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Atlas / Library / Gekkonidae / Tokay Gecko
IntermediateNocturnal · sleeping nowCITES IIIUCN LC
Gekkonidae

Tokay Gecko

Gekko geckoตุ๊กแกโทเค / ตุ๊กแกป่า

Part of this is not on the page we cite. We opened it on 10 Aug 2026 and some of the degrees above are not stated there. The values above may still be right, but we cannot show you where they came from, and nobody here has checked them against a second source. Anything about a sick animal goes to a qualified exotic vet, not to a page. reptifiles.com

Photograph: Luca Manelli · CC BY-SA

14:00
Day

Drag the sun. Tokay Gecko is nocturnal, so what it is doing changes with the light. The sheet states a night temperature, and the rail follows it.

Arboreal · temperate · humidFrom the sheet: warm end 28–29°C, humidity 60–80%

The way of life is written in this sheet, word for word. The climate words summarise the two figures above them, they do not add to them.

CITES II is a global listing and holds in every country. National law is not global, and we hold no national wildlife law for any country, Thailand included. Check your own authority before buying or selling.

Back to the globe My keep

https://keepr.pet/husbandry/en/gekko-gecko

‹ All husbandry guides
warm end28–29 °C
cool end22–24 °C
Humidity60–80 %
Enclosure60×45×90
Diet2–4 days
Tokay Gecko (Gekko gecko), photographed in the wild
Photograph · Bernard DUPONT · CC BY-SA

Photographed by an observer on iNaturalist and published under a Creative Commons licence; the photographer and the licence are named under the image. It is not an animal of ours, and no animal was handled by us to produce it.

The numbers

Thermal gradient

152025303540 °C
22–24°Cool side
28–29°Warm side
21–24°Night

Day: a real gradient, 28–29°C warm against 22–24°C cool, so the animal chooses. Night: 21–24°C.

Why

Same scale on every sheet here, so two species compare by eye.

The sheet stateswarm 28-29 °C / cool 22-24 °C / night 21-24 °C (heat mat if under 20 °C)

Humidity

60–80%Target RH

The sheet states60-80% (mist am/pm)

UVB

Optionalbeneficial

The sheet statesLow-level beneficial

Identity

Adult size

1.75 m25–35 cm
1520100400 cm
25–35 cmNose to tail, adult

The size the sheet states for a grown animal.

Why

Two drawings, because they answer two questions. The silhouette is at true scale against a 1.75 m person: it says how big this animal actually is, which no number does for someone who has never seen one. The bar under it is logarithmic and shared by every sheet here, so a 2 cm isopod and a 4 m python both stay readable on the same axis and two species can be compared at a glance.

Family / Order
Gekkonidae / Squamata
Adult size
25–35 cm (large)
Lifespan (captivity)
8–10 yrs (up to 15+)
Activity
Nocturnal; arboreal
Temperament
Feisty, defensive, strong bite: display species

Morphs

8 morphs, with how each one is inherited.

Blue HeadedLine-bredSuper form:
CalicoCo-dominantSuper form:
Green GalaxyLine-bredSuper form:
LeucisticRecessiveSuper form:
Patternless (Olive)RecessiveSuper form:
PlatinumRecessiveSuper form:
Powder BlueRecessiveReduced red spotsSuper form:
Super RedLine-bredSuper form:

How common this animal is

324,269Live individuals in declared US trade filings

NOT a measure of how many are kept. These filings count animals shipped for any purpose, including the food trade and laboratory supply, and they are United States records only. The three largest volumes in the source belong to a food frog, a bait species and the standard laboratory amphibian.

US Fish and Wildlife Service LEMIS declared wildlife import and export records, as compiled in the received dataset

Enclosure and conditions

Enclosure

60 cm90 cm
warm sidewarm hidecool hidewaterUVB tube
50100150200 cm
60 × 45 × 90 cmWidth × depth × height
27dm² of floor
Substrate: not in our data

Drawn from the stated numbers. Only what the sheet states is drawn inside.

Why

The rectangle carries the exact width-to-height ratio of the figures above it, and the ruler under it places that width on the 0–250 cm scale every sheet here shares, so two species still compare at a glance. Nothing is added that the sheet does not name: a lamp drawn on a sheet that never mentions one would be invented equipment. What the sheet leaves out is listed rather than left blank, because an empty tank reads as « none needed ».

The sheet states60 × 45 × 90 cm vertical

Basking
~32 °C (90 °F); day 28–30 °C
Night
21–24 °C (CHE if < 20 °C)
Humidity
60–80% (mist am/pm)
UVB
Low-level beneficial
Min. size
60 × 45 × 90 cm vertical
Furnishings
Branches, vines, foliage, cork
Water
Dish + misting

What your climate adds

This sheet states a range to hold. Your local climate decides how much work holding it is. Pick the nearest city: nothing is sent anywhere, the choice stays in this browser.

Diet

Feeding rhythm

Juvenile
every 1 d
Adult
every 2.3–3.5 d
12Meals in 28 days · adult

Twenty-eight days, one row. Each band is a meal window. This sheet states a figure for each age, so each age has its row.

Why

The windows widen as they go because the interval is a range: four meals after a 10–14 day cycle land anywhere between day 40 and day 56. A young animal's row is drawn only where the sheet gives one: working it out by dividing the adult interval would be inventing a ration.

The sheet statesInsects (crickets, roaches) · 2–3×/week

Staple
Insects (crickets, roaches)
Extra
Occasional pinky for large adults
Juveniles
Daily
Adults
2–3×/week
Calcium
Dust + D3/multivit

Behaviour and handling

HandlingMinimal: bites hard and holds on
CohabitationSolo: males very territorial
DefenseLoud 'TO-KAY' call + gape + bite
NotePrefer captive-bred (wild-caught stressed/parasites)
ChildrenNo handling

Reproduction

Life course

Day 0Hatch
1 yrSexual maturity
8–10 yrLifespan in care
61–182 dIncubation
2 eggs, glued to a surfaceClutch
8 yrMinimum commitment
~7 yrReproductive window

Read from the lifespan and maturity the sheet states, for animals in care and not in the wild.

Why

The minimum commitment is the low end of that lifespan, and the reproductive window is what is left after maturity: both are subtractions on stated figures, not figures of their own. The sheet also reports a record of about 15 years; that is a reported maximum, not the range to plan for.

Sexual maturity
~1 yr
Clutch
2 eggs, glued to a surface
Incubation
~2–6 months
Note
Multiple clutches per season

Common health problems

Mouth rot / bite injuries
Signsswelling around mouth
Preventreduce stress; treat injuries
Retained shed
Signsstuck skin
Preventraise humidity + misting
Parasites
Signsweight loss (esp. wild-caught)
Preventchoose captive-bred; quarantine
MBD
Signsweak limbs
Preventcalcium + low UVB

When to see a vet

This is not veterinary advice. If red flags appear (open-mouth breathing, months of weight loss, 'stargazing', persistent regurgitation) consult a qualified exotic (herp) veterinarian. Quarantine new arrivals 30–90 days.

Good to know

  • Named for its loud 'TO-KAY!' territorial call.
  • One of the largest geckos: and in parts of Asia a symbol of good luck.
  • Grips so strongly it can hang from glass by a single toe.
  • One of the largest geckos — and in parts of Asia a symbol of good luck.

Common questions

Can I handle it?

Not really: it bites hard; a display species.

Why is it so loud?

A territorial call: completely normal.

Wild-caught okay?

Prefer captive-bred: health & conservation.

What it needs

Enclosure at least 60 × 45 × 90 cmbecause enclosure60 × 45 × 90 cm vertical
A heat sourcebecause tempwarm 28-29 °C / cool 22-24 °C / night 21-24 °C (heat mat if under 20 °C)
A thermostat to regulate itbecause tempwarm 28-29 °C / cool 22-24 °C / night 21-24 °C (heat mat if under 20 °C)
A thermometerbecause tempwarm 28-29 °C / cool 22-24 °C / night 21-24 °C (heat mat if under 20 °C)
A way to check the night figurebecause tempwarm 28-29 °C / cool 22-24 °C / night 21-24 °C (heat mat if under 20 °C)
A hygrometerbecause humidity60–80% (mist am/pm)
UVB, stated as beneficial rather than requiredbecause uvbLow-level beneficial

Every line above is deduced from a value this sheet states, and names which one. Nothing here is a general recommendation.

  • Vertical terrarium 60×45×90
  • Branches & vines
  • Coco substrate
  • CHE + thermostat
  • Low UVB
  • Mister + feeders
  • Calcium + D3

Sources

Others in this group

What this sheet states

100%
TemperatureHumidityEnclosure sizeActivityOriginDietSourcesUVB

Every field this product runs on is stated here. That is not a claim that the values are right: it says what the sheet states, not whether it is true. Whether a human has read it is the badge at the top of this page.

UVB is measured but does not count: it is absent from 421 of 678 sheets, and on most of them that is not a gap, since a nocturnal snake's sheet has no reason to state a UV index. Counting it would call the library incomplete without cause.