Gecko in birdfeeder?
August 25, 2015 3:34 PM Subscribe
Do house geckos eat birdseed? If not, what's it doing?
I live in Houston, and I recently put two birdfeeders for my porch. In addition to the house sparrows and mourning doves, I seem to have attracted a common house gecko as well. I'm curious about what exactly it's doing, since my research tells me that geckos eat bugs and sometimes fruit, not birdseed. At first the gecko was interested in the tube feeder, but once it found my window tray feeder it seems to prefer that due to easier access and fewer birds. I see it in there in the morning and afternoons. As far as I can tell there are no bugs in the seed. The seeds I use have the following ingredients:
Sunflower Chips, White millet, Red millet, Peanut pieces, Cracked Corn, Nyjer seed.
I live in Houston, and I recently put two birdfeeders for my porch. In addition to the house sparrows and mourning doves, I seem to have attracted a common house gecko as well. I'm curious about what exactly it's doing, since my research tells me that geckos eat bugs and sometimes fruit, not birdseed. At first the gecko was interested in the tube feeder, but once it found my window tray feeder it seems to prefer that due to easier access and fewer birds. I see it in there in the morning and afternoons. As far as I can tell there are no bugs in the seed. The seeds I use have the following ingredients:
Sunflower Chips, White millet, Red millet, Peanut pieces, Cracked Corn, Nyjer seed.
Bugs. Your new friend wants the bugs.
posted by bilabial at 6:05 PM on August 25, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by bilabial at 6:05 PM on August 25, 2015 [2 favorites]
So small lizard diets aren't completely studied/fleshed out yet, and it's quite possible your gecko is snacking on the seeds.
(There may be more specifically gecko-focused literature out there, but I'm a contributor to Anole Annals and studied these lizards in particular for a number of years, so that's what I know, reference-wise.)
posted by vegartanipla at 7:59 PM on August 25, 2015 [4 favorites]
(There may be more specifically gecko-focused literature out there, but I'm a contributor to Anole Annals and studied these lizards in particular for a number of years, so that's what I know, reference-wise.)
posted by vegartanipla at 7:59 PM on August 25, 2015 [4 favorites]
Bugs eat seeds, geckos eat bugs. The bugs tend to be inside the seeds unless it's dark & quiet, once they leave the seed they tend to fly away. Also the gecko may well be the reason you aren't seeing any bugs in the seed. Organic pest control.
posted by wwax at 8:26 AM on August 26, 2015
posted by wwax at 8:26 AM on August 26, 2015
I'd be surprised if there weren't bugs in the seed--ours are infested with teeny-tiny bugs that I only notice when I'm pouring the seed out. I don't worry because it's Texas and it's summer--there are bugs everywhere.
We don't get cute geckos, though. We had to leave the feeders empty for a time after catching a rat on our birdcam. We also got rid of that feeder in favor of a plastic one with fewer grips. it's not always rats. sometimes it's ninja squirrels.
posted by telophase at 2:13 PM on August 26, 2015
We don't get cute geckos, though. We had to leave the feeders empty for a time after catching a rat on our birdcam. We also got rid of that feeder in favor of a plastic one with fewer grips. it's not always rats. sometimes it's ninja squirrels.
posted by telophase at 2:13 PM on August 26, 2015
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