How to Find a Lost Gecko in the House

If you own a gecko, you know what appealing and interesting pets these lizards can be. You also know they are adept escape artists, capable of streaking across floors and vanishing from sight with seconds. Since your gecko is both predator and prey, his racing and hiding skills serve him well in the wild. They work against him and you, however, when you're trying to return him safely to his cage. If your gecko got out and is loose in your house, don't give up hope. By using some simple techniques, you should be able recapture your fugitive gecko.

Things You'll Need

  • Pieces of bark from the gecko's cage
  • Flashlight
  • Two-piece plastic capsule-shaped cases (the type found in toy vending machines)
  • Live crickets
  • Tape
  • Fishing line
  • Large plastic storage bin with lid
  • Live mealworms
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Instructions

    • 1

      Control all other pets that might harm your gecko. If possible, put them in the yard or out on a patio, or have them stay at a friend's house. Otherwise, either watch them closely--their scratching and sniffing might give you a clue to your gecko's whereabouts--or confine them to a room that you already have searched.

    • 2

      Declare an immediate moratorium on operating anything that could be dangerous to your gecko if he were inside it, including washing and drying machines, ovens, microwaves, dishwashers and garbage disposals. Be careful opening and closing doors--your gecko could be hiding on top of one.

    • 3

      Check for any routes your gecko might have taken to leave the house, including holes in caulking or insulation, open windows and ill-fitting screens. If everything seems secure, you can restrict your search to the house. If not, immediately check bushes and shrubbery around your house.

    • 4

      Think like a gecko and look in places he would find appealing, Search under beds and behind dressers, behind and on top of picture frames, behind dresser mirrors and inside folds of drapes. Closets are a favorite sanctuary for a gecko on the run, so check the pockets of hanging clothes and the insides of shoes.

    • 5

      Take familiar items from your gecko's cage--pieces of bark he likes to hide under, favorite rocks--and place them around the house. Set the heat lamp up near the cage.

    • 6

      When night comes, turn off every light in the house, take a flashlight and walk quickly from room to room, sweeping walls and floors with the light. You might catch your gecko en route to a new hiding place.

    • 7

      Using the flashlight, focus on places you searched before. Your gecko might have discovered them by now.

    • 8

      Your gecko will seek warmth at night--check behind and on top of refrigerators, water heaters, radiators and stoves.

    • 9

      Set up a trap by putting live mealworms in a large plastic storage bin and setting the lid next to it an an angle so it forms a ramp between the floor and the lip of the container. To prevent climbing, make sure it's perfectly smooth on the inside, and that the sides are high enough so that he can't jump out. Put the trap near the gecko's cage.

    • 10

      Make some irresistible live lures by putting air holes in plastic gumball machine capsules, placing a large cricket in each one and taping the capsules securely shut again. Loop a 2-foot length of fishing line through an air hole and anchor the capsules to the trap. The noise and motion of the rolling balls will act as an advertisement that might attract your gecko to the trap.