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If you look very closely, you will be able to see preanal pores on this male. They are the darker circles arranged in an upside down "v" shape above the cloaca (vent). If you run a finger over the pores, you should be able to feel the wax that is protruding. This is one of my male tokays, Hasbro. |
| There is no wax
protruding from this tokay. If you run a finger over the pores of a
female tokay, you shouldn't be able to feel the bumps from the
wax. It should feel smooth. Their pores up close will look
more like little dents and not holes with wax protruding. This gecko
is one of my female tokays, Ang. |
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Once you try this on a both known male and female tokay, you shouldn't have any problems figuring out the sex of a tokay from then on. I've had two males, Bean and Nesbit, that have made their sex known rather early, at about two months. I've noticed that if the tokays don't show the wax by a year, then it's pretty safe to say those are females. Looking for hemipenal bulges in this species isn't as easy. I've noticed many of my females look just like the males when it comes to the tail base. I've never tried everting the hemipenes in tokays, so I couldn't say if it would work well or not. I wouldn't recommend it unless you have a lot of experience in everting hemipenes, as it could harm your animal if you do it wrong.
Vocalization...
I also love to listen to them call. Even though both males and females can vocalize, only the males do the actual "to-kay" call. Each male has their own unique sound. Some males sound higher and some sound deeper. Some are very loud and some are much more subdued in their volume. There seem to variations in how they start the call, execute, and end the call as well. It's like each male has his own signature call. From what I've read, they use their call to locate females. I've never noticed them use it to warn other males of their territory, but I suppose that could be a purpose of their call as well. If you have a computer with sound capabilities, you might want to check out the Movies & Sound page.