Fun Facts about Geckos
There are several fun facts about geckos that will interest both adults and children. Here are a few of reptile’s bizarre facts that will surely kindle your imagination.
- Geckos are capable of climbing on leaves, trees and walls, irrespective of their surface texture or perpendicularity. In the exhibitions, we see a few of them adhering to the glass walls of their cages. It is the microscopic sticky hairs under their feet, which gives them this extraordinary adhesion and not suction or glue. On shifting their feet to a particular angle, the hairs pop off, permitting them to dart away. When geckos scramble up your arm, you will feel like sandpaper rubbing your skin.
- Camouflage is one of the efficient characteristics that help them to survive. For instance, the giant leaf-tailed geckos, which are capable of growing to a length of 12 inches or even more, conceal themselves on barks of trees using their grey, olive, black and beige as camouflage. Their flattened tail resembles the shape of a leaf.
- Even though Geckos seem stealthy, they make diverse sounds. Occasionally they tweet, whistle, and screech to express suffering, declare their region, or call their mate. Few geckos cause friction between their scales and imitate poisonous snakes by which they ward off possible predators.
- Leopard Geckos are extremely popular as pets. The breeders raise them often for their special traits. Breeders make special efforts to develop them with special spots or colors, like the snowy-white albino geckos and the tangerine and the like, particularly for display in exhibitions.
- The Giant Day Geckos from Madagascar, which we find in exhibitions are vivid green with flashes of red, and subsist on fruit and nectar. A smaller type of neon gecko has similar features. Conceivably, the most famous icon, the GEICO spokes-lizard gecko, displayed at sporting events as a mascot of human size, appears very similar to the giant day gecko.
- The Gecko species exceed 1,100. You can see many of them like the house gecko in houses, on ceilings and on walls gobbling insects. Several people have geckos as pets, particularly the Leopard Gecko.
- You can see Geckos almost everywhere in the world. These small to medium size lizards of size ¾ inch to 14 inches length, including the dwarf gecko (1 inch or less), mostly inhabit warm climates. The Tokay Gecko is the biggest and dwarf gecko the smallest.
- Here is some more fun fact about geckos. Flying Geckos have flaps attached to its feet, which they use to glide, but they cannot fly. Many Geckos are night living creatures. Their lives extend up to 30 years.
- Some Geckos have the innate ability to change their color in the same way as the chameleons.
- Many of the Geckos have millions of hair-like configurations under their feet by which they are able to adhere to the flat surfaces and move quickly on slippery surfaces. Several of the different varieties of geckos do not have eyelids; instead, they have a fine membrane to shield their eyes. They lick their eyes, In order to keep them clean. Many geckos find it difficult to shut their eyes.
- Another fun fact is that, If the Gecko shreds or loses its tail by accident, it is capable of allowing a new tail to regenerate.
- Geckos are the only lizards that can sing.
Having discovered a fondness for insects while pursuing her degree in Biology, Randi Jones was quite bugged to know that people usually dismissed these little creatures as “creepy-crawlies”.
