[Barnaby]

Hi all!

3 weeks ago I bought a 8/9 month pair of tokays. I have them in a 43 gallons high with some foliage and 3 hides.

A few tokay q's:

1) easy one: Do tokays sleep with their eyes open??

2) my temps go from 77-68F. My tokays are not that "usual" bright blue but a darker greenish color. I heard it might be the temp... Is it? Stress? Or there are darker tokays?

3) I bought them almost 3 weeks ago and, while they don't run for their lives when they see me, they, understandably, still fear me. How long did it take for your tokays to feel "reasonably" comfortable around you?

4) they spend the days in their hides and don't even go to the "hotspot". Is that normal?

5) I only saw the female eat a superworm once, apart from that, I never seen them eat and there are some crickets around the enclosure and some worms in a feeding dish, I've seen them drink and some poop in the ground, can I assume that they're eating when I'm not seeing?

6) male tokays "bark" when in breeding season. After mating, do they stop the sounds?

That's all for now...

Thanks!

[Jateui]

1) From what I know, they do. They don't have eyelids

2) Temperature will effect their colors. Stress likely will as well, but temperature is the main factor.

3) If it's wild caught, it can take a while. If they're not running away when they see you, that's a pretty good sign alone. But once you try handling them a bit more and they tame down a bit, they'll be more comfortable around you when they figure out that you don't think they're food.

4) From what I've seen, they tend to be more active at night, although it isn't too uncommon for them to wander a bit during the day. But if they are a bit afraid of you, they'll likely wait when it's nice and quiet when you're sleeping to come out.

5) If there's poop, they've been eating. Most of the time they hunt when they're active, which sounds like it's either whenever you aren't in the room or at night.

And not sure on the last one. I haven't had a tokay for long (Haha, two days?) but these are things i've already read up on or it's similar behavior for some other geckos I have.

[holocaustto]

Be careful with crickets around the enclosure, they could eventually harm your Geckos.
Give them time...

[Barnaby]

Originally Posted by holocaustto

Be careful with crickets around the enclosure, they could eventually harm your Geckos.
Give them time...

I used to have a chameleon and had the same issue, only worse because chameleons are diurnal so the crickets may attack them at night.
Since tokays are also nocturnal and giving the diference in size, I think that an annoying cricket would last 10 seconds around them. I also add some carrot in the bottom of the enclosure so crickets chew on that instead of trying to pester the geckos. I would pick them out, but there's no way I can catch 7 or 8 crickets in a planted enclosure of that size... at least not without taking out all the "furniture" and stressing the geckos even more!

About "taming" them. Like I said in another thread, I'm not planning on taming them... I live well without touching them. Unless I HAVE to. I just want them to be relaxed around me. That might be easier to achieve. How long did it take for you guys?

Ah! According to the seller, they're captive bred and in no way related to each other.

Keep 'em coming!!

[Jateui]

Well, I didn't see anywhere here that you didn't want them to be more tame. It'd be hard for them to be comfortable around you, and will likely take quite a while. And make sure you don't put female crickets in a planted enclosure. Personally, I wouldn't even put crickets in there in the first place since the gecko might eat some substrate and the crickets will lay eggs if it's a female. And the hatchling crickets are horribly annoying and look like small black mites.

[koko13]

good day everyone im a newbie tokay racer.. i got my tokay gecko from the wild rainforest here in Philippines, its about 10inches long.. its been 4th day when i got him from the forest, still now he never eat anything.. i tried to feed him with crickets, mealworms and roaches but even single piece of it he never eat..and i also try to stick feed him with the insects but it just made him angry and open his mouth and bark like a dog and tried to attack me. can anyone help me? i badly needed some advice from you guys...i am very worried that maybe he will not survive because its been 4 days he did not eat.. hope to hear from you soon as soon as possible..thanks everyone and Godbless..

[thehotchik1000]

Originally Posted by Barnaby

Hi all!

3 weeks ago I bought a 8/9 month pair of tokays. I have them in a 43 gallons high with some foliage and 3 hides.

A few tokay q's:

1) easy one: Do tokays sleep with their eyes open??

Yep no eyelids

2) my temps go from 77-68F. My tokays are not that "usual" bright blue but a darker greenish color. I heard it might be the temp... Is it? Stress? Or there are darker tokays?

You have the cage way to cold. Tokays like temps around 90.f if you stick your hand in the cage it should feel like a hot muggy day. Cooler temps and stress is why they haven't lightened up.

3) I bought them almost 3 weeks ago and, while they don't run for their lives when they see me, they, understandably, still fear me. How long did it take for your tokays to feel "reasonably" comfortable around you?

It will take a good few months to 6 months for a non stressed animal to get comfy with you.

4) they spend the days in their hides and don't even go to the "hotspot". Is that normal? Are the hides on the ground?

I don't have hides for any of my toks they rarely go to the ground, I have a ton of tree coverage. If your temps are correct they will move from higher or lower in the cage to thermoregulate.

5) I only saw the female eat a superworm once, apart from that, I never seen them eat and there are some crickets around the enclosure and some worms in a feeding dish, I've seen them drink and some poop in the ground, can I assume that they're eating when I'm not seeing?

Unless your watching them 24/7 they will primarily eat when you're sleeping. Ditch the worms all together and keep them on s steady diet of crix/roaches. Mealies and supers are junk food.

6) male tokays "bark" when in breeding season. After mating, do they stop the sounds?

Yes. They will bark to attract a female when they mate that stops until they need to mate again with the female.
That's all for now...

Thanks!

Hope this was helpful!
Morgan Weiss