Besides Tokay's what is a good gecko that you can handle? Cresteds maybe? I think I'll go with something less aggressive.

Cresties are cute and nice and easy. They are great first time reptiles for non experienced people, come in many color patterns and require minimal care. They are very sweet, too and become very tame with almost any amount of handling. If you get them, I suggest using Repashy MRP food.
 
as someone who was born and raised in the country where tokay gecko are native species, I have to admit that I am scared of those buggers.
I remember growing up there with tokays living wild in our house backyard and we kinda left them there alone.

They are capable of inflicting real pain with their nasty bites.
Definitely not my kind of animal.
chameleon's bite is nothing compared to tokay gecko's.

I saw crested geckos the other day at Ryan's house.
They are very cute.


One gecko I notice (not crested) guy especially.. but I heard that it is expensive.
pz-pale-knobtailed-gecko.jpg
 
i got 2.3 tokay geckos they are all wc.i am keeping them in a large esu fresh air habitat with plexiglass panels over the screen.i got bedding on the bottom of the cage with 2 hiding spots.they are soooo cool they seem to only come out late at night and they prefer feeding at night too.i wear gloves if i gotta handle them because they always wanna bite and they are fast.i just seen one this morning run from the top of the cage down to the bottom.
 
tokays are pretty cool, but they are evil as all hell. i had one for three years and it was about 12 inches, personally the biggest one ive seen to date. i had to wear thick gloves to get him out for cleaning n such and he would growl and bark at me and not let go when he bit down. really beautiful tho...especially under black light. and compared to chams EASY!!!!!! mine was voracious and would go after anything i put in its cage. if youre looking or a display animal these wouldnt be bad...but like the person above said they only really come out late at night. i named it makona, which is "cruel" in hawaiian.
 

Attachments

  • makona.jpg
    makona.jpg
    105.6 KB · Views: 307
Does anyone own a Tokay Gecko? I'm thinking about getting one. How do they compare to owning a cham? Please let me know so I can weigh the pros and cons. Also if anyone knows of a good forum for Tokay Geckos please let me know. Thanks.

None of you will believe this but I do know someone who you may consider to be a Tokay Whisperer. She teaches people how to handle them so you never (almost never) get bitten. She was very active in our herp society but had to relocate out of state. She used to come to our meetings with Tokays in her shirt! It seemed odd, but when you meet her, she is very interesting and her methods make a lot of sense. She often adopts out Tokays to people she feels comfortable with. One of my friends in the herp society adopted a pair from her. She contacted him periodically to check up on them. It's neat. I think you just have to understand how to handle them.
 
Last edited:
I kept them back in the nineties i purchased them because i could not believe an animal this beautiful was this cheap but i found out why:eek:ouch!!!!!!!! THEY are simple to keep and my group bread regularly one problem their eggs stick to the glass and theres no way of getting them off!CHECK OUT THE ONES ON KINGSNAKE caramel aibino's 3,000 bucks each :eek:
 
They are very interesting...and semi nocturnal. They are alot more active at night....and like to "bark".

Like everyone else said....mean mean mean and the bite is painful. I was bitten by a large Savanna monitor and this tiny Tokay had a more painful bite.

They are cute tho >.<
 
They are downright nasty!!! We had one we bought on a whim in a petstore. He was keeping it in a little shoesize container and we felt bad so we bought it. Went out got it this giant tank and everything..Yea, it did not appreciate it one bit! My husband had to wear thick leather gloves to even get near it and when it bites, it latches on for dear life! The honking noise is pretty cool though...
 
I'm not sure if I want another herp that will bite at me. So I think I might go with crested. Geckos are just right for me because I work late into the night every day. I end up sleeping at 4:00 am all the time. I can have my cham entertain me in the day and the gecko keep me company at night while I work.
 
Tokays are the biggest a-holes of all reptiles. You feed them, they bite you. You pamper them and give them a nice basking light and they hiss at you. You pick up their s**t and they charge at you. If i had a son who did that, he would be out the door collecting unemployment, sleeping at some squat in downtown. One word UNGRATEFUL !
 
Back
Top Bottom