try to save a mediterranean gecko

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Hello,

I live in phoenix, AZ and I get lots of these geckos in my backyard when it is warm out. My cats like to kill them- very sad.  Two geckos managed to somehow come inside and escape from my cats and live under my stove and cabinets since September.  I could never catch them so I tried to feed them.  Now it is getting warmer in the day and they both tried making a run for it, back outside:  One day, I unfortunately found one mangled by the cats in my living room.  A couple days later, I heard strange noises and I was able to save the other gecko heading toward my backyard. I have her in a terrarium, but she is not happy or eating.  I want to let her go, but at this point she has been inside for 6 months, and I am afraid that even if I keep my door closed, one of my cats will get out and kill her or she might just die because it is too cold at night still and she is not acclimated to the outdoors anymore.

Would she have any chance of surviving outside if I put her in someone else's backyard maybe?

If not, what do I feed her? I have never seen her eat.   I have no idea how she survived.

Thank you!

 

[Rick]

This may sound cold and callous to some but they're not native so it is likely better it perish or you keep it as a pet instead of releasing it back outside. They're like the reptile version of rodents that thrive around human habitation.

What is much much more sad is how many birds cats kill. I believe the last estimate was in the billions.

 

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Are the geckos responsible for killing nymph mantids?  I'm wondering why my outdoor mantids barely survived last summer. They started spraying for mosquitos too here. I know that's off the topic, but. . .

My cats did kill one bird.  It was sickening, especially because they gave it to me as a present, and it died for nothing. I watch them when they are out now.

I don't know what to do with this gecko.  I won't let it out.  I just hate to let anything die.

 

[Rick]

Are they not kept as pets? Maybe there is some care info out there or you could find a care info for a similar species. Gecko's eat insects so they would probably prey on mantids but I don't think you can be sure they were the reason your mantids didn't thrive outdoors. 

 

[Ghost_Keeper]

Day geckos are small and fast, and with my experience they like almost an arboreal setup with lots of hiding spots. But honestly I'd go the way rick said, and kill it as it's not native, and invasive to some extent.

 

[Rick]

Day geckos are small and fast, and with my experience they like almost an arboreal setup with lots of hiding spots. But honestly I'd go the way rick said, and kill it as it's not native, and invasive to some extent.

They are even present in a few locations here in NC.

 

[Ghost_Keeper]

Yeah, I find them here in Georgia and Florida every now and then. I just throw them to whatever wild creature that's predatory wants it.

 

[Savechanges]

get rid of the cats :lol:

 

[Peter Clausen]

I have one of these as a pet, actually. My wife named it Marco. I feed it small Turkistan roaches. 

I'm with some of the other members here though in saying that letting it go outdoors is sort of the more unethical thing to do out of respect for the native bugs and such that it would eat. Even though it came from the outdoors, it does not belong in your area. 

The best ethical solution to this problem, I think, is to keep it as a pet and source the right sized food for it. They have fairly small mouths. The next best thing to do is feed it to your cat (some people react like that is a horrible thing to do while a thousand uneaten fruit flies die in the container they bought to feed to a single mantis). The last thing to do is let it go outdoors, but the truth is that probably wouldn't make much of a difference in the scheme of things. I would personally NEVER let one go, but then I wouldn't let Chinese mantises go outdoors either and the agriculture industry just loves the Chinese mantis because it keeps native bugs off monocultured crops! We humans try to make good points in these threads, but we're the source of all nature's problems through action and lack of action. The geckos are here because of us, etc. etc.

 

[womantis]

interesting discussion...and i agree peter, too bad there are so many chinese ooths for sale..but i guess if there is a market, then those who are looking to make a $ will sell...

 

[spider_creations]

I personally think it's up to you.....since I love reptiles I would never kill one but that's me.....letting it go would not make a difference in getting rid of the sp. In the US because their are hundreds and thousands of them so letting it go wouldn't hurt. If you were going to feed it to your cat I would say kill it before and make it quick because cats tend to play with there food and don't just kill it right away so it would probably be best it you killed it first.....in the long run its up to you

 

[CosbyArt]

...

I don't know what to do with this gecko.  I won't let it out.  I just hate to let anything die.

I'm curious after reading this thread what became of the gecko? Seems there was a wide range of opinions of what to do, and it had me wondering what became it's fate (if you don't mind sharing).

 

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I let the gecko go back outside!  I kept her as a pet for a few weeks but she was not happy at all. I could not stand to see her suffering in the cage I put her in. Most my mantids seem happy to be pets. I thought the gecko would eventually be happy to have food and shelter, but she wasn't.

Since then my cats have killed 2 more geckos, but not the gecko that I let go.  I figure that since my cats kill so many geckos, letting 1 go would do no harm.

 

[CosbyArt]

I can't say I blame you, I would have myself in all honesty. Refreshing to see you answered honestly even if it went against the status quo in the response, as that is a rare occurrence.

The vast majority of anyone here, especially in our private lives, are "soft-hearted" and caring individuals though - after all very few others I know in my daily life would show any care or compassion to any insect (and there is no way they would even be on this forum to start with). Any hostility about the issue was aimed at the environmental problem, which I can also respect.

The last thing to do is let it go outdoors, but the truth is that probably wouldn't make much of a difference in the scheme of things.

As even Peter said it wouldn't make a difference, especially as your cats are killing them anyway as you stated. I would like to think it made it somewhere safe. Thanks for the response.

 

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Thank you for the compliment.  I let the gecko go in some bushes away from my property so my cats wouldn't get it.  I hope the gecko made it!