What is gecko?

Gekko gecko, also known as gecko, gecko, Xian toad, etc., is a reptile of the gecko family and belongs to the second class of national protected animals. China's endangered animals are endangered and are distributed in Guangdong, Guangxi, Henan, Hong Kong, Fujian and Yunnan. Taiwan Province also has records, can be used in medicine, has a very high medicinal value, and has the effect of dispelling wind, activating collaterals and dispersing knots.

The body length of clam scale can reach more than 30 cm, and the head length is longer than the tail length. The dorsal ventral side is slightly flat, the head is flat and triangular, the skin is rough, the whole body is densely granular and fine scales, the body color is dark gray, grayish blue, bluish black, etc., and the head and back have horizontal stripes of dark gray, blue and brown. The whole body is scattered with gray-white, brick-red, purple-gray, orange spots, and a white ring pattern on the tail.

Geckos live in cracks, caves or tree holes in rocks or wilderness, and sometimes move near the eaves and walls of people's homes. Strong hearing, but poor eyesight during the day, afraid of strong light stimulation, pupils are often closed into a vertical slit. When you come out for activities and foraging at night, your pupils can be enlarged about 4 times, your eyesight will be enhanced, and your dexterous tongue can stick out your mouth and occasionally lick the dust off the surface of your eyes.

Gecko moves quickly, leaving the head off the ground when crawling, and twisting the back of the body along with the left and right limbs interactively. The sole of the foot has a strong adsorption capacity and can crawl freely on the wall. It was originally thought that there was a sucker under its feet, but the expanded foot pad at the end of its toe was not a sucker, but rows of villi-like microvilli covered with the scales under the pads and toes, just like curved hooks, so it could easily hold on to objects and crawl on walls and even glass, and the secretion of glands at the top of microvilli could also enhance its adsorption.

Gecko's tail is easy to break, but can regenerate, because there is a smooth articular surface in the caudal vertebra, which connects the anterior and posterior half of the caudal vertebrae, where the muscles, skin and scales are relatively thin and lax. so when the tail is attacked, the body can swing violently, through the strong contraction of the tail muscles, causing the caudal vertebrae to break at the joint surface, so as to escape the enemy.

Gecko breaks its tail only when it has to, because it is, after all, a serious physical injury, losing not only the fat stored on its tail, but also its status among its kind. Especially in courtship, the gecko with intact tail has a great advantage over the gecko that has lost its tail. It is usually active from March to November and hibernates in the depths of rock crevices from December to January of the following year.

Gecko's food is mainly a variety of active insects, including mole cricket, grasshoppers, moths, cicadas, yellow powder insects and silkworm moths, etc., do not eat dead insects and food, but after artificial domestication, can also be reared. Artificial cultivation of gecko should be based on the principle of animal insects and plant insects, otherwise it will easily lead to malnutrition and diseases of gecko.