NEWS113
40
Lurking on thewall: Geckos
It is laughablebut true thatmanypeople thinkgeckosarepoisonous!But
that isutter superstitious rubbish. Thebeliefprobablycameaboutbecause
housegeckos,whencaptured,fightbravely for their livesandbiteashard
as theycan. In thecaseof largespecies like theTokay,whichsometimes
measuresalmosthalfameter long, thatcan reallyhurtandalsobleeda lot.
But it isn'tpoisonous.
Youmusthaveheardofgeckos, right?OK, theyare rather amusing lizards that
runupanddownverticalwalls, spend their spare timeclinging to theceiling,
andcanevenclimbupwindow-panes.
Geckos likepeople. Thereareprobablymoregeckosnowadays thanever
before, as theycanfind somewhere suitable to liveeven in themiddleof acity.
Geckosneedwarmth (so theycan't surviveoutside incentral andnorthern
Europeas it is toocold) and insectsonwhich to feed. Ifwe switchon the light
atnight then it attractsmoths,mosquitos, andother insects. Thegeckoseat
these insectsandwearepleasedabout that. Living togetherwhereeverybody
benefits is termed symbiosis. Andwehumans live in symbiosiswithhouse
geckoseverywhere that it iswarmenough.
Poisonous? Rubbish!
A choir on the ceiling
Themajorityof lizardsaredumbor atmosthissoccasionallywhen they feel
annoyed. Butwall geckosareveryvocal andoftencall really loudly.Not to
loudly that youcan't sleepatnight, but you reallycanhear themall over the
house. For this reason smallwall geckos inAsiaarecalled ”Tschiktschak”,
because their calls soundabit like that. And the largestof all thehousegeckos,
theTokay, alsogot itsname from its territorial call.
Tschiktschaks are fairly small
and inconspicuously colored.
The Tokay (Gecko gecko) is the
largest and most colorful of all
the house gecko species. It has a
loud, clear call”Tock-Ayyyyy”.
Youshouldbeaware that thereareverymanycompletelydifferentgeckospecies.Only
avery few live inandonhouses.Butallhousegeckos (i.e. thewallgeckosof southern
EuropeandAfrica, theTschiktschaks fromAsiaandAfrica, and thebigTokays)canbe
veryeasilykeptandbred in the terrarium.Allof them layeggs that theystick to the
backofapieceofbarkor similar. Theyarealways twins, i.e. twoeggs. It isbest tokeepa
pairasmalesdon'tgetalong.Have fun!
Geckos in the terrarium
A gecko will always
let you knowwhen it
is in a bad mood. The
bite of a large
individual really hurts
and bleeds!
