Does my Tokay look healthy?

[billewicz]

... I would love to see her every day for the rest of her life, but how can she be happy this way? I am glad I took Maya from her old home, but I wish she could have just stayed in Indonesia for the rest of her days. She will never be happy here.

I'm not sure I agree completely. In Indo she'd have a really good chance of being something or someone else's dinner. Most harvested Tokay are for human consumption there. The few that get exported into the pet trade at least have a chance of living.

Like many reptiles, Tokay are very territorial. Whole family units and prodigy from several years can be found in the same proximity in the wild. They do not seem to travel much.

As a keeper I try to provide a "country club" environment to the extent that they have plenty of quality food, a pleasant, clean tropical sauna, foliage, comfortable vertical hides and UVB lighting.

Most, over time, have learned that my presents in the room means food and they have little or no fear of me.

Tokay are smart, but not like our pet dogs, birds or cats. Tokay will thrive in a stress free captive environment and do not require affection or company accept during mating season.

I have several Tokay that are loose in the various reptile rooms. Their main job is to clean up the escaped crickets. Each reptile room has a fish tank against a wall, misters, plants, lighting and of course 50 plus glass enclosures. These Tokay have free roaming of the room, and through to the outer hall and into other rooms if they wish. I've noticed they tend to hangout in one preferred hiding place, poop 8" to one side of their favorite hide, and hunt within a few feet of that place.

Even though they could travel all over the facility, they stay very close to their home territory which is were the food and water is. I find these Tokay in the exact same place every night.

So can your captive be happy? I really think it can. And it can live much longer as a captive that if it were in the wild.

Enjoy your Tokay and let her enjoy her all expense paid holiday for life.

All the best,

Michael

 

[MauricesExoticPets]

^^That Sir is something I would like to quote sometime. I believe you just communicated something we who have kept exotics with success know but rarely share with the world of 'better left in the wild' non keepers.

Maurice Pudlo

 

[zuper8]

yes thank you for sharing, as a beginner who does not know a lot about these animals still, I am so grateful for your perspective on reptile keeping!! I have read a lot about Tokays and am always seeking more information, but the candid opinions of you experts give me insight that no book can. thanks to everyone on the forum for their help and patience while I try to get this right and do right by my gecko.

 

[MauricesExoticPets]

In the grander scheme of things you are doing a good job.

If your aim is to make her life better or rather more natural, you can look into getting a few items that will help monitor and control the environment.

As far as cost, you have many years of gecko keeping ahead of you and thus far she looks well enough that you won't have to spring for every item at once, that being said.

An infrared temperature gun. This is a far more accurate temperature sensing device that will help you keep and adjust temperatures.

Thermostat/humidistat. This or these, herpstat by spider robotics can do both, will help you nail temperatures and humidity levels with a degree of accuracy that can't be had any other way.

Light timers. If not built into the thermostat you really want the lights to be on a regular on/off cycle. If possible a timer for the room lights is also a plus, enclosure lights going off on a schedule does no good if the room is brightly lit.

Misting equipment and/or fogger. These can both work on simple timers or on command from the humidistat. My personal preference is to keep foggers on timers set for early morning and misters on the humidistat for humidity maintenance.

A proper enclosure made of glass with allowance for a drain system. The enclosure size is really up to you but I would suggest a base size of 18" x 48" so a standard 75 gallon aquarium stand will work as a base. Front sliding doors would be best as they allow some air flow and are not going to cause you any issue accessing the enclosure interior.

Cost of all this stuff may seem huge if you tally it up all at once, but over the next four or five years, its not so bad and the closer you get to completion I trust you will be excited to see the end results of doing it right.

A beautiful enclosure is as much a labor of love as it is the centerpiece of a rooms decor. Much like a 48" wide television might get ohhs and ahhs (yeah I know that's small by today's standards) a vivarium of that size commands respect from people no matter their interest in reptiles.

More so than your own satisfaction will be the satisfaction your tokay will have in an environment that is sizeable enough to jump, climb, hunt, seek refuge, and thrive.

If you seriously want to keep this gecko for the rest of its life, consider treating her like a queen and give her a kingdom to preside over.

Maurice Pudlo