A gecko is a small (often medium-sized) lizard that lives in the arid and semi-arid regions of Australia and Africa. In addition, it can be found in the forests of Madagascar and South Asia. Gecko - a lizard, which is often bred as a pet, because they are completely unpretentious to the conditions of detention.
External differences
The body length of a reptile of this species is from 4 to 30 cm. They have large, convex eyes that do not have eyelids. They are covered with a transparent film and have vertical pupils. It is characteristic that in the dark they expand. Not everyone knows that geckos are endowed with very delicate skin, which can be easily injured, despite the fact that it is covered with granular fine scales.
The main feature of geckos is fingers extended and covered with horn plates below. This allows the lizard to easily move and hold on a vertical surface.
A gecko is a lizard with a thin and brittle tail, which, however, can regenerate. Most members of this family are active at night.
A characteristic feature of geckos is to make a wide variety of sounds. They can hiss, squeak, whistle. They shout especially loudly during the mating season.
Geckos: content
In captivity, keeping these cute lizards is quite simple. The main thing is to provide them with good conditions and proper care.
For geckos you will need a small vertical terrarium. Under natural conditions, these reptiles prefer to live in small colonies, at home they are best kept in pairs.
Male geckos are quite aggressive - they guard their territory with zeal. This is especially noticeable during the mating season. The males fight to the death. At best, they can cripple each other. Females can be kept from one to three.
Terrarium arrangement
The floor should be covered with peat or coconut, you can use medium-sized gravel. This coating must be constantly moistened. Sand is not suitable for this purpose, since it, together with food, can enter the body of a lizard and cause various diseases.
During the day, the temperature in the terrarium should not be lower than 28 degrees, and the night temperature should not be lower than 8 degrees. Since there are also daytime gecko species, an ultraviolet lamp is desirable for them.
The terrarium should have a drinker, several dry but not sharp branches, shards from ceramic pots, pieces of wood bark. All this will serve as a shelter for the gecko.
You can put small pots with ornamental plants (philodendrons, dwarf creeping ficus, arrowroot, etc.) in the terrarium to maintain the necessary microclimate.
The lizard feels safe when there are many decorations in the terrarium. It is necessary that humidity is maintained in it. For this, the terrarium should be sprayed with warm boiled water twice a day, without over-moistening the soil. Take care of creating effective ventilation.
Gecko: care and feeding
If you want your wards to feel comfortable, you must comply with some conditions of their detention. A gecko is a lizard with powerful jaws, which are sometimes not so easy to unclench, and sharp teeth. When it is aggressive, the reptile swells, hisses, while opening its mouth wide. After these terrifying maneuvers, she makes a sharp attack, attacking the enemy. Therefore, at the first meeting, do not try to pick it up. Do not try to grab her tail - he can easily come off.
The terrarium must be regularly disinfected and cleaned. If you want to take the gecko in your hands, wash them. Do the same after your conversation ends. Gecko can be a carrier of salmonellosis.
An interesting pattern - the larger the gecko, the less often it needs to be fed. For example, a 20 cm reptile needs to be fed twice a week. A gecko is a lizard that prefers live food: crickets, spiders, flies, cockroaches and other insects. Large-sized geckos need small mice, quail eggs. Some reptiles of this species enjoy treating themselves with sweet fruits - oranges or bananas.
Toki
This lizard is quite large in size. Gecko currents (adult) reaches 35 cm in length. Males are brighter than females. The back of them can be olive, gray or dark green in color, with white blotches that turn into stripes on the back. The eyes are large with vertical pupils. The body is dense, slightly flattened. The head is very large, powerful, but short legs. The tail is not too long.
Gecko currents are common in tropical forests in southeast Asia. This reptile gives the misleading impression of a clumsy creature. In fact, she is very mobile, especially during twilight. Currents are aggressive towards their brethren. No strangers are allowed into their territory. They declare their right with a loud cry.
Scink gecko
Terrariumists love these reptiles for their bright and beautiful color. But because of its circadian rhythms, this reptile is not much appreciated as a pet.
This species lives in the desert and sultry regions of Iran, Central Asia, Pakistan, and Kazakhstan. These are land lizards that dig burrows in the sand more than a meter deep. Active at night.
The appearance of the skink
The skink gecko cannot be called a large lizard. She has a wide and high head with large bulging eyes. Body length not more than 20 cm. The body is short and somewhat awkward. It is covered with almost identical scales. They seem to overlap. On the head, the scales are much smaller and have the shape of polygons.
The color of these reptiles is diverse - yellow or greenish with a gray tint, rusty-red above and purple-red below and from the sides, etc. On the back there are usually several dark stripes or streaks. In addition, dark streaks are also present on the sides of the reptile.
The skink gecko has a short and fragile tail. In the event of a predator attack, the reptile easily discards it. The main distinguishing feature of these lizards is large eyes glowing in the dark with a ruby color.
Leopard gecko
Sometimes these reptiles are called spotted eublefars. This long and well-known lizard lives with many terrarium workers.
Under natural conditions, it can be found in dry and hot regions of Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, and northern India. Leopard gecko avoids open sands. In the heat of the day, it hides in burrows, cracked rocks. It feeds mainly on insects, in rare cases, small vertebrates, which it can handle.
The home leopard gecko is unpretentious. Thanks to what, probably, he became very popular among lovers of reptiles. Most often they are kept in small groups of 6 individuals (2 males and 4 females). Males are very aggressive towards their rivals and can seriously injure each other.
For 5–6 reptiles, a terrarium with a bottom area of at least 0.25 m 2 is required. Coarse sand, gravel can serve as a substrate, you can use sawdust. There should certainly be shelters in the terrarium - fragments of ceramics, plastic pipe cuttings. Their number should correspond to the number of animals. Be sure to have a container of water in the terrarium - eubléfars often drink it, lapping their tongues.
In the daytime it is necessary to maintain the temperature - 27-30 degrees, lowering it in the evening to 20-23 degrees.
Feeding the Eblefars
For these lizards, the best food is cockroaches, crickets, and naked mice. In summer, you can add butterflies, caterpillars, larvae of the May beetle to food. Mice should not get carried away too much, since such food can disrupt the functioning of the lizard’s liver.
Chain-tailed gecko
This is a miniature lizard, the total body length of which barely reaches 8 cm, with the tail accounting for most of the length. Females are even smaller.
The neck and head of the males are poisonous yellow with black or dark brown stripes. The rest of the body is gray with a bluish tint and spots. Young lizards do not have such a bright color - they have a brown body with spots, a light yellow head. Both sexes have a yellow abdomen. This species is widespread in Africa.
The chain-tailed gecko is a lizard that remains awake during the day. She spends most of her life in trees. It is found in forests, on coasts, in savannas. Does not avoid intimacy with a person. Can settle on fences or walls of buildings. It feeds on the smallest insects.
Ciliary gecko
These lizards are also called banana-eaters for their addiction to various fruits, including bananas. A ciliary, because it has characteristic spikes that surround the eyes from above. This is a tree lizard. The length of the adult reaches 22 cm.
The banana-eater has a triangular, spiked head. Spikes pass to the back, to the shoulder blades. Eyelids are missing. The eyes are covered with a membrane. The whole body of the gecko is covered with small soft scales that feel suede to the touch. The paws are short and stocky, there are small claws.
The color is very bright and quite diverse - orange, yellow, bronze, red, gray, etc. With proper care, such lizards live 15-18 years.
"Photon – M"
On this Russian biosatellite five geckos were launched into space orbit - 1 female and 4 males, Drosophila flies, mushrooms, seeds of higher plants, silkworm eggs. The purpose of the experiment in relation to lizards is to study the effect of microgravity on the sexual behavior of animals, embryonic development and the generation of offspring from medium-sized geckos. The flight was designed for 60 days.
Unfortunately, all geckos in space perished. Presumably they froze as a result of a malfunction in the satellite heating system.
According to the remains, scientists can not accurately determine what are the causes of the death of reptiles. But they claim that geckos in space died quite early - about a week before landing. Their bodies were partially mummified. Many researchers believe that hypothermia is only one of the possible versions.
