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I'm reposting this thread because I found a book to ID the gecko

We have a number of the following geckos at our house in Marloth Park. They are quite big and sturdy in build. What is interesting, is that with these guys around we don't have the "pale geckos" that you normally find in Kruger. WTM mentioned that he also noticed that these two types of geckos don't share the same space. He said that he had the pale ones at his old house, and at his new house, he only has the ones below. DQ posted a photo of this gecko that was taken in Kruger (could you please repost, very nice photo )




Jannie replied to my request for an ID, saying that he did find this gecko in a book, but according to his book this gecko is not found in Marloth/Kruger. Jannie, I looked in the "Sasol field guide to Snakes & other reptiles of South Africa", and agree with you! The distribution map in this book also indicates that this gecko is only found in the western regions of the country.
The gecko is the Bibron's Thick-toed Gecko. The book describes its habitat as varying from karriod veld, semi-desert, to arid and mesic savannah.
These geckos are gregarious, forming large colonies. Their length is between 15-20 cm. Their bite can be painful, but is not poisonous (are there actually geckos that have a poisonous bite? ). Although they are aggressive, they make good pets.

Jannie, you mentioned that you forwarded the question about this gecko's presence in Marloth to a friend who is working on a distribution map for reptiles (is that right?). It would really be nice to get his input on this.

Sure! (It's on my website as well.)

Jumbo,

IMHO it is definitely the Bribons Gecko.
Looked a bit into distribution and found that they DO occur in that area... will send you a link!

There are no venomous (reptiles are venomous and not poisonous) geckos or lizards in Africa. Snakes are the only venomous reptiles in Africa.

Thanks Pilane, one less thing to worry about.

Two questions if I may:

First:
I'm in a constant battle trying to keep these geckos out of the house. This is for one reason only: I'm scared that the mosquito coils that we burn in the evening will poison them. I'm also scared that they will eat insects that died from the coils and then get poisoned. However, after I caught them and took them outside, they just keep getting back in. I have never found a dead one inside the house. How sensitive are they to this type of poison?

Second:
One of these Geckos lost his grip high up in the roof, and fell, what I judge to be about 5m. He landed flat on his belly and was sitting dead still for quite some time. We thought that he is going to die - falling al that way. But suddenly he got a bust of energy and caught himself a nice big insect. The rest of the night he was 100%. Don't they get injured falling so far? Are they adapted for this type of acrobatics?

Edited to remove error characters that appeared after the database corruption

Have you concidered Turner's Thick-toed Gecko (Pachydactylus turneri) which do occur in the area you mentioned?

Hi Francoisd

No I haven't. The book I have is unfortunately very limited.
JB however send me a link to Ngwenya's website where they say they also have the Bibron's Gecko - the photo on their website is of the same gecko as that of DQ and me. However I do not think they are necessarily experts.
I looked at the KNP reptile list and Bibron's Gecko doesn't appear on that.
Wonder if there is an expert that might help us?

Edited to remove error characters that appeared after the database corruption

Regarding you falling gecko:

Scientists have recently discovered that, theoretically, a gecko, hanging upside-down from the ceiling, can support a 40 kg backpack. The ultimate 'cling-ons', geckos can stick to virtually any surface on the planet. So how on Earth do they perform this feat with their feet?

Read more here.

I have sent the 2 pics to an expert that can help us with id'ing them!
Will keep you posted!

Ok so as promised, here is the comments from the expert:
(Very interesting BUT i can now understand why all of us were so confused and it is so difficult to id )

JB you are a star! Many thanks also to your expert friend.
This is really very interesting!

I did some searches on the net, and is seems Turner's gecko is found throughout Africa.

Unfortunately it also seems that there is quite a trade in them - luckily/hopefully SA has strict rules to protect them, and especially the Bibron's gecko (my searches led me to bad places )

This past weekend I witnessed the bite of these geckos. Let me tell you, he puts a Pitbull to shame.
I accidentally sprayed poison on one where he was hiding inside a kitchen cupboard. I caught him and washed him under the tap to get rid of the poison. He, for obvious reasons, did not like it and got hold of a piece of the paper towel I used to hold him. He held onto that paper towel for almost an hour after I placed him outside. Me think you will be crying if this guy gets hold of your finger…. {Luckily it seems the poison did not affect him}.

Hi,
Please help ID this....saw 2 of them in Kieliekrankie...they were running in and out of the bungelow


are they Geckos or Lizards?

I'd say Geckos

Looks to me like Bibron’s Tubercled Gecko Chondrodactylus bibronii
One tends to see a few different variations in colour around KTP.