i'm fairly certain that i've only ever run across indonesian tokays. are there people that breed just the malaysians?
Not really but sort of at the same time. Tokay were exported out of Malaysia by the thousands into the pet trade for many, many years. For most of us 'older' folks, this was our first or second reptile. They were so common at the pet store and dirt cheap, that no one ever thought to breed them. There surely was no money in it as long as imports could be had for $10.
Then, several years ago, Malaysia closed their borders to export and made possession in their own country illegal as well. So we've seen Indonesian imports and some Vietnamese imported since then.
Now the Malaysian 'type' was almost always the light blue with bright red or orange spots. The Indonesian Tokay can be gray with orange and light blue spots (normals), green with dark green and blue dots (aberrant), and a whole host of color morphs as well. One can also find light blue with orange and blue spots very much like the typical Malaysian 'type'.
This is because Indonesia is really several islands and parts of peninsulas, one of which shares a border with Malaysia. The trouble is that no one has ever bothered on their end or cared on our end to document where these various Tokay are collected from.
Think of the 'rediscovery' of Rhacodactylus in the '90's. Especially Leachianus which has several Island and mainland locales/morphs. Unfortunately for Tokay enthusiasts, there is no funding or desire from the Indonesian Government to do the same field research and documentation.
The only reason we get any morphs at all is because they collect millions of Tokay a year for processing into human food. Any animal that looks unusual is set aside for bid on the open world pet trade.
As to your question, I know Megan Wiess and I both have breeding groups of 'Malaysian type' Tokay. I say 'type' to describe this once common import, because mine are from Indonesia and Vietnam, not Malaysia.
Even the National Zoo did not seem to bother to breed theirs when they had several big beautiful specimens. They also seemed to believe they would always be available as cheap imports.
I'm working to breed these back as a staple of captive bred Tokay. It will take a few years but we've at least begun. More people would do the same if there was some money in it but sadly, no.
As long as imports are sent by the hundreds at a time for cheap, or sometimes for free as a gift with larger Indo orders, they are going to get dumped on the pet trade for $6 wholesale and maybe $15 to $20 retail.
Even though there are a dedicated few who understand the value of a captive bred Tokay, there is very little incentive to compete against those numbers and it's tough to just break even.
But things can change overnight, so who knows, ....
Michael's Tokay Hoard @
www.billewicz.com
if my place was just a little more humid I'd want a free-range pair in my house, too. I think they like the space to roam.