Geckoes

[Heretic]

Does anybody know how to get rid of Indonesian house geckoes ? My neighbour sprays them with surface spray , and swears by it , but it sounds too toxic for my liking . I am seeing and hearing more as the weather warms up lately . I understand these creatures are some sort of genetic freks , and don't need to mate to breed , laying fertile eggs , and as such are all clones of one from long ago . Interesting biology , but I'd love to eradicate the filthy buggers .

[quarterflesh]

a vacuum does the trick

[PositiveHAL]

can give you a good tom yum soup recipe?

[Jox]

Eradicating these little geckos will be a near impossible mission.

The most humane way of killing any ectothermic animal at home is to put it in a secure container in the freezer

Once you get a freezer full, you can through them in a blender & you have liquid fert

As far as them being clones, this is not true a far as I know, there are a few lizards that are parthenogensis or can become parthenogensis when no males are around but this is very rare & I have never seen any evidence of this in any gecko spp around the world.

[Heretic]

I was told by my neighbour , who is no authority , about them being clones . One of those bullshit opinions that get perpetuated , I guess . Apologies for the erroneous info . So far the only way to eradicate them seems to be surface spray . They must taste pretty rank - my cat even when starving now ignores them . They're a major hassle crapping everywhere , and I have to wash any dish before use , and keep books in a plastic box to avoid contamination .Soon there will be 100s around , and there seems to be more each year .

[Jox]

Yeah I think stories like that start because people can't believe that they multiply some rapidly.

I first came across the in Townsville when I was younger, I had move there from the Goldcoast & had not seen them before. I moved back to the Goldcoast about 5 years later only to find the geckos had beat me back.

Maybe you should start growing some Nepenthes spp, that way you can feed the geckos to your plants

[Heretic]

Animals [ and plants ] out of place are an increasing problem everywhere . I read a book by Tim Low [e? ] called " Feral Future " , and the big picture is horrendous . Curiously , some species in trouble here are rampant elsewhere , such as Oz paperbarks that are devastating the Florida Everglades . Furthermore , many are not readily apparent , wreaking havoc in harbours and freshwater marine environments . I guess it is Nature's way of survival . Sometimes I wonder at the wisdom of cacti in Australia [ remember prickly pear ? ] , or wattles in America - the yanks will never be able to get rid of it now . The entire planet is such a mess now , with plants and animals thriving out of place . Of course , however , they are not the culprits - we are .....

[Torsten]

I like a few geckos around because they keep spiders and insects at bay, but would struggle putting up with the quantities they have in the tropics.

maybe surface spray certain high gecko traffic areas that are not areas you spend any time in, eg the garage, outside walls, roof space. Or do you have to actually spray directly onto the gecko for the spray to work?

[Heretic]

My neighbour sprays the geckoes . I could'nt do this myself because it must be painful and cruel to them . I am wondering if those electric gadgets plugged into a power point advertised for rodent and other pest control might keep them away ..

[ThunderIdeal]

have as few lights as possible on during the night. these geckos thrive on artificially lit, artificial surfaces, they have spread just about everywhere you could find a plasterer and a light bulb. turn out the lights and your house won't be such an attractive hunting ground for them.

[qualia]

may i ask what the problem is?

maybe living in southern states i don't understand but like torsten says, they keep spiders and insects at bay yes? what's the problem with that?

[Heretic]

may i ask what the problem is?

maybe living in southern states i don't understand but like torsten says, they keep spiders and insects at bay yes? what's the problem with that?

 

They crap on everything . It has to be a health hazard.

[ThunderIdeal]

i don't like having too many around. their skeletons stop windows from closing properly. they scare the hell out of you when they suddenly fall onto you. you find eggs and gecko turds everywhere, and their "chuck chuck chuck" call is loud enough to wake you up.

there's no need to question why somebody wants to remove an infestation of animals from their house, would any southerners like a family of sparrows flying around their house eating bugs? didn't think so.

[qualia]

i thought the southerners version is millipedes?

although the only thing they keep at bay is fresh air,

pooohweeh

[Amazonian]

As far as them being clones, this is not true a far as I know, there are a few lizards that are parthenogensis or can become parthenogensis when no males are around but this is very rare & I have never seen any evidence of this in any gecko spp around the world.

 

The Bynoe's gecko is of special interest to reproductive biologists because some populations of Bynoe's consist entirely of females; identical, genetic clones of one another reproducing without the need for males. The phenomenon is called "parthenogenesis" and comes from the Greek parthenos, "virgin" and genesis, "creation". source: http://www.amazingamazon.com.au/bynoes-gecko-sale-melbourne.html

[Heretic]

These house geckoes are also cannibals . I think they respond to movement - I often see a big one devouring a smaller one ; creepy .

[Jox]

^^That is interesting Amazonian,

I have heard of this happening in other lizard species like a skink from Mexico & they think the Komodo dragon can turn parthenogenesis when there are no males around. Its good that Heteronotia binoei is a native, I still haven't heard of the pesky asian house gecko being parthenogenesis.

[mutant]

" gecko being parthenogenesis"

actually it would be multiplying through parthenogenesis, without fertilisation, that is

[bℓσωηG]

Geckos rock... i suggest you adress your phobia of them rather than exterminate them...

[shortly]

These aren't nice peaceful native geckos, these are noisy grubby imports. They wouldn't be so bad if there were only a few but these things number in their hundreds in ever house around here.

There are ppl around using light traps to catch them, nice & fresh, for later use.

[Heretic]

Geckos rock... i suggest you adress your phobia of them rather than exterminate them...

 

You wwould not think so if they were in your house , crapping everywhere . They have many internal parasites [ according to Qld bio security ]; and hide in cupboards , etc , during the daytime , shitting on food and dishes , books , clothing , and everything else . Seeing you like them so much , why not PM me your address , and I will send you some for your house .

[Amazonian]

I love geckos hey, and would probably be excited at first see them on the wall of my house...but i am sure the novelty wears off pretty quick when you begin finding droppings all over the place. Its a shame really.

Maybe you need a pet owl or a tawny frog mouth to prey on the geckos at night Heretic.

[Heretic]

I am quite an easy going person , tolerant of many things that annoy others . But I would really like to reduce their numbers because they harbour so many parasites [ a long list of nematodes , flukes , etc ] and are not house trained . Not keen on the notion of ingesting gecko droppings ....

[Anodyne]

Wipers?

 

 

(p.s. sorry, I didn't have any real suggestions)

[quarterflesh]

We have plenty of them around here, the cat takes out a few every now and then. The only thing i hate about them is that there shit must be acidic or something and peals the paint of the wall where it drops and sticks.