What is this??

[roger]

Hello, can anyone tell me what this is? I live in Melbourne, Australia. I found this hiding in my doorframe today. Should I try to capture it and if so should I release it somewhere? Is it even an Australian species?

 

[roger]

btw it is about 7.5cm (3inches) long

 

[francesco]

It's a gecko!

 

[roger]

Can you tell me what type? I know nothing about geckos or salamanders. Are they related?? Should I just leave it be and let it do what it wants to do or is it out of it's environment? I don't live very close to any parklands or creeks/rivers. I live in a unit block so I don't even have a garden.. It's been there all day and doesn't appear to want to move. The sun is almost down and it's still there.

 

[roger]

I've just looked through a website on australian geckos, and most don't live in Victoria (south east just above tasmania). The few that do live in Victoria are shown to live much further north than Melbourne, which is on the southern coast of Victoria. Is it likely that it has been transported south along with fruits etc? Will it survive in Melbourne? Sorry if these questions have nothing to do with the topic of this website.. Like I said, I know hardly anything about geckos etc

 

[john]

I think phyllodactylus or hemydactilus tircucys?can be possyble?

John

 

[mark]

It's definatly a gecko, and if it were me, I would go put it in a nice shaded place in the wild, good luck.

 

[kyle]

hey Roger

In the United States that is commonly known as a Velvet Gecko, definitely from Australia lol, no worries on that. I dont know you're exact species there, but the genus is Oedura.... possibly Oedura rhombifer from the pictures I can find....

Try and so some searches on Oedura though and see what you can find. From what I understand the care is very similar to leopard geckos, except obviously the Oedura are much more arboreal.

Its probably been sitting there all day because I'm fairly positive they are nocturnal animals. I dont know the geography of Australia very well at all to say if its in its natural range or not, but I can bet that it is.

I wouldnt worry about it too much, unless you want to capture it and keep it as a pet. It probably is finding plenty to eat, it looks really healthy.

(Message edited by uberkye on March 08, 2005)

 

[heather]

Those things are definately noctournal!
when i lived at a lower elevation those things(not that exact species but a bunch of other smaller types of geckos) were all over the house! They're really cute I think. They scurry around at night and make little noises.