The tokay is the loudest, most defensive and most heavily traded gecko in the hobby — and where yours came from matters more than with almost any other reptile. Over a million are taken from the wild every year. A captive-bred tokay is a materially different animal from the default one.
Quick answer
- Large and long-lived: adults commonly reach 12–14 inches and live well over a decade.
- Warm and humid — roughly 78–88°F with a basking spot, and 60–80% humidity.
- Tall, planted, vertical enclosure. They are arboreal and they climb glass effortlessly.
- They bite, and they hold on. This is not a handling animal.
- Vocal — the barking “to-kay” call is loud enough to carry through a house.
- Listed on CITES Appendix II since 2019. Provenance is a real question, not a formality.
The provenance problem, stated plainly
Tokays are traded at a scale almost nothing else in herpetoculture matches — estimates put international trade above a million animals a year, driven mainly by traditional medicine rather than the pet trade. That pressure is why the species was added to CITES Appendix II at CoP18 in 2019, to bring monitoring and permits to a trade that had almost none.
The part that matters to a buyer: conservation groups documenting that trade have repeatedly described large numbers of wild-caught animals being laundered through captive-breeding operations that are not really breeding anything. So “captive bred” on a tokay listing carries more weight, and deserves more scrutiny, than it does on a crested gecko.
This is exactly why we label origin per animal rather than making a blanket claim — the reasoning is set out in about Terrarium Station. A wild-caught tokay is not a scandal if it is labelled as one; an unlabelled one is.
The build
| Element | Detail |
|---|---|
| Enclosure | Vertical. 18×18×24 inches minimum for one adult; taller is better |
| Temperature | Ambient high 70s to low 80s°F, basking spot to around 88°F, cooler at night |
| Humidity | 60–80%, achieved by misting and substrate rather than by sealing off ventilation |
| Furniture | Cork tubes and a tight vertical hide. A tokay with nowhere to retreat is a tokay that lunges |
| Lighting | Low-level UVB is beneficial; they are nocturnal so it is a supplement, not a centrepiece |
| Diet | Large insects — roaches, crickets, hornworms — dusted with calcium. Adults eat every few days |
| Housing | Singly. Males will fight, and an unwilling pair is worse |
Temperament, honestly
Tokays are defensive by default. A startled one gapes, barks and bites, and the bite from a large adult is genuinely painful and can break skin — they are built to hold rather than release. That is force, not venom; no gecko is venomous, as covered in are geckos poisonous.
Some captive-bred animals settle considerably with routine, low-pressure exposure. Many never do. Buy one because you want to watch a spectacular, opinionated animal, not because you want to hold it. If handling is the point, crested geckos are the honest alternative.
Noise
The call is the species’ signature and it is loud. Males bark repeatedly, most often at night, and it carries. This is the single most common reason tokays get rehomed, and it is entirely predictable — so decide about it before buying, not after. Vocalisation in the New Caledonian species is much gentler by comparison; see do gargoyle geckos make noise.
Lifespans across the group are in how long do lizards live, and the current range is under geckos for sale. Everything ships under our live arrival guarantee.
Other species in this series that fail in the opposite direction: knob-tailed geckos want hot, dry ground rather than humid height, and day geckos need daylight-intensity UVB that a nocturnal tokay never uses.
Common questions
Are tokay geckos good for beginners?
Not as a handling pet. The husbandry is straightforward, but they are defensive, they bite hard and they are loud. As a display animal for someone who wants to observe rather than hold, they are excellent.
Does a tokay gecko bite hurt?
Yes. A large adult can break skin and tends to hold on rather than let go. There is no venom involved — it is jaw strength.
Are tokay geckos protected?
They were added to CITES Appendix II in 2019, which brings international trade under a permit and monitoring system. They are not currently classed as threatened, but trade volumes are enormous.
How big do tokay geckos get?
Commonly 12 to 14 inches as adults, with males larger and heavier-headed than females.
Why are tokay geckos so loud?
The barking call is territorial and mostly nocturnal. It is normal behaviour, it cannot be trained out, and it is the most common reason people rehome them.