Juve Tokay Gecko

norea

norea

New member
I just got my 1st tokay gecko... i believe its a juve... prolly about 4 mnths old... and i have to admit even with gloves on i chickened out trying to transfer it... :shock: in the end i sort of placed the smaller tank inside the bigger tank...

its skin is turning dark now... i believe its a sign of stress... and i could have sworn 1 side of its pupil grew larger than the other side ...

i hope within the next few days i have the guts and will try and tame it...
 
Riverside Reptiles

Riverside Reptiles

Administrator (HMFIC)
Instead of trying to "tame" it, what you need to do is give it time to become comfortable with it's new surroundings. You really should not try handling it for he first few weeks as all this will do is cause it more stress. Give it some time to acclimate to it's new environment, and get on a regular feeding schedule, etc. Make sure that all of your husbandry techniques are correct and that he is eating, drinking, growing, and happy. THEN, if you really want to, you can start trying to "tame" it. Weeks or months (not days) should be given to the animal to settle in IMO.
 
norea

norea

New member
ok thnx... maybe i will give it 1 week before trying to hold it... BUT i was told that the previous owner actually grab it with his hands during transfer from his home to the pet tank when i bought it... do u think i can do the same? im assuming it is used to getting grabbed with the bare hands? are my chances slightly better ?
 
thehotchik1000

thehotchik1000

New member
Seriously give it more than a week. Please. I Tell anyone that buys any of my babies to give them 30 days at a minimum. I also tell them that the gecko will be much happier if it was 90. I'm not a tamer. I handle my tokays for strict medical, or weight taking. They will never really like being held. I have a few that once they are out of the cage they are fine. But taming training only stresses the animal. As Ethan said your tokay needs to get used to you and his new environment. That will not happen in one week. I prefer my animals to be healthy over friendly. Which honestly they never really will be tame or friendly. When People come to me I tell them this. I make sure they understand that tokays are more of a look but no touch sort of animal. I realize many people have tried taming and 90% of the cases the animal is stresses out and freaked out and that's why they can hold it. Handling should only be done once your animal is totally acclimated and it should be done slowly. Very slowly to not cause any undue stress to the animal. There's a point with every tokay that they get used to you. It's the day when they don't run away when the lights in the room come on. When you are cleaning their cage and they don't hide. When you are wiping down the walls two inches away from them and they don't bark or try to bite you. That day will come it could be 1 month or 6. But it will be there one day and that's the day I suggest starting to handle him. Start slowly 5 min one day and then don't touch him for a few days. Do that a few times if he is still eating and happy handle him do it a few
Times more. Stay slow and he won't be affected negativly. Go too fast and you will have major issues. Hope this is helpful.
Morgan
 
norea

norea

New member
thnx... btw my tokay changes color from time to time... first day i got it , it was dark... then the next day light color.. and today its dark again... and its not eating but im sure its because of the new environment...
 
thehotchik1000

thehotchik1000

New member
It may not be but that should be expected the first week in his new environment. They will change dark to light depending on stressers, mood, hot, cold etc.
 
norea

norea

New member
i cant wait to transfer my tokay to a bigger cage... its not eating for the past 3 days i think... and it looks moody...
 
norea

norea

New member
IF all my tokay does is sit in a corner... how do i get him out? i need to transfer him to a bigger cage... pls help
 
thehotchik1000

thehotchik1000

New member
You could put a towel over your hand to protect your hand and his teeth. Put the handtowel over him in the cage and grab him out.
 
Murdock14

Murdock14

New member
lol ethan. they can seem like it though cant they... Haha, anyways, you could get welder gloves and put them on and use a towel too
 
norea

norea

New member
erm... lol.... i tried my best the other day to transfer the tokay but erghh... i gave up after 45 minutes... they're FAST , AGGRESSIVE ,THEY BARK AND THEY PANIC [which sorts of put me in panic mood too]!!! but i sort of brought his smaller cage to the bigger cage... oh well... i wish i had a baby tokay to start with...
 
TroyL

TroyL

New member
I just got a juvi Tokay as well about 3 weeks ago or so. They are mean little guys. They will bark, gape and given the chance bit the crap out of your fingers. This i have experianced first hand (pun intended). Your just gonna have to reach in and grab them. Get close to the head so that they can't turn sideways and get ya. That is what happend to me. LESSON LEARNED.
Mine seems to stay on the bottom of the tank where the lamp heats up. Or up at the very top of the tank at the screen level. I am waiting for flood waters to go down so I can go out and get some climbing branches for them to climb on.

Troy
 
norea

norea

New member
the thing is...i remembered 2 attempts out of the 20 i guess , i manage to grab hold of their body below the forearm... and damnnn they move fast!! so i have to release them...
 
thehotchik1000

thehotchik1000

New member
Grab him and hold just below his head with your thumb and forefinger. The rest if his body should come though your hand. I posted a video for a young man that bought a tokay from me on YouTube. It showed him how to safely pick up he animal using a hand towel.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEiTLtM3aCk&feature=youtube_gdata_player
It definately isn't the best video but it gets the point across for you without getting the animal hurt or yourself. The young man Brady, had never handled an animal like a tokay before and after seeing it he picked him up for the first time to do a cage cleaning. Hope it helps
Morgan
 
TroyL

TroyL

New member
Morgan that is a great video. Well done. Thanks for posting it will be helpfull in starting to handle mine.

Troy
 
C

cookie

New member
You need to be calm when you are trying to handle your tokay. If your stressed then he'll be stressed and nerves. If your calm and reach in after him calm and slowly then he wont be as scared. When I got my first tokay about a few weeks ago he was bat shit scared of me and my boyfriend. And hes still a juvie and he lets us hold him and hes calm and hell lay on the fingers or hell crawl up on to my cheat and chill. But once you calm down he will be too.


They feel what you feel oddly enough. So keep that in mind.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top