Normal Behavior?

**poxin** · 10-09-2009, 11:11 PM

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Just a simple question, is it normal for a tokay gecko to not climb on anything? I've had her for about a month and she always stays on the bottom of the floor with the substrate. I have a 24" tall cage with temps being around 82-84 on the top with 70-80 percent humidity.

I know she can cling to walls, I've seen it a few times when I scare her, but every time I look in the cage, she just hangs out on the bottom. defeats the purpose of a tall cage

Also is it normal for her to run away and hide every time she sees me? I'm wondering if she will ever get used to me being here and stay out when I'm in the room.

**holocaustto** · 10-10-2009, 12:23 AM

Originally Posted by poxin

Just a simple question, is it normal for a tokay gecko to not climb on anything? I've had her for about a month and she always stays on the bottom of the floor with the substrate. I have a 24" tall cage with temps being around 82-84 on the top with 70-80 percent humidity.

I know she can cling to walls, I've seen it a few times when I scare her, but every time I look in the cage, she just hangs out on the bottom. defeats the purpose of a tall cage

Also is it normal for her to run away and hide every time she sees me? I'm wondering if she will ever get used to me being here and stay out when I'm in the room.

1rst Q.
NO, I really don't think that's normal. Couldn't tell why though.

2nd Q.
Yes and Yes xD! Just give it some time to get used o you.

**cliff_f** · 10-10-2009, 09:31 AM

Staying on the cage floor is not normal. That is usually not a good sign, but then again I do have a perfectly healthy tokay that his favorite hiding spot is on the ground. So it is really hard to say if she is sick or just found a good hiding spot on the ground. My other guess is she has probably had lots of stress since she has been in captivity (I am assuming it is a wc) and it is not use to having a nice cage all to her self, so she is not utilizing it. Really just give her some time and she will eventually come around.

**poxin** · 10-10-2009, 09:39 AM

She is actually captive bred, so they said anyway. I noticed that when I got her she was a bit underweight and was missing a toe in the back

I couldn't tell when I bought her because her foot was under the substrate. I also haven't heard a single vocal from her, even when I was trying to grab her a few times to sex, and move her to the new setup. Wondering if maybe there is some health issue I don't know about. She seems generally lethargic. I'm going to be building a roach colony soon so maybe she will fatten up then.

Do you think it could be the infrared light I have going on? Maybe too sensitive to it and not wanting to come out.. I could try switching to a ceramic heater coupled with something else to view her at night.

**cliff_f** · 10-10-2009, 09:44 AM

In my honest opinion since you just got her. LEAVE HER ALONE, as in do not mess with her at night there is no need for a light at night. If she knows you are watching her that still add a lot of stress. Basically until she gets settled in just leave her alone. I know it is hard but it is the best thing to do. Feed and water do a daily checkup and dont do much more then that untill she starts acting normal.

Now another fact some people do not realize. There are some people out there that have tokays breeding in their reptile buildings/rooms. They pick the tokays off the walls and sell them as cb. Even though the tokay is no healthier than a wc one they call it cb basically because it was in their building.

**poxin** · 10-10-2009, 10:09 AM

Here are some pictures from about 2 weeks ago.

Picture 1
Picture 2

**cliff_f** · 10-10-2009, 10:24 AM

From the picture she looks really healthy. Just give her time to get use to you and things should start getting better. Tokays don't warm up to you over night it can take a few months sometimes. I am not trying to say you was doing anything wrong in my previous post. I just trying to speak my mind so someone surfing the forum finds this someday maybe it will help them out to if they are having some of the same issues. But looking from the pictures she looks nice and healthy.

**BMXer1654** · 10-10-2009, 10:45 AM

When i got my little guy, he stayed on the floor in a hide for around 2 months. Maybe that was from the stress of taming. But give him some time, and mine also couldnt climb very well with its llamellae untill he was about a month old. So just give him some time. I personally wouldnt worry

**Ophidiophile** · 10-10-2009, 03:27 PM

I agree that your Tokay looks very healthy. The fact that it stays on the ground does not by itself mean that it isn't healthy. I think we'd need to know more -- if it stayed on the ground in the open and was generally lethargic , that is not normal behavior. But if you have a nice covered hide on the ground and that is its preferred hiding spot, that could be totally normal. My male calico changes his preferred daytime hide every couple of months and while it's usually above ground right now he seems to prefer hanging out under a half log on the ground.