Mantises Were My Gate Way Drug

[Teamonger]

I have wanted reptiles all my life but foolishly the thought of raising "maggots" or other creepy crawlies kept me from doing it. Receiving my first mantis and being forced to learn all about feeder insects showed me just how silly I had been. 

After handling a friend's cresties and leachies I was even more in love with these gorgeous creatures. Now that raising/keeping feeders is not an issue I got my first gecko today and I am such an excited parent!

A bit crazily I got a Tokay which may not be the best starter gecko but I have some very experienced and supportive friends to help me out. I'm aiming to tame the little beast but I'm going to give him a few days to acclimate before working with and handling him begins. He'll have a very hard time managing to do more damage to me then my cat did when he was younger (and manner less) so I think I'm prepared for the long haul

Not the best pictures as he was furious after his manhandling into a container and short car ride home. I did not want to stress him out any further but hopefully in the next week or so I'll be able to get some better photos of this beauty.

 

[Serle]

Tea

 He sure is a big guy , you are going to have quite the tropical menagerie .  

 

[CosbyArt]

@Teamonger Very nice setup, and Tokay are quite the lookers, but tend to be a unfriendly species (I know many sellers offer them for only $12, compared to $30+ for another species due to that and lack of buyers due to it).

I wish you luck as taming is possible, but what a event to do so and can be plenty of pain in the process. One of the best guides I've seen for their care and taming, is here.

 

[Teamonger]

@CosbyArt I already got bit a good many times getting him from the petstore as I just did not have time to attempt picking him up properly. Poor little guy was not pleased but I am happy I got bit as now I know its not bad at all at his current size and I won't be afraid when I start actually attempting to gain his trust.

The store had the tiniest gargoyle gecko as well (maybe 3 inches long) but as you said they tend to run much higher prices regardless of how much they melt your heart with their cuteness.

 

[CosbyArt]

@CosbyArt I already got bit a good many times getting him from the petstore as I just did not have time to attempt picking him up properly. Poor little guy was not pleased but I am happy I got bit as now I know its not bad at all at his current size and I won't be afraid when I start actually attempting to gain his trust.

The store had the tiniest gargoyle gecko as well (maybe 3 inches long) but as you said they tend to run much higher prices regardless of how much they melt your heart with their cuteness.

Glad to see that you have the fear out of the way, and it will indeed make it much easier to cope with during the taming process. A single bite where the keeper freaks out will ruin all the time spent taming according to the guide linked to above, and makes perfect sense. I wish you well with the process, and let us know how you do.

Nice, I bet it was cute. I have yet to see a Gargoyle at a store, but have seen most of the others (Crested/Leopard/Tokay/etc).

 

[Teamonger]

@CosbyArt

The first attempt went ok. Not as well as I expected. Mostly I was not prepared for just how difficult and adrenaline filled trying to remain calm, slow, and steady while something is yelling at you and trying/succeeding at biting you regardless of how much it does or does not hurt. I got him completely on my hand once and almost got him out but it was at an awkward angle so he bailed before I could seal the deal. The attempts went downhill from there and I gave up for the night a bit later as we were both properly stressed and needed a good settle down.

I've done more reading since then and found a few mistakes I was making. Going to fix those issues when I give it another go this weekend with a thin glove just to try to keep myself from instinctively jerking/flinching more then is necessary as it does nothing for either of our nerves.

I have been able to confirm he is definitely a HE at least with a few good butt pictures and he has been named Sprocket.

 

[Teamonger]

Second round with Sprocket went much better then round one. I wore a thin padded swede glove and that helped TONS. No more jerking or flinching means I was able to keep my cool and just take it slow and steady. I managed to get him on my hand a few times and he even stayed there for a little bit once before jumping. While I still didn't get him out before he wiggled himself into a corner I could not feasibly get him out of without upsetting him I spent a lot of time just calmly touching him so he'd get used to nothing bad happening and as it went on he became less (as Tokay's go) bity and barky.

I'll call it progress and try again tomorrow!

 

[CosbyArt]

@Teamonger Does sound like great progress, congrats.

 

[Mantis_M]

What a cool looking lizard!

 

[Teamonger]

That he is! Tokay's are gorgeous little fireballs. Even though I have not managed to make much progress with him I am not sad I got him, he's a crazy little character. Been leaving him alone for a while now after the debacle of his second escape and recapture which ended in him clamping onto my glove and me leaving him pissed off with it still in his mouth for likely the next 30 minutes

Working on fixing up his cage so its done in a way that makes it easier for me to interact with him the way I need to. He's eating well and I invade his cage every chance I get just to make him used to me so here's hoping eventually he'll come around!

 

[LoveSticks]

Teamonger,
I love how you wrote this, "Mantises were my gateway drug."  My family went to the ATL Repticon looking to see if we could find any Mantis but I guess they were banned :-( but my daughter fell in love with a crested gecko and I want to make a tank (or two) of dart frogs.  Totally understand where you are coming from.  If anyone has a crested gecko for a reasonable price let me know! Congrats on your Tokay addition.

 

[Teamonger]

@LoveSticks hehe still working on gaining my angry gecko child's trust but he's coming around slowly.

My addiction grows however as I'm about to foster a leopard gecko and borrow a ball python from a friend.  

Dart frogs are adorable and entertaining little mouth cannons I will also definitely be setting up a tank for some in the future.  Good luck with the project, setting up tanks is so one of the funest parts.

 

[Teamonger]

Update on my angry Gecko child Sprocket.

Its been about 6 months or so that I've had him and while I have not yet gotten him out of his cage I have been making progress. He allows me to watch him hunt bugs where he used to only hide until I left. I can hand feed him super worms from tongs now (with only a bit of barking) and when he's on the front of the glass I can put my hand right on the other side of the glass and he just gives me evil eye but does not run or bark. He still barks, nips, then wanders off when I try to actually touch him but its progress regardless.

Best part of him being more accustomed to my presence is that I can take pictures of him! Here he is giving out free hugs!