I just joined the forum and thought I would share some photos of a couple of my Tokays. Proud Parent: Gecko Luvin Time: Newest Addition: Cute Couple: The Family Unit: Silly:
They're always gentle creatures. You just gotta handle them with respect (no fingers in their face, hold with palms of your hands). At first you'll want to let them just hang out on your shoulder or arm a lot. They will adjust to your scent and 'claim you' for lack of a better explanation. They will eventually bond to you and enojy being loved on.. but just by you. If someone else grabs them that they dont know, they will not react as calmly. You gotta remember that Tokays are very sensitive to smells, noises, tastes and bright lights (UV light=bad). They need a calm environment with time to adjust which includes: No UV or bright light (Red Bulbs are excellent), no loud noises or music, no bad smells (clean hands, not holding after having a smoke for example, and NOT holding a male after handling another male). The key is patience... and not 'prodding' or 'punishing' them when you do get bit. They seem to hold grudges against poeple and other Tokays that cause them pain or discomfort. I've been raising and rescuing Tokays for about 8 years now (up to 87 Tokays now), and almost all of them are sweet and gentle with the exception of a few that were apparently tormented in some way by previous owners. Here are a couple more pics of my babies:
It's great that you have been able to tame your tokays, but i just wanted to say, that they are not NATURALLY gentle creatures. It's in their nature to be aggressive, and generally, (maybe with the exception of a few, and some CB) thats what they are. I think it's great you've got them that tame, i just don't want people to think they should get a tokay because they feel it CAN be tamed, as with some tokays, this is not the case. Great job though!
Here is a little video of my BF holding "Der Toad", the lovable and cuddly Tokay Sorry the quality is so dark... will make some with better lighting soon. Not sure how to embed the video in the post, so here is the link: http://youtube.com/watch?v=um52i2z5hzY
