Flying Gecko bolted under the dishwasher. What to do?

[Elizabeth Freer]

Originally Posted by cherishedtiger
So while cleaning out the flyer cage I had one bolt. Like a flash of light and he was gone. My husband and I looked like we were on a football field tackling each other just trying to grab him. Of course he found the one small spot and is now hiding behind or in abouts of my dishwasher (not one I can pull out)... any tricks of the trade???


I can just see you guys now. I know, hard to tear the whole house apart.

Once I had a tiger gecko dart off under the kitchen cabinets. Well, I could not tear the kitchen apart, so I set a trap.

The trap was an 8" x 8" stainless steel brownie pan with a dish of pebbles and water in a plastic container within the pan. Over that I layered an egg flat and covered all with a lightweight cloth towel. I left this near the cupboard on the floor where I last saw the tiger gecko. I placed a small desk lamp with a 25 or 40 watt bulb there over the trap so that heat might attract him too. Came home from work that night, saw his tail hanging out from the towel, tried to catch him, but he darted back under the kitchen cabinets . However, I left the trap in place and a few hours later he returned. Success! Whew! Back in captivity.

So at least I would leave a water dish located where you saw him last and a small desk lamp with a 25 watt or 40 watt bulb so that the heat could attract the escapee. If the room is cooler, he may be drawn to the heat of the bulb.

Once my mature crested George was "gone". I searched high and low with no luck. Several hours later I spotted George hanging out on some moulding at dryer level. Whew...got him.

Is it OK if I copy and paste this into a regular thread?


Oh yes! By all means, I am sure I am not the only one with a tricky escapee...
Yeah it was comical looking back on it. But I just hope we can get to him before the cats or dog! Luckily none of them are good hunters. Had some mice lose once and they all sat there, staring at one... no idea what to do.
Thank you for the advice, I shall set my trap as soon as I get home!

 

[T-ReXx]

I've had multiple escapes and the one thing I've found that works best with quick nocturnal arboreal species is just to get yourself a big net and a flash light(cover the front with red cellophane to go "infrared") and sit in the room it was last seen in for hours on a nightly basis. Once the lights are out they come out looking for bugs. Traps and the like don't work so well for sticky feets. Once you spot the gecko, try to get yourself between it and the closest immovable hiding area and sneak up slowly. Distracting with one hand while you creep up with the net helps. Good luck!

 

[brooksylc]

My old escapee was my hemidactylus fasciatus. In my SUV on my drive home from picking him up, he somehow pushed the lid enough off the deli cup he came in. I left a spare 10 gal sideways on the floor of my vehicle (close to where it looked like he went). I put in some spare fake foliage, a hide &water dish, with a blanket over top of the whole area to make him feel hidden and to keep the sun from roasting him. It worked when I found him in the plants in the tank the next morning.
I would suggest trying a trap, especially while you are not around or sleeping. Althought trying the net &flashlight would be good too.