They can usually be found hanging out around bright lights, and doorways. At first sight, they can cause quite a scare but rest assured they are more scared than you. So frightened, in fact, that their tail may drop off. They have extremely sticky hands and feet that enable them to cling to the most difficult of surfaces. But in reality, geckos are really rather cute, and very effective at ridding your home of pesky insects and what’s more the Spanish consider them a lucky house guest.
Geckos make up the largest family of lizards with about 700-800 species worldwide. They are found virtually everywhere on the planet except the polar regions, and are successful stowaways and rafters, having been transported all round the world. Part of their success is doubtlessly due to their generally small size: the largest is only 14 inches long, while the average size is about 6 to 8 inches and some species are even half or less than that in length. Apart from their small size, geckos are also invariably characterised by their soft skin, that is not the hard overlapping scales characteristic of most lizards but is usually covered to a greater or lesser degree in tubercles - small round pads. The tails of geckos tend also to be soft and often rather round or fat, as they tend to store reserves of fat and vital nutrients in them. In many species these tails are often dropped and regenerated, especially if a predator comes close. Gecko feet are often adapted for climbing up vertical surfaces and even across ceilings, thanks to a system of minute lamellae, or hair-like structures, that find the microscopic imperfections in a surface, even glass, and lodge in it. Most geckos also possess small claws, and interestingly, they also lack eyelids and have a flap that they shed in the same way as a snake sheds its eye covering when the rest of the skin is discarded. Apart from the obvious daytime geckos, nearly all geckos are nocturnal by nature. Virtually all are insectivorous feeders, and will lie in wait with great patience until a tasty insect or moth strays into the reach of their lightening tongues.
Gecko gossip
Geckos are small, colourful lizards with large heads and eyes. They were once thought to be dangerous because of their bright colours but these harmless reptiles are actually welcome in most tropical houses because they eat insects.
Many geckos do not have eyelids. Instead they have a vertical pupil that can close completely in bright light or open wide in the dark.
