Do Tokay Geckos really cure AIDs and CANCER?

Riverside Reptiles

Administrator (HMFIC)
Please read this article. These wonderful geckos DO NOT cure aids or cancer. For those of you that come to this site looking for advice on how to fatten up your tokay just so you can sell it to be killed, PLEASE stop.

Health secretary debunks rumors of gecko cancer cure | The Manila Bulletin Newspaper Online


Health secretary debunks rumors of gecko cancer cure
July 7, 2011, 12:38pm
DUMAGUETE CITY, Philippines (PNA) -– Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Enrique Ona on Tuesday said there is no scientific finding that geckos, locally known as “tuko”, can cure cancer, AIDS or other diseases as claimed by people who are spreading its supposed healing power.

Ona, who issued his statement while in Dumaguete on Tuesday, expressed surprise over the sudden emergence of rumors about geckos in the country in recent months.

Ona described it as “funny, but it is true, not only in the Philippines but in other countries that when certain sickness strikes, before you know it, our grandparents already have solutions, that’s why we call them grandmother’s tale,” he said.

He stressed there is absolutely no basis for that perception or belief, as he urged the people to stop believing in such myths.

Reports have it that certain businessmen from Manila are in Negros Oriental to buy geckos weighing 300 grams and above, which has prompted even children to skip classes to hunt for these types of reptile and that even small ones are being caged, fed with ****roach with the belief that they will grow to the buyers’ desired weight.

Community Environment and Natural Resources Officer (CENROP 2) Mario Aragon said the geckos are natural predators of ****roaches and other insects and are not supposed to be extracted.

He said violators may face sanctions under applicable laws, particularly the wildlife protection law.
 

thehotchik1000

New member
Yes from what I have seen it is illegal to hunt the tokays. Thank you Ethan for posting this. I'm happy that government officials are stepping up for a native reptile. They should be protected. I think far too much damage has been done already by the tokay genocide.


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norea

New member
heh... i knew it was all a scam but too bad where i stay, people are taking advantage of the price and are catching and selling them in bulks... very sad sight i must add...
 

J.P.

New member
it's a shame that many in my country are involved in this crazy stuff. i have witnessed so many sad stories. some guys catching dozens of geckos, some even pregnant. then, since these guys expect a quick sell, they do not bother to study how to take care of their geckos. the dozens of poor geckos cramped in tiny containers go hungry, thirsty, can't shed properly, lay eggs everywhere, they fight, etc. overall, the conditions are what would be included on a "don't do list". very terrible. i hope the hunters realize that it is just a big scam and they stop wasting their time and effort hunting the tokay. many people who know that i have tokay ask me why i do not try the million dollar game, they do not believe me when i say it's just all a big scam. there really is no buyer, so the hunters end up having a lot sick geckos.
 

Elizabeth Freer

Well-known member
it's a shame that many in my country are involved in this crazy stuff. i have witnessed so many sad stories. some guys catching dozens of geckos, some even pregnant. then, since these guys expect a quick sell, they do not bother to study how to take care of their geckos. the dozens of poor geckos cramped in tiny containers go hungry, thirsty, can't shed properly, lay eggs everywhere, they fight, etc. overall, the conditions are what would be included on a "don't do list". very terrible. i hope the hunters realize that it is just a big scam and they stop wasting their time and effort hunting the tokay. many people who know that i have tokay ask me why i do not try the million dollar game, they do not believe me when i say it's just all a big scam. there really is no buyer, so the hunters end up having a lot sick geckos.


Hi J. P. ~

Many thanks for sharing! Your post is especially significant because you live right there and even have tokays :). Somehow I wish that you could be a spokesperson for those in the Philippines who believe this scam!
 

J.P.

New member
i'm sad to say that i am but a small voice, whenever i can i do give advice to hunters and sellers that i encounter personally, but there are hundreds out there that i can't reach.

before i was content to just keep tokays, but now with the added pressure on their population, i plan to breed them and release the juvies in remote places. i am an avid fisherman, so i go to places where "normal" people do not go. hopefully, my tokays will be left undisturbed in the remote environments. at least for few years, just until this tokay craze dies down.

my government is also doing something about the tokay mania, i have heard of some arrests being made, so that is a good sign. i hope the other hunters/sellers learn from the example.
 

Riverside Reptiles

Administrator (HMFIC)
What is sad is the huge influx of people coming on these forums looking for information on how to "make their geckos fat". This has caused many of us (myself included) to choose to not offer or share advice to members from the Philippines because they are most likely just going to use the advice to make their geckos fatter just be sold off and killed. Most of us here don't want any part of helping with that.
 

Will3

New member
Those "persons" make me sick, i hope the goverment do something reeeally drastic, jail isn't enough
 

J.P.

New member
What is sad is the huge influx of people coming on these forums looking for information on how to "make their geckos fat". Most of us here don't want any part of helping with that.

don't worry about that ethan, no matter how fat their tokays get, chances are, it will never reach the "magic" weight, and if by some freak of nature it does, there really is no buyer who will pay the incredible amounts. LOL. i've been into tokays and other herps since i was a kid, so i know my way around the underground market. the hard-core wildlife traffickers just laugh at this crazy story. but the great number of amateur dealers posting their ads selling/buying tokays in the internet is really alarming. greed is a really powerful thing. poverty is not the reason, because most of the people who are involved in this are middle class, they have money to purchase geckos from the hunters, and they hope to turn their investment into a fortune.

the good thing i see about this. some start the tokay hobby with a shady intention, but end up genuinely liking their tokay pets.
 

WStan

New member
I'm in Malaysia, and no, I'm not seeking info to feed my tokay so I can sell it for AIDS cure/cancer cure/Chinese medicine/anti-flatulence remedy. :p

But Tokaymania has taken foot here. I believe it will get worse in coming months, as more people find out about it. A few colleagues in my office know already. I hear from them stories of kids skipping school to catch geckos (they are paid US200 per gecko by middlemen who want to resell at higher price), and a gecko-show that was recently set up not far from my my office.

Thing is, most of these offers are actually scams. Details below on how they work:

Tuko Gecko Scam | Tj's Daily!

There are cases where supposed deals are really robberies. Bad guy offers gecko for sale at lower price, mark accepts and agrees to meet with cash. Bad guy shows up with guns and goons, no gecko, and takes money.

There are of course, some who buy tokays at an insanely high price (compared to what you can buy in your US pet store), to raise and hoping to sell at even more insane prices when they mature. Problem is, when your gecko reaches the desired rate, there is no genuine buyer.

Reminds me of the Tulip Mania in the Netherlands. And trust me, this Tokaymania will one day pop. I find this ironic for two reasons..

- the Tulip Mania and its effects was explained by Gordon GECKO in the movie Wall Street II

- in Malaysia, there's a local saying 'holding a live lizard'. It means, doing something that does not bring benefit. When the Tokaymania bubble bursts, lots of people will be burnt and left holding tokay geckos worth much less than what they invested
 

norea

New member
But Tokaymania has taken foot here. I believe it will get worse in coming months, as more people find out about it. A few colleagues in my office know already. I hear from them stories of kids skipping school to catch geckos (they are paid US200 per gecko by middlemen who want to resell at higher price), and a gecko-show that was recently set up not far from my my office.

it was a mania like few months back already...
 

missiechrissie

New member
It never ceases to amaze me what ppl are willing to belief!:roll:
I read an article in a south african newspaper a few weeks ago, that evil witches lure innocent men into giving them a ride, then, once they reach the middle of no where, they show their true faces and rape the men so to "collect" the sperm.....this is the official explanation for men found dead in cars, pants down and front of car rammed into trees and what not. (those "poor" men :crackup:)
My point is, if you are desperate enough, even the most twisted story seems probable, or at least, you CHOOSE for it to seem probable.
Sad how ,at this day and age, its still the few ruining it for the many. I guess you cant really blame the ppl who catch the animals, for them its a means to and end, its just hard to remember that, when you hear of abused animals, it is often those hiding in the shadows that control things. Lack of info is a great way to remain in control and vice versa!
At least they chose the Tokay- I bet a lot gets bitten:coverlaugh:
 

gizmo143

New member
I had no idea this was going on!
ugh... poor lil geckos
and silicone?!
hope more goverment action occurs :?
 
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