Housing Golden and Tokay together

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evilkarot

New member
I currently have a golden gecko in a custom built, approx. 50 gal, enclosure. There is someone selling 2 tokays on Craigslist, that I was thinking about getting. My question is, can the Golden and the Tokay be house together, since the enclosure is as large as it is?
 
NicKtheGreeK1997

NicKtheGreeK1997

New member
Are you kidding me? No way, unless you want to end up with a dead golden gecko. They can easily get close and that can be fattal for it.
Best situation would be a very stressed golden gecko. Never mix more than one species, especially the aggressive ones.
 
Riverside Reptiles

Riverside Reptiles

Administrator (HMFIC)
50 gallons is not very big even just for a pair of tokays. If you add a golden in there, it will certainly result in a well fed tokay and a dead golden.
 
billewicz

billewicz

New member
evilkarot said:
There is someone selling 2 tokays on Craigslist
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:fight::fight::fight:Fair WARNING!!!:fight::fight::fight:​
I've never found healthy Tokay on Craig's List.​

Actually they will put several kinds of sickly gecko in a 10 gallon so you'll feel sorry for them and want to 'save' them all.

Sadly, you can't. I've tried and they always die.

Re-homing a pet is one thing, but this scam is so common it's maddening.
 
cassicat4

cassicat4

New member
I've heard of a couple instances of successful housing when it comes to Goldens and Tokays, but these were from experienced breeders with very large enclosures, and they would only house female Tokays with Goldens as the males are far too aggressive.

If the info you received is based on this, while it may not be technically inaccurate, it is more of an experience-based suggestion rather than a general suggestion for these species. Unless you are confident in your knowledge and care of both species and your ability to spot early signs of aggression and separate if needed, as well as ensure you have a suitably large enclosure to house both, I would avoid it at all costs. Even in the cases of experienced breeders, I think it's still a serious risk, and something I wouldn't be advocating. Personalities play a large role in the success or failure of cohabitation even within the same species, so I would think you would have to really know the personalities very well to even consider it.
 
MauricesExoticPets

MauricesExoticPets

New member
I would think that even with plenty of experience with the Gekko genus it would be difficult at best to be present when any type of aggression may occur.

We humans tend to sleep when our Gekko are awake, we may be up for a portion of their activity period but we are not often up for the entirety of it.

At best our ability to monitor and prevent aggressive behavior is limited to being there for every waking hour (all night long), and watching the geckos interact every minute of threat time, every day, for many years.

Maurice Pudlo
 
R

ryan6789

New member
Tokays are super agressive, just google pictures of tokays, 9 out of 10 their mouths are wide open....

Sent from my LG-MS910 using Tapatalk 2
 
billewicz

billewicz

New member
ryan6789 said:
Tokay are super aggressive, just Google pictures of Tokay, 9 out of 10 their mouths are wide open....

Hello and welcome to the Gekko section of the forum.

Although I would agree that a Tokay would be aggressive toward a Golden, or most any other Gecko in the same enclosure, which is the theme of this thread, I would not mistake their defensive pose for aggression.

Tokay will first flee, and then some will, when 'attacked' from above, attempt to bite. Most will nip and run but a few may latch and roll.:evil::yikes:

The rest will eventually stop running away after a minute of so and hold a defensive pose. This pose, with mouth agape, is an attempt to ward off the would be attacker.:fight: It is also the first time most Tokay owners can get their Tokay to sit still long enough for a photo, hence all the photos of this posture.

It is also at this point, however, that most Tokay are actually settling down and can be slowly approached, gently petted from behind and picked up without being bit. :biggrin:

Oh, and I almost forgot, .....
Of the 300+ Tokay and 200 other reptiles here including a pair of 3 year old Nile monitors, my 5 year old male Red Costa Rican Iguana is by far my most dangerous animal. His bite would have removed one of my finger tips at the first digit last year had it not been for the fact I was wearing a heavy leather welders glove!
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Riverside Reptiles

Riverside Reptiles

Administrator (HMFIC)
Agreed! Anyone that's ever seen what a full grown iguana can do to something like a big carrot understands that that could just as easily be a finger.
 
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