Gecko room pictures

I have downsized a bit in my collection this year and so therefore I have changed the gecko room a bit. I have my tanks with geckos on top of empty tanks as my room is still so cool for this time of the year. If the tanks are on the floor the temperature is around 65 degrees where they are now around the 68 to 70. Time to warm up Ontario as it is now MAY!

The planted tank where all "retired females" get to hang out.

Exoterra Tanks and various other tanks

I have the following exo terra tank sizes for sale (no backgrounds):

24 long x 18 wide x 24 high 2 available, $100.00 each
24 long x 18 wide x 18 high, 3 available, $ 75.00 each
18 long x 18 wide x 24 high, 6 available, $ 60.00 each (on hold)
18 long x 18 wide x 18 high, 4 available, $ 50.00 each

I also have:
1 Atasuki tank: 20 long x 16 wide x 17 high (with lock) 1 available, $40.00
8 various other tanks, example: 20 long x 10 wide x 16 high (hagen)
30 long x 12 wide x 23 high (separated in 3 compartments)

I also have 3 exoterra 24 inch hoods $15.00 each
I exo terra stand that works for the 24 inch long x 18 inch wide base $75.00 (sold for $200.00 new)

If interested in quantities I can give better deals!

Email me at madamb@geckobrothel.com

2011 Show dates

Just wanted to let everyone know the latest reptile show dates for this year:

May 01 Montreal – Pointe Claire Holiday Inn
May 29 Toronto – Lakeshore Lions Arena
June 12 Ajax – Ajax Convention Center
July 24 Toronto – Lakeshore Lions Arena
Sept 17-18 International Center CRBE

Show today!!!

Reptile Expo March 2011

Looking forward to meeting everyone there bright and early.

As usual we will have lots of Clark’s Gecko Diet available, and maybe even a few Cresties.

Featured in the Guelph Mercury

We were featured in The National Post in an article titled “I didn’t even know what a reptile was”.

‘I didn’t even know what a reptile was’

Guelph woman’s interest in geckos became full-scale breeding operation
November 19, 2008
Rob O’Flanagan
Mercury Staff

GUELPH

What has sticky fingers, drags its belly on the floor and licks its own eyeballs?

Betty Miskie knows the answer to the riddle, and it’s not a plump bear that just dipped its paw in the honey jar.

The Guelph woman is among a growing number of local reptile fans raising geckos for fun and profit. She has several species of the popular reptile flourishing in glass tanks in the basement of her Victoria Road North home.

Her Gecko Brothel business exports the fascinating beasts across the country, and she is part of the close-knit southern Ontario gecko admiration society. Guelph is also home to Royal City Reptiles and other gecko breeders.

Miskie would probably tell you straight away that gecko appendages are not actually sticky, but rather have highly adhesive microfibres on them. Those sophisticated gripping fibres give the four-legged creature its most endearing characteristic — its ability to walk on walls and ceilings.

“This used to be a daycare,” said Miskie, as she surveyed her gecko empire — a series of stacked cages, each one furnished with a junglelike environment. In some, live grasshoppers scurry about, soon to be residents in those low-flung gecko bellies.

Miskie took time off from the daycare business when a member of her family took ill. She was familiar with geckos because her son had pleaded with her to buy one some years earlier. She reluctantly got one for him, being a bit squeamish of reptiles herself. That one gecko grew to a few, and soon Miskie was a dedicated gecko fan. When she needed an alternative source of income, she tailored her gecko hobby into a business.

“It just took over,” she said. “If someone had said to me, ‘Someday you are going to be raising reptiles in your basement,’ I would have thought that was ridiculous. I didn’t even know what a reptile was.”

Now, Miskie knows most of what there is to know about geckos, and the market for them. Ever since an American insurance company began using a personable gecko as a corporate mascot in its TV ads, the popularity of the reptiles has soared.

There are more than 1,000 species of geckos. Miskie raises just a few of those species, including the crested, viper, day, chahouas and fat-tail geckos. They range in price from roughly $60 for a bright-green day gecko to more than $500 for an especially handsome full-grown crested.

Geckos are unique among lizards in that they appear to communicate with chirping sounds in interactions with other geckos. The name gecko is derived from an Indonesian work “gekok,” which is the sound the creatures make. Most geckos have a transparent membrane over their eyes instead of eyelids, which they clean by licking.

Among the reptiles’ more original qualities is that many species expel a foul-smelling material and feces onto their aggressors. The fat-tail’s tail will actually detach when it is attacked from behind, only to grow back later.

“I generally sell to wholesalers, from British Columbia to Newfoundland,” Miskie said. “Some of those dealers sell to places as far away as Japan.”

A young friend of the family came up with the name Gecko Brothel.

“I thought it sounded pretty catchy and I went with it,” said Miskie, who has plans to set up a secondary gecko breeding operation in B.C.

roflanagan@guelphmercury.com

HEY THERE, GECKO

Costs for getting started:

A plain crested gecko costs about $75, and a glass terrarium is also about $75. Artificial plants will do to create a living environment and cost about $10 at a discount store. Real plants cost about $100. Food can be made or purchased. Insects are a staple of the diet, but a “smoothie” of blended mango, pear, banana and yogurt is a good alternative.

Gecko facts:

Most geckos are nocturnal, so are most active and most colourful at night. The reptiles generally don’t need special climate controls — room temperature will do. Their eggs don’t need incubation either. Some geckos bite. For more information visit www.geckobrothel.com.