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- Golden Gecko
Gekko ulikovskii
- By Christina Miller - Herptiles.net (http://www.herptiles.net)
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- Photo of Tiki provided by Golden_Gecko
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- Taxonomy
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- Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Subclass: Lepidosauria
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Sauria
Infraorder: Gekkota
Family:
Gekkonidae
Subfamily: Gekkoninae
Genus: Gekko
Species: ulikovskii
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I. Introduction
This
species of
gecko is well established in many areas of southeastern Asia. This distribution has earned it a number of common names, such as Golden Gecko, Fox Gecko, and the very ambiguous name of House Gecko.
Lizards of the Gekko
genus sometimes called the "true geckos," have very well developed toe pads; this species' toes are slightly webbed at the base and have small claws at the tips. It is an avid and agile climber, both on vertical and horizontal (including upside-down) surfaces. It reaches an
STL of about 10.2-14cm (4-5.5"), its body is between light brown and gray (occasionally with light or dark spotting), with a fine "dust" of yellow on the back, more intense towards the tail. The gecko's underside is often orange, yellow or pink (this may vary with the lizard's diet and geographical origin). Like most geckos, the golden gecko has no eyelids, but clear, hard lenses over its eyes. It has small, granular scales on most of its body that have a "soft" feel to them.
G. ulikovskii is part of the Gekko petricolus-Group (formed by G. badeni, G. grossmanni, G. petricolus and G. ulikovskii). This group of species have very similar physiologies and habits, and live within the same ranges.
II. Behaviour
This
nocturnal gecko often shares quarters with people, feeding on insects in their houses. It can also be found in forested areas, hiding in loose bark or tree crevices.
These geckos, like most species, have the amazing ability to stick to walls and ceilings, almost appearing as if they are defying gravity. However, their "sticking power" lies in the pads on their toes. Rows of millions of hair called setae are tipped with microscopic spatula-shaped projections called spatulae. Because there are so many of these hairs touching the surface the gecko walks on, the lizard has an amazing adhesive strength that allows it to walk easily on vertical and upside-down surfaces.
Like most lizards, these geckos can
autotomize their tail if they feel threatened. This defense mechanism, called
caudal
autotomy, occurs as a sort of "last ditch" effort for the lizard to escape a predator. Its tail breaks off, and the severed piece proceeds to twitch for several minutes afterwards (due to excited nerves left in the tail). This is supposed to distract the predator while the lizard runs away. The tail can and will regenerate after time, however the re-grown portion of the tail will not be the same colour or have the same texture as the original tail.
III. Diet
A voracious insectivore, these lizards will thrive on a diet of invertebrates. Prey like crickets, cockroaches, grasshoppers, mealworms and silkworms should all be offered as prey. All prey should be gut-loaded on a nutritious diet 24-36 hours before being fed to the lizards. This is to ensure that the prey you are feeding is actually nutritious, and not just a crunchy bag of meat. Feed your gecko 2-4 times a week, as much as the lizard can eat in 10-15 minutes.
Other prey can occasionally be added to the diet, like wax worms, butter worms and pinky mice. These prey items are nice supplements, but because of their high fat and/or calorie content should not be fed often.
A nice addition to the Golden Gecko's diet is fruit baby food, and they may also take mashed banana or a fruit and honey mash meant for day geckos. Fasten a small dish to a branch somewhere in the enclosure, then place another dish in that one with the fruit so that it may easily be removed to clean. Clean the dish daily so that no spoiled fruit promotes microbial growth. Try different fruit flavours to see which one your gecko prefers. A powdered calcium supplement can easily be added to the fruit.
This species will rarely drink still water from a dish. In order to entice them to drink, you must spray the enclosure with a misting bottle at least once a day (which can also help maintain a high humidity level). The gecko will lick the droplets off the cage walls and plants.
IV. Housing
The simplest enclosure for this species is a plain aquarium ( the "Reptarium," a mesh enclosure, is also suitable for these geckos). It allows full view of the lizards, and is generally waterproof. The lid of the tank should not be one that you would use for an aquarium yielding fish. Either buy a screen lid to fit the top or make your own from screen and a hinged piece of fiberglass, so that you've got a screen portion to put lights over and to allow ventilation, and the piece of fiberglass to allow access, and it's too heavy for the lizards to move.
No less than 38L (10 gallons) of space should hold one of these geckos, and the more room, the better. Note that a vertically oriented enclosure, one that is taller than it is long, is preferable since these are climbing, tree-dwelling lizards. Males should under no circumstance be housed together due to their aggressively territorial nature, and there are reports of brutal aggression between these geckos (females, included) in the terrarium. It is safest to house them alone until more understanding of this phenomenon has been acquired.
These lizards will thrive in a forest
habitat, and this can be duplicated in captivity. A forest mix substrate can be made with about two inches of a mix of sterile potting soil (without perlite, the little Styrofoam balls), dead leaves and bark, but simpler substrate like paper towel or carpet work well, too. Follow with either live or fake plants: Anything sturdy enough to withstand the gecko's weight like Sansviera, Hoya, Tillandsia and other bromeliads. If you choose live plants, ensure that they will live in the heat and moisture level in the terrarium, and prune them when needed. Live plants can be planted directly into the forest mix substrate, left in their pots and sunk into the substrate, or the pots can be left on top of simple substrate. This species particularly enjoys arboreal hiding places, such as hollow bamboo stems, slabs of cork bark, and vertically oriented half logs. Leaving a half log or piece of cork bark on the floor of the enclosure does not provide a secure hiding place for these arboreal geckos.
V. Heating, Lighting, and Humidity
Daytime temperatures should range from 22-26°C (75-80°F), and at night it should go no lower than 18°C (65°F). During the day, an incandescent "white" bulb will suffice for heating, along with an under tank heating pad (preferably under the hide log if you choose to get a small one). The lizards' basking spot should not exceed temperatures of 32°C (90°F). At night, turn off the white bulb, and if needed use either a ceramic heat emitter or a red coloured incandescent "night bulb" for the lizards is the enclosure gets too cool at night. Red is the better choice of colour since it is less harsh on the lizards' eyes.
These lizards do not require artifical ultraviolet
lighting. Allow the gecko a photoperiod of 12-14 hours.
Relative humidity should be around 50%. This can be achieved by keeping live plants in the enclosure, and by misting once a day.
VI. Health
Proper husbandry is the key to good health in all reptiles. If you provide good basic care, then you will avoid the vast majority of potential health problems that reptiles can encounter in captivity.
Because Golden Geckos are virtually all wild caught, they are undoubtedbly parasitized. The process of being captured is very stressful, and this stress can afflict the immune system and allow any normally harmless parasites to become disease-causing. A fecal exam should be performed by an experienced reptile vet to determine if antiparasitic medications are needed to prevent any parasite-related health problems.
Last modified: Sunday, June 11, 2006
Sources:
- Henkel, EW and W Schmidt. 2003. Professional Breeders Series- Geckos: All Species in One Book. Germany: Edition Chimara.
- Miller, C . 2006. "GGA Cares For... Gekko ulikovskii." Chit-Chat: Newsletter of the Global Gecko Association. No. 17. Global Gecko Association.
- Seufer, H. 1995. Keeping and Breeding Geckos. T.F.H. Publications.
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