Golden Gecko Care sheet

By: Psyco S.C

 

 

 

Name: Golden Gecko (Gekko Ulikovskii)

Life Span: 15-20 years (good life) 5-10 years (normal life)

Rank Handling:

Medium: 6- for intermediate keepers, not a good petting nor beginning pet.

Rank Availability:

Females-8: Females are very rare and hard to get.

Males-4: Are easy to find in most reptile stores.

 

 

Characteristics:

Yellow-“Golden” body, big eyes, no eyelids, adhesive toes, large body (10-12 inches), orange/brown eyes, green eyes (very rare), yellow belly, jumpy. A little aggressive on taming/picking up. Very hostile when used to. Similar to Tokay Gecko. Medium hunter. Jungle gecko. Exhibit kind of gecko. For medium hobbyist.

 

Housing:

10 gallon tank will do well for one golden gecko, though it is recommended to use a 20 gallon tank. 3 golden geckos for 20 gallon tank are ok. Lots of moisture, artificial plants and vines in the surrounding and in the glass. Bark chips for substrate, no sand nor paper towel; they don’t like it, moss or carpet for reptiles is okay. Big house to hide, on the dark, cold side of the enclosure. Water dish; on a shallow, big container on the cold side too (they use it to bath themselves and sometimes drink.) Heating lamp3-5 inches off the top of the enclosure. Temps are 65-75 on cold side and 80-90 on the warm side. UV is fine. Climbing items such as wood, branches, trunks, vines and plants for climbing, hiding and basking. Moist everywhere, golden geckos do not drink from the water dish too often. They drink from drops of water in the glass, or on themselves. They also drink from small ponds that form in leafs, plants and in the substrate. Moist gecko with sprinkler 3-7 times a day.

 

Temperament/Handling:

Golden Geckos are very jumpy geckos & very fast, they are scared & tend to bite if not handled properly. If older that sub-adult (9 ˝ and bigger) the gecko will “poop” on your hand when you handle them and they are scared or stressed. Golden Geckos are more of an exhibit pet not to handle too much. This gecko is very similar to the Tokay Gecko; one of the differences is that the Tokay Gecko is more aggressive than the Golden Gecko. Be sure to handle gently but tight so the gecko doesn’t escape and is more comfortable (don’t hurt they gecko, just grab him a little tight but not strong.) Golden Geckos are very difficult to catch when they escape, they run very fast and also jump very high and fast.

 

Feeding:

Feed large crickets for adults. Gut loaded crickets are very good. Also feed green, non poisonous, clean moths. Feed heavily, the Golden Geckos have a big appetite. Though they eat every once in a while but they eat a lot. Do not leave too much crickets in the cage with the gecko, the crickets may bite the Golden Gecko. Do not feed dead insects, nor meat, nor worms (normally a Golden won’t eat a worm, they don’t like them) they normally eat things that move or jump at a certain speed. Feeding baby food is okay as long as it is not meat. Golden Geckos can also eat fruits that are not acid, like lemon, orange; they can’t eat most of the vegetables neither. Feed food with a dusting of vitamin D3 and calcium every 3-4 days. Gravid and young geckos: dust every 1-2 days.

 

Price Pricing:

            Prices go from $8.00 to $30.00. Females and rare morphs are very, very rare so the price goes up; it is a very good option to sell it in $20-$30 because of its rare availability. $25-$30 for females that are grown in captivity. Golden Geckos are better, more tamable and healthier when they are born in captivity that when they are wild-caught.

 

Other:

            These are jungle geckos and are also night geckos. They come from Vietnam. A good recommendation is to observe them at night. Observing their behavior and instincts is very useful and a good experience. Try to take notes, these are fascinating geckos.

 

Sexing:

            Males tend to have to bulges at the base of the tail, and a backwards “V” shape of pores at the base of the tail is also visible. Females lack these two characteristics.

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