Gekkos

[user1475009690]

My son is desperate for a gecko. Any advice or hints and tips? He’s with his dad some of the time so I’ll Need to take an active role in looking after it some of the time . Thanks

What I know about geckos could fit on a eyelash but I am hoping that this gives you a bump and someone replies with more that a eyelashes worth of info .

We have a Crested Gecko, well DD does
He’s very handsome but a bit boring to be honest, he doesn’t do much.
The set up and animal are quite expensive and you need to monitor the temperature and humidity carefully but apart from that he’s not much trouble
He doesn’t eat live food, that was one of the reasons we went for one of those when DD wanted a new pet that was a bit different.

Photo attached

Not much help but a gecko ran up the leg of my shorts when we were on holiday in (then) Yugoslavia when I was 11.

I love geckos. We had a crested and leopard who both loved live food; both were pretty calm once they were used to being handled. The crickets and locusts were the worst part, especially if the packet cracked in transit and they escaped... I loved them. I'd have one again in a heartbeat but fiancé isn't keen.

Geckos are cute but they are nocturnal. If you’re happy to provide the correct equipment and live food a bearded dragon is a better pet.

What type?

There are various different types.

I’ve had a leopard gecko which are lovely little animals but they are nocturnal

I wouldn’t buy any pet for a child. You will end up looking after it.

@AnchorDownDeepBreath are leopard geckos easy to maintain? We're looking for one for the office

Would you want a nocturnal animal for an office?

I don’t think it would be appropriate for an office, as pp said they are nocturnal. They also don’t like noise or being handled much, they can get used to it with time but it’s not ideal

@Hoppinggreen @IheartNiles thanks! We are only a small quiet office (less than 5 people in the office at a time and not customer facing) so don't think it would be any different to being in a house noise wise, if that makes sense. Re it being nocturnal what would that mean in practical terms (I'm clueless about geckos, we've only just started researching them).

It means that unless you drag it out of where it is hidden and asleep during daylight hours you will never see it before about 9/10 at night.
Presumably there would be nobody around then?
Also, you would need to find a way to monitor the temp and humidity of the tank when nobody is there and have a plan in place for someone to deal with it if it drops too much outside normal office hours
Doesn’t sound like a good idea to be honest

Ah thanks for the explanation. I'll pass this info back to the boss and suggest he looks at other options instead! Thank you

Thanks for all your replies. I’m not keen on live food for it! I’ve bought him a book to research how to look after one, so see what he thinks after that.

Crested geckos don’t require live food but are still difficult to look after

Leopard geckos are pretty low maintenance- they need a heat mat, a damp moss cave and live food but there’s no complicated lighting set up to worry about. Ours is a pretty little thing and often sits on my son’s shoulder as he’s doing his homework. One thing you really need to know is that they can live for 30 years so please think carefully about the commitment you’re taking on.

really DD often does her homework with a Gecko on her shoulder too!